The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
۞ Noon. I swear by the pen and what the angels write, 1 By your Lord's Grace, you are not afflicted with madness, 2 Surely thou shalt have a wage unfailing; 3 surely thou art upon a mighty morality. 4 Soon you will see, as will they, 5 which of you has been afflicted by insanity. 6 Verily thy Lord! He is the best Knower of him who strayeth from His path, and He is the best Knower of the guided one. 7 Therefore, do not obey those who belie, 8 They wish that you should be pliant so they (too) would be pliant. 9 Furthermore, defer not to the contemptible swearer of oaths, 10 or to any defamer or one who spreads slander, 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, sinful, 12 who is ignoble and besides all that, base-born; 13 Because he is owner of riches and children. 14 that, whenever Our messages are conveyed to him, such a one says, "Fables of ancient times"? 15 We shall brand him on the nose. 16 Now We have tried them, even as We tried the owners of the garden when they swore they would pluck in the morning 17 and made no allowance [for the will of God]: 18 Wherefore an encircling visitation visited it even as they slept on. 19 and in the morning it was if the garden had been reaped. 20 Now when they rose at early morn, they called unto one another, 21 "Go ye to your tilth (betimes) in the morning, if ye would gather the fruits." 22 So they set out, while lowering their voices, 23 "Let no beggar come to the garden". 24 They left early in the morning bent on this purpose. 25 But when they saw it they said: 'We have surely gone astray. 26 “In fact, we are unfortunate.” 27 The more upright of the two said, "Did I not bid you to glorify God?" 28 They said: "Glory to our Lord! Verily we have been doing wrong!" 29 So they came towards each other, blaming. 30 They said, 'Woe, alas for us! Truly, we were insolent. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us better than this in place thereof. Lo! we beseech our Lord. 32 Such is the punishment [of this world]. And the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they only knew. 33