The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
۞ Noon. I swear by the pen and what the angels write, 1 Thou art not, by thy Sustainer's grace, a madman! 2 There is surely reward unending for you, 3 and you are certainly on the most exalted standard of moral excellence. 4 and [one day] thou shalt see, and they [who now deride thee] shall see, 5 which of you has been afflicted by insanity. 6 Verily, your Lord knows better, who (among men) has gone astray from His Path, and He knows better those who are guided. 7 Do not give in to the deniers of truth. 8 Fain would they that thou shouldst be pliant, so that they will be pliant. 9 And yield not to any mean swearer 10 [And] scorner, going about with malicious gossip - 11 hinderer of good, guilty aggressor, coarse-grained, 12 Greedy therewithal, intrusive. 13 Is it because he is possessed of worldly goods and children 14 When Our signs are recited to him, he says, 'Fairy-tales of the ancients!' 15 We shall brand him over the nose! 16 Surely We will try them as We tried the owners of the garden, when they swore that they would certainly cut off the produce in the morning, 17 But made no reservation, ("If it be Allah's Will"). 18 So there came upon the garden an affliction from your Lord while they were asleep. 19 So the (garden) became black by the morning, like a pitch dark night (in complete ruins). 20 And they called out to each other in the morning, 21 'Come forth betimes upon your tillage, if you would pluck!' 22 And so they departed, whispering to one another: 23 'No needy person shall set foot in it today' 24 And they opened the morning, strong in an (unjust) resolve. 25 Then when they saw it, they said, “We have indeed strayed.” 26 No. In fact we have been deprived of it." 27 Said the most right-minded among them: "Did I not tell you, 'Will you not extol God's limitless glory?'" 28 They cried out: “Glory be to our Lord! Certainly we were sinners.” 29 And they advanced one upon another, blaming each other. 30 They said: "Woe to us! Verily, we were Taghun (transgressors and disobedient, etc.) 31 We hope that our Lord will give us in exchange a better (garden) than this. Truly, we turn to our Lord (wishing for good that He may forgive our sins, and reward us in the Hereafter)." 32 Such was their punishment. But the punishment of the Everlasting Life is much greater, if they but knew. 33