The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Noon. By the Pen and that (the angels) write, 1 thou art not, by the blessing of thy Lord, a man possessed. 2 Nay, verily for thee is a Reward unfailing: 3 For you are verily born of sublime nature. 4 Anon thou wilt see and they will see. 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His path and who is rightly guided. 7 So hearken not to those who deny (the Truth). 8 They wish that you would soften [in your position], so they would soften [toward you]. 9 And yield not to any mean swearer 10 the backbiter who goes about slandering, 11 Hinderer of the good, transgressor, sinful, 12 Crude, and above all, mean and infamous, 13 Because he is a possessor of wealth and children, 14 When to him are rehearsed Our Signs, "Tales of the ancients", he cries! 15 Soon We will brand him on the nose. 16 We have tried you as We tried the owners of the garden when they vowed to gather the fruits in the morning 17 and made no allowance [for the will of God]: 18 A visitor from your Lord circled around the garden during the night while they were asleep 19 and in the morning it was if the garden had been reaped. 20 In the morning they called out to one another, 21 "If you want to gather the fruits, let us go early to the plantation." 22 So they departed, whispering together, 23 No needy man shall enter it to-day against you. 24 And they went forth early, determined upon their purpose. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "Verily, we have gone astray," 26 No. In fact we have been deprived of it." 27 Said the most moderate of them, 'Did I not say to you, "Why do you not give glory?"' 28 They said, "Exalted is our Lord! Indeed, we were wrongdoers." 29 Then they began to reproach one another. 30 They said, "Woe to us. We have been arrogant. 31 It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better than it; to our Lord we humbly turn.' 32 Such is the chastisement; and the chastisement of the Hereafter is assuredly even greater, if only they knew. 33