The Pen (Al-Qalam)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
۞ Noon. I swear by the pen and what the angels write, 1 Thou art not, for thy Lord's favour unto thee, a madman. 2 There is surely reward unending for you, 3 And indeed you possess an exemplary character. 4 So you will soon see, and they too will see, 5 Which of you is afflicted with madness. 6 Your Lord knows best who has fallen by the wayside, and who has remained on the true path. 7 Wherefore obey not thou the beliers. 8 Fain would they that thou shouldst be pliant, so that they will be pliant. 9 And obey not everyone who swears much, and is considered worthless, 10 backbiter, going about with slander, 11 hinderer of good, guilty aggressor, coarse-grained, 12 Gross, and therewithal ignoble. 13 or that because he may possess wealth and children. 14 That, when Our revelations are recited unto him, he saith: Mere fables of the men of old. 15 We shall brand him on the nose. 16 We have tested them in the same way as we tested the dwellers of the garden (in Yemen) when they swore to pluck all the fruits of the garden in the morning, 17 without saying, "If it be God's will." 18 Wherefore an encircling visitation visited it even as they slept on. 19 so that by the morrow it became barren and bleak. 20 In the morning they called to one another, 21 Saying: go out betimes to your tilth if ye would reap. 22 So they set out, while lowering their voices, 23 "Be sure to stop any poor person from entering the orchard today." 24 And they left at early morn, assuming they were in control of their purpose. 25 But when they saw the (garden), they said: "We have surely lost our way: 26 Nay! we are made to suffer privation. 27 Said the most moderate of them, 'Did I not say to you, "Why do you not give glory?"' 28 They said, “Purity is to our Lord – we have indeed been unjust.” 29 Some of them started to blame others. 30 They said, "Woe to us. We have been arrogant. 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 (in this life), but truly, the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they but knew. 33