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 By your Lord's Grace, you are not afflicted with madness, 2 And most surely you shall have a reward never to be cut off. 3 For you are verily born of sublime nature. 4 So you will soon see, and they too will see, 5 Who is distracted. 6 Surely thy Lord knows very well those who have gone astray from His way, and He knows very well those who are guided. 7 Do not, then, yield to those who reject the Truth, decrying it as false; 8 They want you to make concessions to them and then they will reciprocate. 9 Heed not the type of despicable men,- ready with oaths, 10 [And] scorner, going about with malicious gossip - 11 obstructing virtues, a sinful transgressor, 12 moreover ignoble, 13 or that because he may possess wealth and children. 14 When Our Verses (of the Quran) are recited to him, he says: "Tales of the men of old!" 15 We shall brand him upon the muzzle! 16 Verily We! We have proved them even as We proved the fellows of a garden when they sware that they would surely reap it in the morning. 17 Without making exception. 18 Then a visitation from thy Lord visited it, while they were sleeping, 19 and in the morning it was as if it were a garden plucked. 20 Then they cried out unto each other in the morning. 21 'Come out to your tillage if you want to reap' 22 So they departed, talking in low voices: 23 'No needy man shall enter it today against your will.' 24 – and early they went, strongly bent upon their purpose. 25 But as soon as they beheld [the garden and could not recognize] it, they exclaimed, "Surely we have lost our way!" 26 Nay! we are made to suffer privation. 27 Said the most right-minded among them: "Did I not tell you, 'Will you not extol God's limitless glory?'" 28 They said: Glory be to our Lord, surely we were unjust. 29 And they came blaming one another. 30 They said: “Woe to us! We had indeed transgressed. 31 "It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better (garden) than this: for we do turn to Him (in repentance)!" 32 Such is the punishment (in this life), but truly, the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they but knew. 33