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 the grace of your Lord you are not mad. 2 And indeed for you is an unlimited reward. 3 And indeed, you are of a great moral character. 4 So you will see, and they will realise, 5 which of you has been afflicted by insanity. 6 Your Lord knows best who has fallen by the wayside, and who has remained on the true path. 7 Do not give in to the deniers of truth. 8 They want you to make concessions to them and then they will reciprocate. 9 Neither obey thou each feeble oath-monger, 10 The excessively insulting one, spreader of spite. 11 (Habitually) hindering (all) good, transgressing beyond bounds, deep in sin, 12 the coarse-grained, and above all mean and ignoble; 13 Because he is a possessor of wealth and children, 14 When Our revelations are recited to him, he says, "These are ancient legends". 15 We shall brand him upon the muzzle! 16 We have tried them as we tried the owners of a certain orchard, who vowed to harvest all its fruits the next morning, 17 and they added not the saving words. 18 Then there encompassed it a visitation from your Lord while they were sleeping. 19 So by the morning it seemed as though picked clean. 20 And they called one another at morning, 21 "Go early to your tilth if you want to harvest the fruit!" 22 So they went, while they consulted together secretly, 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 [and then,] "Nay, but we have been rendered destitute!" 27 A reasonable one among them said, "Did I not tell you that you should glorify God?" 28 They said: "Glory to our Lord! Verily we have been doing wrong!" 29 Then some of them advanced against others, blaming each other. 30 They said 'Woe to us, truly we were insolent' 31 Maybe, our Lord will give us instead one better than it; surely to our Lord do we make our humble petition. 32 Such is the punishment [of this world]. And the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they only knew. 33