The Qur'an Sura LXVIII — THE PEN
1Nun. By the PEN and by what they write,
2Thou, O Prophet; by the grace of thy Lord art not possessed!
3And truly a boundless recompense doth await thee,
4For thou art of a noble nature.
5But thou shalt see and they shall see Which of you is the demented.
6Now thy Lord! well knoweth He the man who erreth from his path, and well doth he know those who have yielded to Guidance;
7Give not place, therefore, to those who treat thee as a liar:
8They desire thee to deal smoothly with them: then would they be smooth as oil with thee:
9But yield not to the man of oaths, a despicable person,
10Defamer, going about with slander,
11Hinderer of the good, transgressor, criminal,
12Harsh–beside this, impure by birth,
13Though a man of riches and blessed with sons.
14Who when our wondrous verses are recited to him saith–"Fables of the ancients."
15We will brand him on the nostrils.
16Verily, we have proved them (the Meccans) as we proved the owners of the garden, when they swore that at morn they would cut its fruits;
17But added no reserve.
18Wherefore an encircling desolation from thy Lord swept round it while they slumbered,
19And in the morning it was like a garden whose fruits had all been cut.
20Then at dawn they called to each other,
21"Go out early to your field, if ye would cut your dates."
22So on they went whispering to each other,
23"No poor man shall set foot this day within your garden;"
24And they went out at daybreak with this settled purpose.
25But when they beheld it, they said, "Truly we have been in fault:
26Yes! we are forbidden our fruits."
27The most rightminded of them said, "Did I not say to you, Will ye not give praise to God?"
28They said, "Glory to our Lord! Truly we have done amiss."
29And they fell to blaming one another:
30They said, "Oh woe to us! we have indeed transgressed!
31Haply our Lord will give us in exchange a better garden than this: verily we crave it of our Lord."
32Such hath been our chastisement–but heavier shall be the chastisement of the next world. Ah! did they but know it.
33Verily, for the God-fearing are gardens of delight in the presence of their Lord.
34Shall we then deal with those who have surrendered themselves to God, as with those who offend him?
35What hath befallen you that ye thus judge?
36Have ye a Scripture wherein ye can search out
37That ye shall have the things ye choose?
38Or have ye received oaths which shall bind Us even until the day of the resurrection, that ye shall have what yourselves judge right?
39Ask them which of them will guarantee this?
40Or is it that they have joined gods with God? let them produce those associate-gods of theirs, if they speak truth.
41On the day when men's legs shall be bared, and they shall be called upon to bow in adoration, they shall not be able:
42Their looks shall be downcast: shame shall cover them: because, while yet in safety, they were invited to bow in worship, but would not obey.
43Leave me alone therefore with him who chargeth this revelation with imposture. We will lead them by degrees to their ruin; by ways which they know not;
44Yet will I bear long with them; for my plan is sure.
45Askest thou any recompense from them? But they are burdened with debt.
46Are the secret things within their ken? Do they copy them from the Book of God?
47Patiently then await the judgment of thy Lord, and be not like him who was in the fish, when in deep distress he cried to God.
48Had not favour from his Lord reached him, cast forth would he have been on the naked shore, overwhelmed with shame:
49But his Lord chose him and made him of the just.
50Almost would the infidels strike thee down with their very looks when they hear the warning of the Koran. And they say, "He is certainly possessed."
51Yet is it nothing less than a warning for all creatures.
Suras are in the standard order; verse divisions follow Rodwell's 1861 edition and do not always match the standard ayah numbering.