Sura 68 The Pen
NuN,* the pen, and what they (the people) write. 2You have attained a great blessing from your Lord; you are not crazy. 3You have attained a recompense that is well deserved. 4You are blessed with a great moral character. 5You will see, and they will see. 6Which of you are condemned. 7Your Lord is fully aware of those who strayed off His path, and He is fully aware of those who are guided. 8Do not obey the rejectors. 9They wish that you compromise, so they too can compromise. 10Do not obey every lowly swearer. 11A slanderer, a backbiter. 12Forbidder of charity, a transgressor, a sinner. 13Unappreciative, and greedy. 14Even though he possessed enough money and children. 15When our revelations are recited to him, he says, "Tales from the past!" 16We will mark his face. 17We have tested them like we tested the owners of the garden who swore that they will harvest it in the morning. 18They were so absolutely sure. 19A passing (storm) from your Lord passed by it while they were asleep.
*68:1 "NuN" is unique among the Quran's miraculous initials. See Appendix 1.
20By morning, it was barren. 21They called on each other in the morning. 22"Let us harvest the crop." 23On their way, they confided to each other. 24That from then on, none of them would be poor. 25They were so absolutely sure of their harvest. 26But when they saw it, they said, "We were so wrong! 27"Now, we have nothing!"
They Should Have Said: "God Willing."
28The righteous among them said, "If only you had glorified (God)!" 29They said, "Glory be to our Lord. We have transgressed." 30They started to blame each other. 31They said, "Woe to us. We sinned. 32"May our Lord grant us a better one. We repent to our Lord." 33Such was the requital. But the retribution of the Hereafter is far worse, if they only knew. 34The righteous have deserved, at their Lord, gardens of bliss. 35Shall we treat the submitters like the criminals? 36What is wrong with your logic? 37Do you have another book to uphold? 38In it, do you find anything you want? 39Or, have you received solemn assurances from us that grant you whatever you wish on the Day of Resurrection? 40Ask them, "Who guarantees this for you?" 41Do they have idols? Let their idols help them, if they are truthful. 42The day will come when they will be exposed, and they will be required to fall prostrate, but they will be unable to. 43With their eyes subdued, humiliation will cover them. They were invited to fall prostrate when they were whole and able.
44Therefore, let Me deal with those who reject this Hadith; we will lead them on whence they never perceive. 45I will give them enough rope; My scheming is formidable. 46Are you asking them for money, so they are burdened by the fine? 47Do they know the future? Do they have it recorded? 48You shall steadfastly persevere in carrying out the commands of your Lord. Do not be like (Jonah) who called from inside the fish. 49If it were not for his Lord's grace, he would have been ejected into the desert as a sinner. 50But his Lord blessed him, and made him righteous. 51Those who disbelieved show their ridicule in their eyes when they hear the message and say, "He is crazy!" 52It is in fact a message to the world.















