# Sura  68 - The Pen

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-20 — 1 clipping.*

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> SURA LXVIII (68) - The Pen        (Mecca - 52 Verses)          (XVII - 32)   
>  
>        In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
>  
>        Nun.  By the Pen and by wht they write,
>  
>        Thou, O Prophet; by the grace of Thy Lord art not possessed!
>  
>        And truly a boundless recompense doth await thee,
>  
>        For thou art of a noble nature.
>  
>        But thou shalt see and they shall see
>  
>        Which of you is the demented.
>  
>        Now thy Lord! well knoweth He the man who erreth from his path, and well
> doth he know those who have yielded to Guidance;
>  
>        Give not place, therefore, to those who treat thee as a liar:
>  
>        They desire thee to deal smoothly with them: then would they be smooth
> as oil with thee:
>  
> 68:10  But yield not to the man of oaths, a despicable person,
>  
>        Defamer, going about with slander,
>  
>        Hinderer of the good, transgressor, criminal,
>  
>        Harsh - beside thee, impure by birth,
>  
>        Though a man of riches and blessed with sons.
>  
>        Who when our wondrous verses are recited to him saith - "Fables of the
> ancients."
>  
>        We will brand him on the nostrils.
>  
>        Verily, 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;
>  
>        But added no reserve.
>  
>        Wherefore an encircling desolation from thy Lord swept round it while
> they slumbered,
>  
> 68:20  And in the morning it was like a garden whose fruits had all been cut.
>  
>        Then at dawn they called to each other,
>  
>        "Go out early to your field, if ye would cut your dates."
>  
>        So on they went whispering to each other,
>  
>        "No poor man shall set foot this day within your garden;"
>  
>        And they went out at daybreak with this settled purpose.
>  
>        But when they beheld it, they said, "Truly we have been in fault:
>  
>        Yes! we are forbidden our fruits."
>  
>        The most rightminded of them said, "Did I not say to you, Will ye not
> give praise to God?"
>  
>        They said, "Glory to our Lord!  Truly we have done amiss."
>  
> 68:30  And they fell to blaming one another:
>  
>        They said, "Oh woe to us! we have indeed transgressed!
>  
>        Haply our Lord will give us in exchange a better garden then this:
> verily we crave it of our Lord."
>  
>        Such hath been our chastisement - but heavier shall be the chastisement
> of the next world.  Ah! did they but know it.
>  
>        Verily, for the God-fearing are gardens of delight in the presence of
> their Lord.
>  
>        Shall we then deal with those who have surrendered themselves to God, as
> with those who offend him?
>  
>        What hath befallen you that ye thus judge?
>  
>        Have ye a Scripture wherein ye can search out
>  
>        That ye shall have the things ye choose?
>  
>        Or have ye received oaths which shall bind Us even until the day of
> resurrection, that ye shall have what yourselves judge right?
>  
> 68:40  As them which of them will guarantee this?
>  
>        Or is it that they have joined gods with God?  let them produce those
> associate-gods of theirs, if they speak truth.
>  
>        On the day when men's legs shall be bared, and they shall be called upon
> to bow in adoration, they shall not be able:
>  
>        Their looks shall be downcast: shame shall cover them: because, while
> yet in safety, they were invited to bow in worship, but would not obey.
>  
>        Leave 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;
>  
>        Yet will I bear long with them; for my plan is sure.
>  
>        Askest thou any recompense from them?  But they are burdened with debt.
>  
>        Are the secret things within their ken?  Do they copy them from the Book
> of God?
>  
>        Patiently 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.
>  
>        Had not favour from his Lord reached him, cast forth would he have been
> on the naked shore, overwhelmed with shame:
>  
> 68:50  But his Lord chose him and made him of the just .
>  
>        Almost 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."
>  
>        Yet is is nothing less than a warning for all creatures.
>
> — *Sura  68 - The Pen*