| | Aisha Bewley rendition of Surah The Pen(al-Qalam)
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| 68:1 | | Nun. By the Pen and what they write down! |
| 68:2 | | By the blessing of your Lord, you are not mad. |
| 68:3 | | You will have a wage which never-fails. |
| 68:4 | | Indeed you are truly vast in character. |
| 68:5 | | So you will see and they will see |
| 68:6 | | which of you is mad. |
| 68:7 | | Your Lord knows best who is misguided from His Way and He knows best those who are guided. |
| 68:8 | | So do not obey those who deny the truth. |
| 68:9 | | They wish that you would conciliate them, then they too would be conciliating. |
| 68:10 | | But do not obey any vile swearer of oaths, |
| 68:11 | | any backbiter, slandermonger, |
| 68:12 | | impeder of good, evil aggressor, |
| 68:13 | | gross, coarse and furthermore, despicable, |
| 68:14 | | simply because he possesses wealth and sons. |
| 68:15 | | When Our Signs are recited to him, he says, ´Just myths of previous peoples!´ |
| 68:16 | | We will brand him on the snout! |
| 68:17 | | We have tried them as We tried the owners of the garden when they swore that they would harvest in the morning |
| 68:18 | | but did not say the redeeming words, ´If Allah wills´. |
| 68:19 | | So a visitation from your Lord came upon it while they slept |
| 68:20 | | and in the morning it was like burnt land stripped bare. |
| 68:21 | | In the morning they called out to one another, |
| 68:22 | | ´Leave early for your land if you want to pick the fruit.´ |
| 68:23 | | So they set off, quietly saying to one another, |
| 68:24 | | ´Do not let any poor man into it today while you are there.´ |
| 68:25 | | They left early, intent on carrying out their scheme. |
| 68:26 | | But when they saw it, they said, ´We must have lost our way. |
| 68:27 | | No, the truth is we are destitute!´ |
| 68:28 | | The best of them said, ´Did I not say to you, "Why do you not glorify Allah?"´ |
| 68:29 | | They said, ´Glory be to our Lord! Truly we have been wrongdoers.´ |
| 68:30 | | They turned to face each other in mutual accusation. |
| 68:31 | | They said, ´Woe to us! We were indeed inordinate. |
| 68:32 | | Maybe our Lord will give us something better than it in exchange. We entreat our Lord.´ |
| 68:33 | | Such is the punishment. And the punishment of the Next World is much greater if they only knew. |
| 68:34 | | The people who have taqwa will have Gardens of Delight with their Lord. |
| 68:35 | | Would We make the Muslims the same as the evildoers? |
| 68:36 | | What is the matter with you? On what basis do you judge? |
| 68:37 | | Or do you have a Book which you study, |
| 68:38 | | so that you may have anything in it you choose? |
| 68:39 | | Or do you have oaths which bind Us, extending to the Day of Rising, that you will have whatever you decide? |
| 68:40 | | Ask them which of them stands as guarantor for that! |
| 68:41 | | Or do they have Divine partners? Then let them produce their partners if they are telling the truth! |
| 68:42 | | On the Day when legs are bared and they are called on to prostrate, they will not be able to do so. |
| 68:43 | | Their eyes will be downcast, darkened by debasement; for they were called on to prostrate when they were in full possession of their faculties. |
| 68:44 | | So leave anyone who denies this discourse to Me! We will lead them, step by step, into destruction from where they do not know. |
| 68:45 | | I will allow them more time. My subterfuge is sure. |
| 68:46 | | Or do you ask them for a wage so they are weighed down with debt? |
| 68:47 | | Or is the Unseen in their hands, so they can write out what is to happen? |
| 68:48 | | So wait steadfastly for the judgement of your Lord. Do not be like the Companion of the Fish when he called out in absolute despair. |
| 68:49 | | Had a blessing from his Lord not overtaken him, he would have been thrown up on the naked shore, for he was at fault. |
| 68:50 | | But his Lord chose him and made him one of the righteous. |
| 68:51 | | Those who are kafir all but strike you down with their evil looks when they hear the Reminder and say, ´He is quite mad.´ |
| 68:52 | | But it is nothing less than a Reminder to all the worlds. |
