The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

a
Reports state that the Meccans were hoping that the Prophet would die, so that they
could be rid of him once and for all.
Control
383
67: 30

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68. THE PEN
An early Meccan sura that deals with the accusation that Muhammad was not
God’s Messenger but merely mad (verses 
2–6). The arrogance of those who
assume that, because they have some of the good things in this life, they can
reject the Revelation, is rebutted (verses 
10–16). Examples are given of those who
came to regret their arrogance (verses 
17–33). The Prophet is urged to remain
steadfast (verses 
48–52).
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy
1Nun
By the pen! By all they write!
a
2Your Lord’s grace
b
does not make
you [Prophet] a madman: 
3you will have a never-ending reward––
4truly you have a strong character––5and soon you will see, as will
they, 
6which of you is afflicted with madness. 7Your Lord knows best
who strays from His path and who is rightly guided. 
8So do not yield
to those who deny the truth ––
9they want you to compromise with
them and then they will compromise with you ––
10do not yield to any
contemptible swearer, 
11to any backbiter, slander-monger, 12or hin-
derer of good, to anyone who is sinful, aggressive, 
13coarse, and on
top of all that, an imposter.
c
14Just because he has wealth and sons,
15when our revelations are recited to him, he says, ‘These are just
ancient fables.’ 
16We shall brand him on the snout!
17We have tried them as We tried the owners of a certain garden,
who swore that they would harvest its fruits in the morning 
18and
made no allowance [for the Will of God]:
d
19a disaster from your
Lord struck the garden as they slept 
20and by morning it was
a
This could refer to the angels and what they write down of people’s deeds or to the
generic pen and what people write, thus swearing by the ability to write with which God
endowed human beings. Cf. 
96: 4–5.
b
Receiving God’s revelation. See esp. 
15: 6 for the accusation of madness, which
occurs countless times with reference to various prophets in the Qur
an. Another inter-
pretation is ‘by God’s grace . . .’.
c
This is said to refer to al-Walid ibn al-Mughira, a staunch opponent of the Prophet.
d
Or ‘[for the poor]’.

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stripped bare, a desolate land. 
21Still they called each other at day-
break,
22‘Go early to your field if you wish to gather all its fruits,’
23and went off, whispering, 24‘Make sure no poor person enters the
garden today!’ ––
25they left early, bent on their purpose–– 26but when
they saw the garden, they said, ‘We must have lost our way! 
27No––
we are ruined!’
28The wisest of them said, ‘Did I not say to you,
“Will you not glorify God?”’–
–
29they said, ‘Glory be to God, Our
Lord! Truly, we were doing wrong!’–
–
30and then they turned to each
other in mutual reproach. 
31They said, ‘Alas for us! We have done
terrible wrong, 
32but maybe our Lord will give us something better
in its place: we truly turn to Him in hope.’
33Such is the punishment
[in this life], but greater still is the punishment in the Hereafter, if
only they knew.
34There will be Gardens of bliss for those who are mindful of
God.
35Should We treat those who submit to Us as We treat those
who do evil? 
36What is the matter with you? On what basis do you
judge?
37Do you have a Scripture that tells you 38that you will be
granted whatever you choose? 
39Have you received from Us solemn
oaths, binding to the Day of Resurrection, that you will get whatever
you yourselves decide? 
40Ask them [Prophet] which of them will
guarantee this. 
41Do they have ‘partners’ [besides God]? Let them
produce their ‘partners’, if what they say is true. 
42On the Day when
matters become dire,