68:1  Nun. (Only Allah and the Messenger [blessings and peace be upon him] know the real meaning.) By the pen and by that (subject) which (the angels) write down

68:2  (O Esteemed Beloved!) By the Grace of your Lord, you are not (at all) insane

68:3  And assuredly, for you there is a reward that will never end

68:4  And assuredly, you are placed high on the Most Glorious and Exalted (seat of) character (i.e., adorned with the Qur’anic morality and endowed with the character traits of Allah)

68:5  Soon you will see and they (too) will see

68:6  As to which of you is mad

68:7  Surely, your Lord knows him best who has strayed from the straight path and (also) knows best those who are rightly guided

68:8  So do not agree with what the beliers say

68:9  They wish that you should become (needlessly) flexible (in the matter of the Din [Religion]). Then they too would show flexibility

68:10  And do not agree with any vile, most mean swearer of oaths

68:11  (The one who is) a slanderer, fault-finder, mischief-monger, (and) who backbites the people to rouse strife

68:12  (The one who) greatly hinders pious works and is a miser, rebellious transgressor (and) toughened sinner

68:13  (The one who is) rude, unmannerly, crooked and moreover of doubtful birth.

68:14  So (do not pay any heed to him) because he is wealthy and has children

68:15  When Our Verses are recited to him, he says: ‘These are the fictitious stories of the bygone people.

68:16  Now We shall brand him on the snout

68:17  Surely, We will try them (the inhabitants of Mecca in the same way) as We tried (in Yemen) the owners of the garden when they swore that they would surely pluck its fruit the next morning

68:18  And they did not make any exception (saying ‘if Allah wills’ or for the share of the orphans)

68:19  So a whirl (of disaster) from your Lord went round (that garden during the night) whilst they were asleep

68:20  So, that (waving fruit-laden garden) became a harvested field in the morning

68:21  Then as the day dawned, they started calling out one another

68:22  ‘Leave early for your tilth if you want to pick the fruit.

68:23  So they set off whispering to one another

68:24  ‘Do not let any pauper come near you in the garden today.

68:25  And early in the morning they left, (feeling) quite competent to execute their plan (of getting the yield and depriving the poor of their share)

68:26  Then when they saw that (ruined garden), they said: ‘We must have lost our way; (this is not our garden).

68:27  (But when they saw it cautiously, they cried: ‘Oh no!) We have been deprived indeed.

68:28  One of them, wise and inclined to the balanced judgment, said: ‘Did I not say to you: Why do you not glorify and remember Allah?

68:29  (Then) they said: ‘Our Lord is Holy. Surely, it is we who were the wrongdoers.

68:30  So, blaming and maligning, they turned to one another

68:31  They said: ‘Woe to us! No doubt it is we who were disobedient and rebellious

68:32  We hope that our Lord may give us something better than this in exchange. Verily, we turn to our Lord.

68:33  Such is the punishment. And truly, the torment of the Hereafter is far greater (than this). Would that they only knew

68:34  Surely, for the Godfearing there are Gardens of Bliss with their Lord

68:35  Shall We (deprive) the obedient like the disobedient

68:36  What is the matter with you? How do you make a judgment

68:37  Do you have any Book with you in which you read (this)

68:38  That it contains all that you like

68:39  Or have you any (such) firm covenants from Us as will subsist till the Day of Resurrection (by means of which We are bound) that you will be provided with whatever you shall decide (for yourselves)

68:40  Ask them which of them will vouch for such (a baseless assertion)

68:41  Or do they have any partners (as well)? Then they should bring their partners if they are truthful

68:42  The Day when the ‘shin’ (i.e., the terrifying fierceness of the Hour of Rising) will be laid bare, and (the disobedient) people will be called to prostrate themselves, but they will not be able to do so (i.e., to prostrate themselves)

68:43  Their eyes will be cast down (with terror and shame) and disgrace will be spreading over them, whereas they were called to prostrate themselves (in the world also) when they were healthy (but they, even then, refused to fall prostrate)

68:44  So, (O Esteemed Beloved,) leave Me (to exact revenge) from the one who rejects this Revelation. Now We shall take them (towards disaster) so gradually that they will not perceive it

68:45  And I am giving them respite. Surely, My strategy is unbeatable

68:46  Do you ask them for any reward (for preaching the faith in Messengership) that they are weighed down with (the burden of) paying the recompense

68:47  Do they have the knowledge of the unseen that they write down (their judgments on the basis of that)

68:48  So be steadfast in waiting for the command of your Lord, and do not (take it to your heart) like (Yunus [Jonah], the Messenger with) fish episode, when he cried out (to Allah) in a state pent up with rage and grief (against his community)

68:49  Had the mercy and blessing of his Lord not helped him, he would certainly have been thrown in the barren field, blamed. (But Allah saved him from that.

68:50  Then his Lord exalted him and (placed him) amongst the perfectly pious (blessing him with His exceptional nearness)

68:51  And indeed, when the disbelievers listen to the Qur’an, it seems as if they wish to damage you with their (jealously evil) looks and say: ‘He is insane.

68:52  And it (the Qur’an) is direction and guidance for all the worlds