The Hidden Secret (Al-Muddath-thir)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
O YOU ENFOLDED in your mantle (of reform), 1 Arise, and warn. 2 And your Lord (Allah) magnify! 3 And thine inner self purify! 4 and flee from the statues! 5 And bestow not favour that thou mayest receive more. 6 but unto thy Sustainer turn in patience. 7 Then when the horn shall be blown, 8 it will be a hard day 9 Far from easy for the disbelievers. 10 LEAVE Me alone [to deal] with him whom I have created alone, 11 and whom I have granted abundant wealth 12 And children present [with him] 13 To whom I made (life) smooth and comfortable! 14 Yet is he greedy-that I should add (yet more);- 15 Not at all! Surely, he has been disobedient to Our verses. 16 [and so] I shall constrain him to endure a painful uphill climb! 17 Indeed he thought, and inwardly decided. 18 and woe to him; how he plotted! 19 And once more let him be cursed, how he plotted! 20 May he be condemned again for his schemes! He looked around, 21 And frowned and puckered his brow, 22 Then he turned back and was haughty; 23 Then said he: "This is nothing but magic, derived from of old; 24 These are only words from a mere mortal". 25 I shall surely roast him in Sakar; 26 And what could make thee conceive what hell-fire is? 27 It leaves and spares no one and nothing. 28 It glows and burns the skin. 29 Over it are nineteen [powers]. 30 We have appointed only angels to be wardens of the Fire. We have specified their number only as a trial for those who are bent on denying the truth, so that those who were given the Book might gain in certainty, and those who believe might increase in faith -- and so that neither those who have been given the Scripture nor the believers might have any doubts, and that those sick at heart and those who deny the truth might ask, "What does God mean by this parable?" In this way, God lets go astray whom He wills, and guides whom He wills. And none knows the forces of your Lord but He. This is but a Reminder for man. 31