The Hidden Secret (Al-Muddath-thir)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
O thou enveloped in thy cloak, 1 arise and give warning! 2 And your Lord (Allah) magnify! 3 And keep your clothes clean. 4 Pollution shun! 5 Give not, thinking to gain greater 6 Exercise patience to please your Lord. 7 Finally, when the Trumpet is sounded, 8 It will be a day of distress, 9 It will not be easy for those who deny the truth. 10 Leave Me alone, (to deal) with the (creature) whom I created (bare and) alone!- 11 and appointed for him ample wealth 12 and children as [love's] witnesses, 13 And made (life) smooth for him. 14 After all that he desires that I should give more; 15 Nay! Verily, he has been stubborn and opposing Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.). 16 I shall soon constrain him to a hard ascent. 17 For he had thought and calculated. 18 death seized him, how was his determining! 19 Again, death seized him, how was his determining! 20 Then he beheld, 21 then he frowned and scowled, 22 Then he turned back and was big with pride, 23 Then he said: "This is nothing but magic from that of old; 24 "This is nothing but the word of a mortal!" 25 Him shall I soon roast in Hell. 26 What do you think Hell-fire is? 27 Naught doth it permit to endure, and naught doth it leave alone!- 28 It glows and burns the skin. 29 Over it are nineteen (angels guarding). 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