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 warn, 2 And your Lord do magnify, 3 And keep your clothes clean. 4 stay away from sins 5 And do not confer favor to acquire more 6 but unto thy Sustainer turn in patience. 7 When the Trumpet is sounded, 8 Surely that day will be a day of anguish, 9 Not of ease, for disbelievers. 10 Leave Me with him whom I alone have created, 11 And to whom I granted extensive wealth 12 And sons present by his side. 13 And for whom I smoothed everything. 14 yet he is eager that I increase him. 15 By no means! For to Our Signs he has been refractory! 16 I will cover him with arduous torment. 17 He reflected, and then determined 18 But may he be cursed how he plotted; 19 Again, death seize him, how he determined! 20 Then he looked, 21 Then he frowned and he looked in a bad tempered way; 22 Then he turned back and was proud; 23 and said: “This (Qur'an) is merely a sorcery of yore; 24 "This is nothing but the word of a mortal!" 25 [Hence,] I shall cause him to endure hell-fire [in the life to come]! 26 And what will explain to thee what Hell-Fire is? 27 It spares nothing; it leaves nothing intact; 28 Scorching 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