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 give warning! 2 proclaim the greatness of your Lord, 3 And your garments purify! 4 and defilement flee! 5 And do not through giving seek thyself to gain, 6 And for the sake of your Lord, patiently endure. 7 For when the Trump is sounded 8 That will be- that Day - a Day of Distress,- 9 not of ease, for all who [now] deny the truth! 10 Leave Me alone with he whom I created 11 And gave him vast wealth. 12 And sons present by his side. 13 And made life smooth and comfortable for him! 14 and yet, he greedily desires that I give him even more! 15 Not at all! Surely, he has been disobedient to Our verses. 16 I shall oblige him to (climb a slippery mountain in the Hell-fire called As-Sa'ud, or to) face a severe torment! 17 Verily he considered, and devised. 18 So let him be cursed! How he plotted! 19 Let him be destroyed. How he calculated! 20 Then he thought; 21 frowned and scowled, 22 Then he turned back and was proud; 23 and said: “This (Qur'an) is merely a sorcery of yore; 24 This is naught else than speech of mortal man. 25 I will cast him into hell. 26 And what could make thee conceive what hell-fire is? 27 It neither leaves, nor spares. 28 and it burns the flesh. 29 over it are nineteen. 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