The Hidden Secret (Al-Muddath-thir)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
O thou enveloped in thy cloak, 1 stand up, deliver your warning, 2 proclaim the greatness of your Lord, 3 thy robes purify 4 and flee from the statues! 5 do not bestow a favour in the expectation of receiving more in return; 6 And for the sake of your Lord, be patient. 7 Finally, when the Trumpet is sounded, 8 that very Day shall be a day of anguish, 9 Far from easy for the disbelievers. 10 Leave Me with him whom I alone have created, 11 And for whom I appointed wealth extended. 12 and sons ever present with him, 13 and made all things smooth for him; 14 and who still greedily desires that I should bestow upon him more. 15 Nay! Verily, he has been stubborn and opposing Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.). 16 and I shall constrain him to a hard ascent. 17 Indeed, he thought and deliberated. 18 So may he be destroyed [for] how he deliberated. 19 Again accursed be he, how evilly did he decide! 20 Then he looked, 21 then frowned and scowled; 22 then he retreated, and waxed proud. 23 Then he said: naught is this but magic from of old; 24 This is naught else than speech of mortal man. 25 I will drive him into Saqar. 26 And what could make thee conceive what hell-fire is? 27 It spares nothing; it leaves nothing intact; 28 it scorches the skin; 29 Over it are nineteen. 30 We have appointed only angels to be wardens of the Fire, and their number have We made to be a stumbling-block for those who disbelieve; that those to whom the Scripture hath been given may have certainty, and that believers may increase in faith; and that those to whom the Scripture hath been given and believers may not doubt; and that those in whose hearts there is disease, and disbelievers, may say: What meaneth Allah by this similitude? Thus Allah sendeth astray whom He will, and whom He will He guideth. None knoweth the hosts of thy Lord save Him. This is naught else than a Reminder unto mortals. 31