The Hidden Secret (Al-Muddath-thir)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
O you who covers himself [with a garment], 1 arise and give warning! 2 Glorify your Lord, 3 And thy garments keep free from stain! 4 Pollution shun! 5 And do not confer favor to acquire more 6 And be patient for the sake of your Lord (i.e. perform your duty to Allah)! 7 Then when the horn shall be blown, 8 That, at that time, shall be a difficult day, 9 It will not be easy for those who deny the truth. 10 Leave Me alone with he whom I created 11 whom I have endowed with abundant riches, 12 And sons abiding in his presence 13 To whom I made (life) smooth and comfortable! 14 And who yet coveteth that shall increase. 15 Never. He is refractory of Our signs. 16 Anon I shall afflict him with a fearful woe. 17 Verily he considered, and devised. 18 and thus he destroys himself, the way he meditates: 19 Again, ruin seize him, how did he hatch a scheme? 20 Then he thought; 21 then frowned and scowled; 22 then he retreated and waxed proud, 23 And said: "This is nothing but the magic of old, 24 Nothing more than the speech of a man!" 25 I will drive him into Saqar. 26 What could make you conceive what hell-fire is? 27 It leaveth naught; it spareth naught 28 Darkening and changing the colour of man! 29 Over it are appointed 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