The Hidden Secret (Al-Muddath-thir)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
O THOU [in thy solitude] enfolded! 1 Arise and warn, 2 And thine Lord magnify! 3 Purify your inner self, 4 and shun uncleanness, 5 And do not through giving seek thyself to gain, 6 And persevere in the way of your Lord. 7 And [warn all men that] when the trumpet-call [of resurrection] is sounded, 8 That, at that time, shall be a difficult day, 9 and it will not be easy for the unbelievers. 10 Leave him to Me, the one whom I created single. 11 and to whom I have granted resources in abundance, 12 and children living in his presence, 13 and whom I have provided with every resource, 14 Yet he desires that I should give more. 15 Never. He is refractory of Our signs. 16 I shall soon constrain him to a hard ascent. 17 Verily he considered, and devised. 18 So may he be destroyed [for] how he deliberated. 19 Again, death seize him, how he determined! 20 Then he looked round; 21 Then he frowned and he looked in a bad tempered way; 22 then he retreated and grew proud 23 And said: This is naught else than magic from of old; 24 These are only words from a mere mortal". 25 I will cast him into hell. 26 And what can make you know what is Saqar? 27 It spares nothing; it leaves nothing intact; 28 It shrivelleth the man. 29 there are nineteen [angels] in charge of it -- 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