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 Thy Lord magnify, 3 Thy raiment purify, 4 and defilement flee! 5 and do not think that by doing such deeds, you have done a great favor to God. 6 And for the good-will of thy Lord be thou patient. 7 Then when the horn shall be blown, 8 it will be a hard day 9 For the infidels, not easy. 10 Leave Me with the one I created alone 11 and to whom I have granted resources vast, 12 and children as [love's] witnesses, 13 And for whom I smoothed everything. 14 Yet he desireth that I should give more. 15 Nay! For lo! he hath been stubborn to Our revelations. 16 and I shall constrain him to a hard ascent. 17 Indeed, he thought and deliberated. 18 death seized him, how was his determining! 19 Let him be destroyed. How he calculated! 20 Then looked he, 21 then he frowned, and scowled, 22 then turned back, and swelling-up with pride, 23 Then he said: naught is this but magic from of old; 24 "This is nothing but the word of a mortal!" 25 Him shall I soon roast in Hell. 26 And what could make thee conceive what hell-fire is? 27 It does not allow to live, and neither leaves [to die,] 28 Darkening and changing the colour of man! 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