The Hidden Secret (Al-Muddath-thir)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
O you enveloped in your cloak! 1 Rise up and warn! 2 Proclaim the glory of your Lord; 3 And your garments do purify, 4 And all abomination shun! 5 And do not through giving seek thyself to gain, 6 But for your Lord be patient. 7 And [warn all men that] when the trumpet-call [of resurrection] is sounded, 8 Surely that day will be a day of anguish, 9 It will not be easy for those who deny the truth. 10 Leave Me with the one I created alone 11 and designated for him ample wealth, 12 and sons standing before him, 13 And for whom I smoothed everything. 14 Yet he desireth that I should give more. 15 Nay, verily, it is against Our messages that he knowingly, stubbornly sets himself 16 and I shall constrain him to a hard ascent. 17 Surely he reflected and guessed, 18 (Self-)destroyed is he, how he planned! 19 Let him be destroyed. How he calculated! 20 and then he looks [around for new arguments,] 21 and then he frowns and glares, 22 Then he turned away, and was haughty. 23 and says, "All this is mere spellbinding eloquence handed down [from olden times]! 24 'this is nothing but mortal speech.' 25 Soon I will cast him into hell. 26 And what will make you realize what hell is? 27 It spares nothing; it leaves nothing intact; 28 scorching the flesh; 29 Above it are nineteen guards. 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