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 proclaim the Purity of your Lord. 3 And your garments do purify, 4 And all defilement shun! 5 Nor expect, in giving, any increase (for thyself)! 6 And persevere in the way of your Lord. 7 When the trumpet is sounded,. 8 Truly, that Day will be a Hard Day. 9 Dolorous for the unbelievers. 10 Leave to Me the one, whom I have created all by Myself, 11 And give him vast riches, 12 And sons dwelling in his presence, 13 To whom I made (life) smooth and comfortable! 14 and who still greedily desires that I should bestow upon him more. 15 Not at all! Surely, he has been disobedient to Our verses. 16 We shall make him suffer the torment of hell without relief. 17 He planned and plotted. 18 But may he be cursed how he plotted; 19 Again, death seize him, how he determined! 20 and then he looks [around for new arguments,] 21 and then he frowns and glares, 22 Then he turned back and was proud; 23 Then he said: This is naught but enchantment, narrated (from others); 24 “This is nothing but the speech of a man.” 25 I will cast him into hell. 26 What could make you conceive what hell-fire is? 27 It leaves and spares no one and nothing. 28 and it burns the flesh. 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