The Hidden Secret (Al-Muddath-thir)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
O thou enveloped in thy cloak, 1 arise, and warn! 2 proclaim the greatness of your Lord, 3 And thine inner self purify! 4 and flee from the statues! 5 Do not give, thinking to gain greater 6 and for the sake of your Lord, be patient. 7 When the Horn is blown, 8 So that is a tough day. 9 It will not be easy for those who deny the truth. 10 Leave Me with the one I created alone 11 and appointed for him ample wealth 12 And sons abiding in his presence 13 And I adjusted affairs for him adjustably; 14 Yet he desireth that I should give more. 15 By no means! For to Our Signs he has been refractory! 16 We shall make him suffer the torment of hell without relief. 17 He reflected and then hatched a scheme. 18 and thus he destroys himself, the way he meditates: 19 What an evil plan he has made! 20 May he be condemned again for his schemes! He looked around, 21 And frowned and puckered his brow, 22 Then turned he back, and grew stiff-necked. 23 and said: “This (Qur'an) is merely a sorcery of yore; 24 Naught is this but the word of Man. 25 I will cast him into Hell-fire 26 And what could make thee conceive what hell-fire is? 27 It leaves nothing, nor does it spare; 28 and it burns the flesh. 29 Above it are nineteen. 30 We have not appointed the guards of hell, except angels; and did not keep this number except to test the disbelievers – in order that the People given the Book(s) may be convinced, and to increase the faith of the believers – and so that the People given the Book(s) and the Muslims may not have any doubt – and so that those in whose hearts is a disease and the disbelievers, may say, “What does Allah mean by this amazing example?” This is how Allah sends astray whomever He wills, and guides whomever He wills; and no one knows the armies of Allah except Him; and this is not but an advice to man. 31