The Hidden Secret (Al-Muddath-thir)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
O, you, wrapped in your cloak, 1 Arise and warn, 2 Thy Lord magnify, 3 purify your garments; 4 and defilement flee! 5 And give not a thing in order to have more (or consider not your deeds of Allah's obedience as a favour to Allah). 6 Exercise patience to please your Lord. 7 Then when the horn shall be blown, 8 It will be a day of distress, 9 For the unbelievers, anything but easy. 10 Leave Me with the one I created alone 11 To whom I granted resources in abundance, 12 and sons that stand in witness. 13 And spread [everything] before him, easing [his life]. 14 Yet he wants that I should give him more. 15 Nay! He is forward unto Our signs; 16 Anon I shall afflict him with a fearful woe. 17 He reflected, and then determined 18 And woe to him! How he plotted!- 19 Again, death seized him, how was his determining! 20 Then he looked, 21 frowned and scowled, 22 Then he turned back and was big with pride, 23 and said: 'This is no more than traced sorcery; 24 It is nothing but the word of a mortal' 25 Him shall I fling unto the burning. 26 Would that you really knew what hell is! 27 It leaveth naught; it spareth naught 28 It strips away the hide of man. 29 Over it are appointed 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