The Hidden Secret (Al-Muddath-thir)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace
O THOU [in thy solitude] enfolded! 1 Arise, and warn, 2 And proclaim the Purity of your Lord. 3 Thy raiment purify, 4 And all defilement shun! 5 and bestow not favour in order to seek from others a greater return, 6 be patient unto your Lord. 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 to Me the one, whom I have created all by Myself, 11 whom I have endowed with abundant riches, 12 And children to be by his side! 13 I made things smooth and easy for him, 14 Yet he desireth that I should give more. 15 By no means! He has been stubbornly hostile to Our revelation: 16 Soon will I visit him with a mount of calamities! 17 Indeed he thought, and inwardly decided. 18 So may he be destroyed [for] how he deliberated. 19 Again, ruin seize him, how did he hatch a scheme? 20 Then he beheld, 21 Then he frowned and scowled, 22 Then he turned back and was haughty; 23 And said: "This is nothing but the magic of old, 24 This is not but the word of a human being." 25 Him shall I soon roast in Hell. 26 And what will make you know exactly what Hell-fire is? 27 It leaveth naught; it spareth naught 28 it scorches the skin; 29 Over it are nineteen (angels as guardians and keepers of Hell). 30 For We have caused none but angelic powers to lord over the fire [of hell]; and We have not caused their number to be aught but a trial for those who are bent on denying the truth - to the end that they who have been granted revelation aforetime might be convinced [of the truth of this divine writ]; and that they who have attained to faith [in it] might grow yet more firm in their faith; and that [both] they who have been granted the earlier revelation and they who believe [in this one] might be freed of all doubt; and that they in whose hearts is disease and they who deny the truth outright might ask, "What does [your] God mean by this parable?" In this way God lets go astray him that wills [to go astray,] and guides aright him that wills [to be guided]. And none can comprehend thy Sustainers forces save Him alone: and all this is but a reminder to mortal man. 31