The Hidden Secret (Al-Muddath-thir)
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
O thou enveloped in thy cloak, 1 Arise and deliver thy warning! 2 and magnify the glory of your Lord, 3 And your garments do purify, 4 Pollution shun! 5 do not bestow a favour in the expectation of receiving more in return; 6 and for the sake of your Lord, be patient. 7 For when the trumpet blows 8 that day will be a harsh day, 9 Not of ease, for disbelievers. 10 Leave Me and him whom I created alone, 11 And gave him vast wealth. 12 and children as [love's] witnesses, 13 And made life smooth and comfortable for him! 14 then he is eager that I should do more. 15 Nay! For lo! he hath been stubborn to Our revelations. 16 and I shall constrain him to a hard ascent. 17 For he thought and he plotted -- 18 So let him be cursed! How he plotted! 19 And once more let him be cursed, how he plotted! 20 Then he beheld, 21 and then he frowns and glares, 22 Then he turned back and was big with pride, 23 Then said he: "This is nothing but magic, derived from of old; 24 Naught is this but the word of Man. 25 I will drive him into Saqar. 26 And what will explain to thee what Hell-Fire is? 27 It neither spares, nor releases, 28 It shrivelleth the man. 29 Over it are nineteen [powers]. 30 And We have appointed none but the angels to be wardens of the Fire. And their number we have made only a trial for those who disbelieve, so that those who are vouchsafed the Book may be convinced, and that those who believe may increase in faith, and that those who are vouchsafed the Book and the believers may not doubt, and that those in whose hearts is a disease and the infidels may say: what meaneth Allah by this description! In this wise Allah sendeth astray whomsoever He will, and guideth whomsoever He will. And none knoweth the hosts of thy Lord but He. And it is naught but an admonition unto man. 31