74

74. Al-Muddaththir - The One Wrapping Himself Up

1O YOU ENFOLDED in your mantle (of reform),
2Arise and warn,
3Glorify your Lord,
4Purify your inner self,
5And banish all trepidation.
6Do not bestow favours in expectation of return,
7And persevere in the way of your Lord.
8For when the trumpet blows
9It will be a day of distress,
10Dolorous for the unbelievers.
11Leave him to Me whom I created alone,
12And gave him abundant wealth
13And sons always present by his side,
14And made things easy for them.
15Yet he wants that I should give him more.
16Never. He is refractory of Our signs.
17I shall inflict on him hardship,
18For he had thought and calculated.
19May he be accursed, how he planned!
20May be then be accursed, how he plotted!
21Then he looked around,
22And frowned and puckered his brow,
23Then turned his back and waxed proud,
24And said: "This is nothing but the magic of old,
25Nothing more than the speech of a man!"
26I will cast him into the fire of Hell.
27What do you think Hell-fire is?
28It leaves nothing, nor does it spare;
29It glows and burns the skin.
30Over it are nineteen (guards).
31We have not appointed any one but angels as keepers of Hell, and their number that We have fixed is to make it a means of contention for disbelievers, so that those who were given the Book may be certain, and the faith of the believers may have greater increase, and the people of the Book and believers may not be deceived, and the sceptics and infidels may say: "What does God mean by this parable?" That is how God leads whosoever He will astray, and guides whosoever He will. None knows the armies of your Lord save Him self. This is no more than reminder for mankind.
32I say the truth, and call the moon to witness,
33And the night when on the wane,
34The morning when it is unveiled,
35That (Hell) is surely one of the greater (signs),
36A warning for people --
37Whoever of you desires to progress or lag behind.
38Every soul is pledged to what it does,
39Except those of the right hand
40Sitting in the gardens, asking
41Of evil-doers:
42"What was it that brought you to Hell?"
43They will answer: "We did not fulfil our devotional obligations,
44And did not feed the needy,
45And plunged into useless things with those who were obstinate,
46And rejected the Day of Judgement as a lie
47Until the certainty (of death) had come upon us.
48So, the intercession of intercessors will not avail them.
49Why then do they turn away from the admonition
50As though they were frightened asses
51Fleeing from a lion?
52In fact every one of them wants to be given open books (like the prophets).
53By no means. In fact they do not fear the Hereafter.
54Never so, as this is a reminder.
55Let him then who heeds remember it.
56But they will not remember except as God wills: He is worthy to be feared, and He is worthy of forgiving
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