Al-Muddaththir

You, wrapped in your cloak,

arise and give warning!

Proclaim the greatness of your Lord;

cleanse yourself;

keep away from all filth;

do not be overwhelmed and weaken;

be steadfast in your Lord’s cause.

When the Trumpet sounds,

that will be a Day of anguish for the disbelievers.

They will have no ease.

[Prophet], leave Me to deal with the one I created helpless,

then gave vast wealth,

and sons by his side,

making everything easy for him––

yet he still hopes I will give him more.

No! He has been stubbornly hostile to Our revelation:

I will inflict a spiralling torment on him.

He planned and plotted––

devilishly he plotted!

ferociously he plotted!––

and looked

and frowned and scowled

and turned away and behaved arrogantly

and said, ‘This is just old sorcery,

just the talk of a mortal!’

I will throw him into the scorching Fire.

What will explain to you what the scorching Fire is?

It spares nothing and leaves nothing;

it scorches the flesh of humans;

there are nineteen in charge of it––

none other than angels appointed by Us to guard Hellfire- and We have made their number a test for the disbelievers. So those who have been given the Scripture will be certain and those who believe will have their faith increased: neither those who have been given the Scripture nor the believers will have any doubts, but the sick at heart and the disbelievers will say, ‘What could God mean by this description?’ God leaves whoever He will to stray and guides whoever He will- no one knows your Lord’s forces except Him- this [description] is a warning to mortals.

Yes––by the moon!

By the departing night!

By the shining dawn!

It is one of the mightiest things,

a warning to all mortals,

to those of you who choose to go ahead and those who lag behind.

Every soul is held in pledge for its deeds,

but the Companions of the Right will stay

in Gardens and ask

about the guilty.

‘What drove you to the Scorching Fire?’ [they will ask]

and they will answer, ‘We did not pray;

we did not feed the poor;

we indulged with others [in mocking the believers];

we denied the Day of Judgement

until the Certain End came upon us.’

No intercessor’s plea will benefit them now.

What is the matter with them? Why do they turn away from the warning,

like frightened asses

fleeing from a lion?

Each one of them demands that a scripture be sent down to him and unrolled before his very eyes-

No! Truly they have no fear of the life to come-

but truly this is a reminder.

Let whoever wishes to take heed do so:

they will only take heed if God so wishes. He is the Lord who should be heeded, the Lord of forgiveness.