Chapter 74, 56 verses
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. O you (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) enveloped in garments!
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم يا أيها المدثر
O you who are clothed!
Arise and warn!
قم فأنذر
Arise and warn,
And magnify your Lord (Allah)!
وربك فكبر
And your Lord do magnify,
And purify your garments!
وثيابك فطهر
And your garments do purify,
And keep away from Ar-Rujz (the idols)!
والرجز فاهجر
And uncleanness do shun,
And give not a thing in order to have more (or consider not your deeds of obedience to Allah as a favour to Him).
ولا تمنن تستكثر
And bestow not favors that you may receive again with increase,
And be patient for the sake of your Lord (i.e. perform your duty to Allah)!
ولربك فاصبر
And for the sake of your Lord, be patient.
Then, when the Trumpet is sounded (i.e. the second blowing of the horn).
فإذا نقر في الناقور
For when the trumpet is sounded,
Truly, that Day will be a Hard Day -
فذلك يومئذ يوم عسير
That, at that time, shall be a difficult day,
Far from easy for the disbelievers.
على الكافرين غير يسير
For the unbelievers, anything but easy.
Leave Me Alone (to deal) with whom I created lonely (without any wealth or children etc, i.e. Al-Walid bin Al-Mughirah Al-Makhzumi)!
ذرني ومن خلقت وحيدا
Leave Me and him whom I created alone,
And then granted him resources in abundance.
وجعلت له مالا ممدودا
And give him vast riches,
And children to be by his side.
وبنين شهودا
And sons dwelling in his presence,
And made life smooth and comfortable for him.
ومهدت له تمهيدا
And I adjusted affairs for him adjustably;
After all that he desires that I should give more;
ثم يطمع أن أزيد
And yet he desires that I should add more!
Nay! Verily, he has been opposing Our Ayat (proofs, evidence, verses, lessons, signs, revelations).
كلا ۖ إنه كان لآياتنا عنيدا
By no means! surely he offers opposition to Our communications.
I shall oblige him to (climb a slippery mountain in the Hell-fire called As-Sa'ud, or) face a severe torment!
سأرهقه صعودا
I will make a distressing punishment overtake him.
Verily, he thought and plotted.
إنه فكر وقدر
Surely he reflected and guessed,
So let him be cursed: how he plotted!
فقتل كيف قدر
But may he be cursed how he plotted;
And once more let him be cursed: how he plotted!
ثم قتل كيف قدر
Again, may he be cursed how he plotted;
Then he thought.
ثم نظر
Then he looked,
Then he frowned and he looked in a bad tempered way;
ثم عبس وبسر
Then he frowned and scowled,
Then he turned back, and was proud.
ثم أدبر واستكبر
Then he turned back and was big with pride,
Then he said: "This is nothing but magic from that of old,
فقال إن هذا إلا سحر يؤثر
~Then he said: This is naught but enchantment, narrated (from others);
"This is nothing but the word of a human being!"
إن هذا إلا قول البشر
This is naught but the word of a mortal.
I will cast him into Hell-fire.
سأصليه سقر
I will cast him into hell.
And what will make you know (exactly) what Hell-fire is?
وما أدراك ما سقر
And what will make you realize what hell is?
It spares not (any sinner), nor does it leave (anything unburnt)!
لا تبقي ولا تذر
It leaves naught nor does it spare aught.
Burning and blackening the skins!
لواحة للبشر
It scorches the mortal.
Over it are nineteen (angels as guardians and keepers of Hell).
عليها تسعة عشر
Over it are nineteen.
And We have set none but angels as guardians of the Fire. And We have fixed their number (19) only as a trial for the disbelievers, in order that the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) may arrive at a certainty [that this Qur'an is the truth as it agrees with their Books regarding the number (19) which is written in the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel)] and that the believers may increase in Faith (as this Qur'an is the truth), and that no doubt may be left for the people of the Scripture and the believers, and that those in whose hearts is a disease (of hypocrisy) and the disbelievers may say: "What Allah intends by this (curious) example ?" Thus Allah leads astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills. And none can know the hosts of your Lord but He. And this (Hell) is nothing else than a (warning) reminder to mankind.
وما جعلنا أصحاب النار إلا ملائكة ۙ وما جعلنا عدتهم إلا فتنة للذين كفروا ليستيقن الذين أوتوا الكتاب ويزداد الذين آمنوا إيمانا ۙ ولا يرتاب الذين أوتوا الكتاب والمؤمنون ۙ وليقول الذين في قلوبهم مرض والكافرون ماذا أراد الله بهذا مثلا ۚ كذلك يضل الله من يشاء ويهدي من يشاء ۚ وما يعلم جنود ربك إلا هو ۚ وما هي إلا ذكرى للبشر
And We have not made the wardens of the fire others than angels, and We have not made their number but as a trial for those who disbelieve, that those who have been given the book may be certain and those who believe may increase in faith, and those who have been given the book and the believers may not doubt, and that those in whose hearts is a disease and the unbelievers may say: What does Allah mean by this parable? Thus does Allah make err whom He pleases, and He guides whom He pleases, and none knows the hosts of your Lord but He Himself; and this is naught but a reminder to the mortals.
Nay! And by the moon
كلا والقمر
Nay; I swear by the moon,
And by the night when it withdraws.
والليل إذ أدبر
And the night when it departs,
And by the dawn when it brightens.
والصبح إذا أسفر
And the daybreak when it shines;
Verily, it (Hell, or their denial of Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, or the Day of Resurrection) is but one of the greatest (signs).
إنها لإحدى الكبر
Surely it (hell) is one of the gravest (misfortunes),
A warning to mankind -
نذيرا للبشر
A warning to mortals,
To any of you that chooses to go forward (by working righteous deeds), or to remain behind (by committing sins).
لمن شاء منكم أن يتقدم أو يتأخر
To him among you who wishes to go forward or remain behind.
Every person is a pledge for what he has earned,
كل نفس بما كسبت رهينة
Every soul is held in pledge for what it earns,
Except those on the Right, (i.e. the pious true believers of Islamic Monotheism).
إلا أصحاب اليمين
Except the people of the right hand,
In Gardens (Paradise) they will ask one another,
في جنات يتساءلون
In gardens, they shall ask each other
About Al-Mujrimun (polytheists, criminals, disbelievers), (And they will say to them):
عن المجرمين
About the guilty:
"What has caused you to enter Hell?"
ما سلككم في سقر
What has brought you into hell?
They will say: "We were not of those who used to offer the Salat (prayers),
قالوا لم نك من المصلين
They shall say: We were not of those who prayed;
"Nor we used to feed Al-Miskin (the poor);
ولم نك نطعم المسكين
And we used not to feed the poor;
"And we used to talk falsehood (all that which Allah hated) with vain talkers.
وكنا نخوض مع الخائضين
And we used to enter into vain discourse with those who entered into vain discourses.
And we used to belie the Day of Recompense,
وكنا نكذب بيوم الدين
And we used to call the day of judgment a lie;
"Until there came to us (the death) that is certain."
حتى أتانا اليقين
Till death overtook us.
So no intercession of intercessors will be of any use to them.
فما تنفعهم شفاعة الشافعين
So the intercession of intercessors shall not avail them.
Then what is wrong with them (i.e. the polytheists, the disbelievers) that they turn away from (receiving) admonition?
فما لهم عن التذكرة معرضين
What is then the matter with them, that they turn away from the admonition
As if they were (frightened) wild donkeys.
كأنهم حمر مستنفرة
As if they were asses taking fright
Fleeing from a hunter, or a lion, or a beast of prey.
فرت من قسورة
That had fled from a lion?
Nay, everyone of them desires that he should be given pages spread out (coming from Allah with a writing that Islam is the right religion, and Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم has come with the truth from Allah, the Lord of the heavens and earth).
بل يريد كل امرئ منهم أن يؤتى صحفا منشرة
Nay; every one of them desires that he may be given pages spread out;
Nay! But they fear not the Hereafter (from Allah's punishment).
كلا ۖ بل لا يخافون الآخرة
Nay! but they do not fear the hereafter.
Nay, verily, this (Qur'an) is an admonition,
كلا إنه تذكرة
Nay! it is surely an admonition.
So whosoever will (let him read it), and receive admonition (from it)!
فمن شاء ذكره
So whoever pleases may mind it.
And they will not receive admonition unless Allah wills; He (Allah) is the One, deserving that mankind should be afraid of, and should be dutiful to Him, and should not take any Ilah (god) along with Him, and He is the One Who forgives (sins).
وما يذكرون إلا أن يشاء الله ۚ هو أهل التقوى وأهل المغفرة
And they will not mind unless Allah please. He is worthy to be feared and worthy to forgive.