Al-Muddaththir
Makkan Period
In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate
[1] O you enveloped in your cloak!1 [2] Arise, and warn, [3] and magnify the glory of your Lord, [4] and purify your robes, [5] and shun uncleanness, [6] and bestow not favour in order to seek from others a greater return, [7] and persevere for your Lord’s sake.
[8] When the Trumpet shall be sounded,2 [9] that will surely be a hard day, [10] not an easy day for the unbelievers. [11] Leave Me with him whom I alone have created,3 [12] whom I have endowed with abundant riches, [13] and sons ever present with him, [14] and for whom I have smoothed the way (to power and riches), [15] and who still greedily desires that I should bestow upon him more. [16] By no means; he is stubbornly opposed to Our Signs. [17] I shall soon constrain him to a hard ascent. [18] He reflected and then hatched a scheme. [19] Ruin seize him, how did he hatch a scheme? [20] Again, ruin seize him, how did he hatch a scheme? [21] He looked (at others); [22] then frowned and scowled; [23] then he retreated and waxed proud, [24] and said: “This (Qur’ān) is merely a sorcery of yore; [25] this is nothing but the word of a mere mortal!” [26] Him shall I soon roast in Hell. [27] And what do you know what Hell is? [28] It spares nothing; it leaves nothing intact;4 [29] it scorches (even) the skin. [30] Over it are nineteen keepers. [31] We5 have appointed none but angels as the keepers of the Fire, and We have not made their number but as a trial for the unbelievers so that those who have been endowed with the Book will be convinced and the believers’ faith will increase, and neither those who have been endowed with the Book nor the believers will fall into any doubt.6 As for those in whose hearts there is a sickness as well as the unbelievers, they will say: “What did Allah aim at by this strange parable?” Thus does Allah let whomsoever He pleases to go astray, and directs whomsoever He pleases to the Right Way. And none knows the hosts of your Lord but He. (And Hell has only been mentioned here) that people may take heed. [32] Nay,7 by the moon, [33] and by the night when it recedes, [34] and by the day when it dawns (with its radiance), [35] surely (Hell) is one of the greatest Signs,8 [36] a warning to humankind, [37] a warning to everyone of you whether he would like to come forward or lag behind.
[38] Each one is a hostage to one’s deeds, [39] save the People of the Right Hand [40] who shall be in the Gardens, and shall ask [41] about the guilty ones:9 [42] “What drove you to Hell?” [43] They will answer: “We were not among those who observed Prayer, [44] and we did not feed the poor, [45] and we indulged in vain talk with those who indulged in vain talk, [46] and we gave the lie to the Day of Judgement [47] until the inevitable event overtook us.” [48] The intercession of the intercessors shall then be of no avail to them.
[49] What is the matter with people that they are turning away from this Exhortation, [50] as though they were frightened wild asses, [51] fleeing from a lion?10 [52] No indeed; each one of them desires that open letters be sent to each of them.11 [53] No indeed; the truth is that they have no fear of the Hereafter. [54] Nay;12 this is an Exhortation. [55] So, whoever wills may benefit from it. [56] But they will not benefit from it unless Allah Himself so wills. He is worthy to be feared; and He is worthy to forgive (those that fear Him).
1. The first seven verses of this sūrah are those in which the Prophet (peace be on him) was directed for the first time ever to preach Islam’s Message to others. The very first revelation of the Qur’ān consisted of the verses of Sūrah 96 (Sūrah al-ʿAlaq). Vv. 1-7 of this sūrah are the first verses to be revealed after the revelation of that sūrah.
2. These verses were revealed a few months after the revelation of the initial verses of the present sūrah at the time of the first Ḥajj following the commencement of Islam’s public preaching. This was on the occasion when the chiefs of the Quraysh held a conference wherein they decided to launch a vigorous propaganda campaign designed to poison the minds of the Pilgrims who came from outside Makkah against the Qur’ān and the Prophet (peace be on him).
3. This refers to Walīd ibn Mughīrah. In his own heart Mughīrah was convinced that the Qur’ān was the Word of God. But in order to retain his position as a tribal chief of Makkah he counselled during that conference (see n. 2 above) that the Prophet (peace be on him) was a sorcerer and the Qur’ān no more than a piece of sorcery.
4. Hell will not spare anyone who deserves to be chastised; and once it seizes anyone, it will not let him escape chastisement.
5. The whole passage commencing from the present verse until “And none knows the hosts of your Lord but He” (v. 31) is a parenthetical statement which has been introduced here to respond to the unbelievers’ objection that God had appointed only 19 angels as Hell’s keepers. They instantly began to ridicule this statement. They considered it quite bizarre that on the one hand it was said that all people from the time of Adam till the end of time who had rejected the true faith and had committed mortal sins would be cast into Hell. Yet, it was also being claimed that Hell would have no more than 19 keepers to chastise such enormous hordes of people.
6. The People of the Book and the believers were well acquainted with the extraordinary abilities of angels. It was evident to them, therefore, that it was perfectly feasible for the 19 keepers to cope efficiently with Hell’s administration.
7. That is, what is being said here is not baseless prattle or irresponsible gossip. There was no occasion, therefore, to subject it to ridicule.
8. In the same way that the moon and the night and the day are all among the Great Signs of God’s power, so also is Hell.
9. This implies that the inmates of Paradise will be able, even while remaining there, to communicate with the inmates of Hell.
10. This is an idiomatic Arabic expression. No sooner do wild asses sense danger than they are totally stupefied and flee in fright in a manner that no other animals do.
11. The Makkan chiefs were of the opinion that if God had indeed designated Muḥammad (peace be on him) as a Prophet, He should have sent a letter to each of the chiefs and elders of Makkah informing them of this. (Only then would they accept him as a Prophet.)
12. “No indeed” is said here to stress that God will not accede to any such requests.