يَا أَيُّهَا الْمُدَّثِّرُ
O THOU [in thy solitude] enfolded! (1)
قُمْ فَأَنْذِرْ
Arise and warn! (2)
وَرَبَّكَ فَكَبِّرْ
And thy Sustainer's greatness glorify! (3)
وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ
And thine inner self purify! (4)
وَالرُّجْزَ فَاهْجُرْ
And all defilement shun! (5)
وَلَا تَمْنُنْ تَسْتَكْثِرُ
And do not through giving seek thyself to gain, (6)
وَلِرَبِّكَ فَاصْبِرْ
but unto thy Sustainer turn in patience. (7)
فَإِذَا نُقِرَ فِي النَّاقُورِ
And [warn all men that] when the trumpet-call [of resurrection] is sounded, (8)
فَذَٰلِكَ يَوْمَئِذٍ يَوْمٌ عَسِيرٌ
that very Day shall be a day of anguish, (9)
عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ غَيْرُ يَسِيرٍ
not of ease, for all who [now] deny the truth! (10)
ذَرْنِي وَمَنْ خَلَقْتُ وَحِيدًا
LEAVE Me alone [to deal] with him whom I have created alone, (11)
وَجَعَلْتُ لَهُ مَالًا مَمْدُودًا
and to whom I have granted resources vast, (12)
وَبَنِينَ شُهُودًا
and children as [love's] witnesses, (13)
وَمَهَّدْتُ لَهُ تَمْهِيدًا
and to whose life I gave so wide a scope: (14)
ثُمَّ يَطْمَعُ أَنْ أَزِيدَ
and yet, he greedily desires that I give yet more! (15)
كَلَّا إِنَّهُ كَانَ لِآيَاتِنَا عَنِيدًا
Nay, verily, it is against Our messages that he knowingly, stubbornly sets himself (16)
سَأُرْهِقُهُ صَعُودًا
[and so] I shall constrain him to endure a painful uphill climb! (17)
إِنَّهُ فَكَّرَ وَقَدَّرَ
Behold, [when Our messages are conveyed to one who is bent on denying the truth,] he reflects and meditates [as to how to disprove them] (18)
فَقُتِلَ كَيْفَ قَدَّرَ
and thus he destroys himself, the way he meditates: (19)
ثُمَّ قُتِلَ كَيْفَ قَدَّرَ
yea, he destroys himself, the way he meditates! (20)
ثُمَّ نَظَرَ
and then he looks [around for new arguments], (21)
ثُمَّ عَبَسَ وَبَسَرَ
and then he frowns and glares, (22)
ثُمَّ أَدْبَرَ وَاسْتَكْبَرَ
and in the end he turns his back [on Our message], and glories in his arrogance, (23)
فَقَالَ إِنْ هَٰذَا إِلَّا سِحْرٌ يُؤْثَرُ
and says, "All this is mere spellbinding eloquence handed down [from olden times]! (24)
إِنْ هَٰذَا إِلَّا قَوْلُ الْبَشَرِ
This is nothing but the word of mortal man!" (25)
سَأُصْلِيهِ سَقَرَ
[Hence,] I shall cause him to endure hell-fire [in the life to come]! (26)
وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا سَقَرُ
And what could make thee conceive what hell-fire is? (27)
لَا تُبْقِي وَلَا تَذَرُ
It does not allow to live, and neither leaves [to die], (28)
لَوَّاحَةٌ لِلْبَشَرِ
making [all truth] visible to mortal man. (29)
عَلَيْهَا تِسْعَةَ عَشَرَ
Over it are nineteen [powers]. (30)
وَمَا جَعَلْنَا أَصْحَابَ النَّارِ إِلَّا مَلَائِكَةً وَمَا جَعَلْنَا عِدَّتَهُمْ إِلَّا فِتْنَةً لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لِيَسْتَيْقِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ وَيَزْدَادَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِيمَانًا وَلَا يَرْتَابَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَلِيَقُولَ الَّذِينَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ مَرَضٌ وَالْكَافِرُونَ مَاذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِهَٰذَا مَثَلًا كَذَٰلِكَ يُضِلُّ اللَّهُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيَهْدِي مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَمَا يَعْلَمُ جُنُودَ رَبِّكَ إِلَّا هُوَ وَمَا هِيَ إِلَّا ذِكْرَىٰ لِلْبَشَرِ
For We have caused none but angelic powers to lord over the fire [of hell]; and We have not caused their number to be aught but a trial for those who are bent on denying the truth – to the end that they who have been granted revelation aforetime might be convinced [of the truth of this divine writ]; and that they who have attained to faith [in it] might grow yet more firm in their faith; and that [both] they who have been granted the earlier revelation and they who believe [in this one] might be freed of all doubt; and that they in whose hearts is disease and they who deny the truth outright might ask, "What does [your] God mean by this parable?" In this way God lets go astray him that wills [to go astray],and guides aright him that wills [to be guided]. And none can comprehend thy Sustainer's forces save Him alone: and all this is but a reminder to mortal man. (31)
- O THOU [in thy solitude] enfolded!1
- 1 The expression muddaththir (an abbreviated form of mutadaththir) signifies "one who is covered [with something]" or "enfolded [in something]"; and all philologists point out that the verb dathara, from which the above participial noun is derived, may equally well have a concrete or abstract connotation. Most of the commentators understand the phrase "O thou enfolded one" in its literal, concrete sense, and assume that it refers to the Prophet's habit of covering himself with a cloak or blanket when he felt that a revelation was about to begin. Razi, however, notes that this apostrophe may well have been used metaphorically, as an allusion to Muhammad's intense desire for solitude before the beginning of his prophetic mission (cf. introductory note to surah 96): and this, according to Razi, would explain his being thus addressed in connection with the subsequent call, "Arise and warn" - i.e., "Give now up thy solitude, and stand up before all the world as a preacher and warner."
- O thou wrapped up5778 (in the mantle)!
- 5778 In these wonderful early mystic verses there is a double thread of thought; (1) A particular occasion or person is referred to; (2) a general spiritual lesson is taught. As to (1), the Prophet was now past the stage of personal contemplation, lying down or sitting in his mantle; he was now to go forth; boldly to deliver his Message and publicly proclaim the Lord; his heart had always been purified, but now all his outward doings must be dedicated to Allah, and conventional respect for ancestral customs or worship must be thrown aside; his work as a Messenger was the most generous gift that could flow from his personality, but no reward or appreciation was to be expected from his people, but quite the contrary; there would be much call on his patience, but his contentment would arise from the good pleasure of Allah. As to (2), similar stages arise in a minor degree in the life of every good man, for which the Prophet's life is to be a universal pattern. (R).
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O thou wrapped up (in the mantle)!
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
O thou enveloped in thy cloak,
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
O you who are clothed!
— M. Habib Shakir -
O you (Muhammad SAW) enveloped (in garments)!
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
O thou enveloped?
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
O you (Prophet Muhamad), the cloaked,
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
O thou cloaked!
— Ayub Khan -
O thou who hast covered thyself with thy cloak,
— Sher Ali -
O THOU [in thy solitude] enfolded!
— Muhammad Asad -
O thou shrouded in thy mantle,
— Arthur Arberry -
O you enveloped in your cloak!{{1}}
— Abu'l Ala Maududi