The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

The Qur
an
73: 20
396

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74. WRAPPED IN HIS CLOAK
After his 
first encounter with the Angel of Revelation in the Cave of Hira, the
Prophet went home trembling and asked his wife to cover him with his cloak.
The
first verses of this Meccan sura were then revealed (verses 1–7). The sura
goes on, in a section from a later period, to remind the obstinate disbelievers
of their fate on the Day of Judgement (verses 
8–10) and a specific opponent of
the Prophet is singled out (verses 
11–31). The end of the sura (verses 39–53)
exposes the foolishness of the disbelievers’ attitude to the Revelation and the
Day of Resurrection.
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy
1You, wrapped in your cloak, 2arise and give warning! 3Proclaim the
greatness of your Lord; 
4cleanse yourself;
a
5keep away from all
filth;
b
6do not be overwhelmed and weaken;
c
7be steadfast in your
Lord’s cause.
8When the Trumpet sounds, 9that will be a Day of anguish for the
disbelievers. 
10They will have no ease. 11[Prophet], leave Me to deal
with the one I created helpless,
d
12then gave vast wealth, 13and sons
by his side, 
14making everything easy for him––15yet he still hopes I
will give him more. 
16No! He has been stubbornly hostile to Our
revelation: 
17I will inflict a spiralling torment on him. 18He planned
and plotted ––
19devilishly he plotted! 20ferociously he plotted!––
21and looked 22and frowned and scowled 23and turned away and
behaved arrogantly 
24and said, ‘This is just old sorcery, 25just the talk
of a mortal!’
26I will throw him into the scorching Fire. 27What will explain to
you what the scorching Fire is? 
28It spares nothing and leaves
nothing;
29it scorches the flesh of humans; 30there are nineteen in
charge of it ––
31none other than angels appointed by Us to guard
a
Literally ‘clean your garments’ (see Razi for this idiomatic usage of thiyab).
b
Or ‘from all idolatry’.
c
An alternative translation would be ‘do not give, hoping only to receive’. The
translation given above is based on Mujahid’s understanding of manna as ‘to weaken’.
See Razi for this interpretation, which seems much more appropriate to the context.
d
Al-Walid ibn al-Mughira, one of the Prophet’s obstinate opponents.

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Hell
fire–– and We have made their number
a
a test for the dis-
believers. 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. 
32Yes–– by
the moon! 
33By the departing night! 34By the shining dawn! 35It is
one of the mightiest things, 
36a warning to all mortals, 37to those of
you who choose to go ahead and those who lag behind.
38Every soul is held in pledge for its deeds, 39but the Companions
of the Right will stay 
40in Gardens and ask 41about the guilty.
42‘What drove you to the Scorching Fire?’ [they will ask] 43and they
will answer, ‘We did not pray; 
44we did not feed the poor; 45we
indulged with others [in mocking the believers]; 
46we denied the
Day of Judgement 
47until the Certain End came upon us.’ 48No
intercessor’s plea will bene
fit them now.
49What is the matter with them? Why do they turn away from the
warning, 
50like frightened asses 51fleeing from a lion? 52Each one of
them demands that a scripture be sent down to him and unrolled
before his very eyes –
–
53No! Truly they have no fear of the life to
come –
–
54but truly this is a reminder. 55Let whoever wishes to take
heed do so: 
56they will only take heed if God so wishes. He is the
Lord who should be heeded, the Lord of forgiveness.