Revealed in Makkah, Surah Al-Muddaththir (The Cloaked One) marks one of the earliest commands to the Prophet to rise and warn humanity, purify his garments, and avoid clean-looking impurity. It warns the arrogant leaders of Makkah of the terrifying entry into the scorching fire of Saqar, listing the reasons for their destruction: neglecting prayer, failing to feed the poor, and mocking the Day of Judgment.
Transliteration
Ya ayyuha almuddaththiru
Translation
O you Enrobed one
The affectionate divine address to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ: after witnessing Angel Gabriel in his majestic cosmic form between heaven and earth, the Prophet rushed home trembling and asked his family to cover him with a cloak.
Transliteration
Qum faanthir
Translation
Arise and warn
The decisive historical command transitioning the Prophet ﷺ from private contemplation to active public mission, commanding him to stand up and deliver the divine warning to humanity.
Transliteration
Warabbaka fakabbir
Translation
And magnify your Lord
Commands that all supreme greatness, majesty, and devotion be dedicated exclusively to God alone, dismantling all human idolatry and ego.
Transliteration
Wathiyabaka fatahhir
Translation
And purify your clothes
Commands both outer physical cleanliness (pure clothes and bodily hygiene) and inner moral purification from sin and hypocrisy.
Transliteration
Waalrrujza faohjur
Translation
And abandon abominations
Commands complete abandonment and avoidance of idolatry, pagan superstitions, and vulgar moral conduct.
Transliteration
Wala tamnun tastakthiru
Translation
And show no favor seeking gain
Transliteration
Walirabbika faisbir
Translation
And be constant for your Lord
Transliteration
Faitha nuqira fee alnnaqoori
Translation
When the Trumpet is blown
Transliteration
Fathalika yawmaithin yawmun AAaseerun
Translation
That Day will be a difficult day
Transliteration
AAala alkafireena ghayru yaseerin
Translation
For the disbelievers—not easy
Transliteration
Tharnee waman khalaqtu waheedan
Translation
Leave Me to him whom I created alone
Targets the arrogant Meccan oligarch al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah, who was nicknamed 'Al-Wahid' (The Unique) because of his self-made fortune and ten influential sons who accompanied him everywhere in Meccan high society.
Transliteration
WajaAAaltu lahu malan mamdoodan
Translation
And gave him vast wealth
Transliteration
Wabaneena shuhoodan
Translation
And children as witnesses
Transliteration
Wamahhadtu lahu tamheedan
Translation
And smoothed things for him
Transliteration
Thumma yatmaAAu an azeeda
Translation
Then he wants Me to add yet more
Transliteration
Kalla innahu kana liayatina AAaneedan
Translation
By no means! He was stubborn towards Our revelations
Transliteration
Saorhiquhu saAAoodan
Translation
I will exhaust him increasingly
Transliteration
Innahu fakkara waqaddara
Translation
He thought and analyzed
A psychological slow-motion capture of bad-faith intellectual dishonesty: describes al-Walid privately admitting the Quran's unmatched literary beauty, yet pacing back and forth, scowling, turning away in stubborn pride, and finally concocting a calculated public smear: 'This is nothing but ancient magic copied from mortals.'
Transliteration
Faqutila kayfa qaddara
Translation
May he perish, how he analyzed
Transliteration
Thumma qutila kayfa qaddara
Translation
Again: may he perish, how he analyzed
Transliteration
Thumma nathara
Translation
Then he looked
Transliteration
Thumma AAabasa wabasara
Translation
Then he frowned and whined
Transliteration
Thumma adbara waistakbara
Translation
Then he turned back and was proud
Transliteration
Faqala in hatha illa sihrun yutharu
Translation
And said, “This is nothing but magic from the past
Transliteration
In hatha illa qawlu albashari
Translation
This is nothing but the word of a mortal.”
Transliteration
Saosleehi saqara
Translation
I will roast him in Saqar
Transliteration
Wama adraka ma saqaru
Translation
But what will explain to you what Saqar is
Transliteration
La tubqee wala tatharu
Translation
It neither leaves, nor spares
Transliteration
Lawwahatun lilbashari
Translation
It scorches the flesh
Transliteration
AAalayha tisAAata AAashara
Translation
Over it are Nineteen
Reveals that Hellfire (Saqar) is overseen by nineteen ('Tis'ata 'Ashar') angelic wardens.
Transliteration
Wama jaAAalna ashaba alnnari illa malaikatan wama jaAAalna AAiddatahum illa fitnatan lillatheena kafaroo liyastayqina allatheena ootoo alkitaba wayazdada allatheena amanoo eemanan wala yartaba allatheena ootoo alkitaba waalmuminoona waliyaqoola allatheena fee quloobihim maradun waalkafiroona matha arada Allahu bihatha mathalan kathalika yudillu Allahu man yashao wayahdee man yashao wama yaAAlamu junooda rabbika illa huwa wama hiya illa thikra lilbashari
Translation
We have appointed only angels to be wardens of the Fire, and caused their number to be a stumbling block for those who disbelieve; so that those given the Scripture may attain certainty; and those who believe may increase in faith; and those given the Scripture and the believers may not doubt; and those in whose hearts is sickness and the unbelievers may say, “What did God intend by this parable?” Thus God leads astray whom He wills, and guides whom He wills. None knows the soldiers of your Lord except He. This is nothing but a reminder for the mortals
Addresses the mocking reaction of Meccan leaders: Abu Jahl scoffed, jokingly telling his muscular friends that each of their clans could easily overpower nineteen men. The verse clarifies that these guardians are not human guards, but nineteen colossal, terrifying angels whose sheer power makes resistance impossible.
Transliteration
Kalla waalqamari
Translation
Nay! By the moon
Transliteration
Waallayli ith adbara
Translation
And the night as it retreats
Transliteration
Waalssubhi itha asfara
Translation
And the morning as it lights up
Transliteration
Innaha laihda alkubari
Translation
It is one of the greatest
Transliteration
Natheeran lilbashari
Translation
A warning to the mortals
Transliteration
Liman shaa minkum an yataqaddama aw yataakhkhara
Translation
To whomever among you wishes to advance, or regress
Transliteration
Kullu nafsin bima kasabat raheenatun
Translation
Every soul is hostage to what it has earned
Transliteration
Illa ashaba alyameeni
Translation
Except for those on the Right
Transliteration
Fee jannatin yatasaaloona
Translation
In Gardens, inquiring
Transliteration
AAani almujrimeena
Translation
About the guilty
Transliteration
Ma salakakum fee saqara
Translation
“What drove you into Saqar?”
The inhabitants of Paradise interrogate the criminals in Saqar: 'What led you into the Scorching Fire?'
Transliteration
Qaloo lam naku mina almusalleena
Translation
They will say, “We were not of those who prayed
Presents the four fatal spiritual and social crimes confessed by the damned: (1) abandoning daily prayer, (2) callous refusal to feed and champion the poor, (3) indulging in toxic, cynical social mockery and vain discourse, and (4) stubbornly denying the Day of Judgment until death arrived.
Transliteration
Walam naku nutAAimu almiskeena
Translation
Nor did we feed the destitute
Transliteration
Wakunna nakhoodu maAAa alkhaideena
Translation
And we used to indulge with those who indulge
Transliteration
Wakunna nukaththibu biyawmi alddeeni
Translation
And we used to deny the Day of Judgment
Transliteration
Hatta atana alyaqeenu
Translation
Until the Inevitable came upon us.”
Transliteration
Fama tanfaAAuhum shafaAAatu alshshafiAAeena
Translation
But the intercession of intercessors will not help them
Transliteration
Fama lahum AAani alttathkirati muAArideena
Translation
Why are they turning away from the Reminder
Transliteration
Kaannahum humurun mustanfiratun
Translation
As though they were panicked donkeys
Transliteration
Farrat min qaswaratin
Translation
Fleeing from a lion
A humorous and vivid classical metaphor describing deniers panicking at the Quran's reminder: compares them to frightened wild zebras and donkeys stampeding in blind terror when fleeing from a hunting lion ('Qaswarah').
Transliteration
Bal yureedu kullu imriin minhum an yuta suhufan munashsharatan
Translation
Yet every one of them desires to be given scrolls unrolled
Transliteration
Kalla bal la yakhafoona alakhirata
Translation
No indeed! But they do not fear the Hereafter
Transliteration
Kalla innahu tathkiratun
Translation
Nevertheless, it is a reminder
Transliteration
Faman shaa thakarahu
Translation
So whoever wills, shall remember it
Transliteration
Wama yathkuroona illa an yashaa Allahu huwa ahlu alttaqwa waahlu almaghfirati
Translation
But they will not remember, unless God wills. He is the Source of Righteousness, and the Source of Forgiveness