The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

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
1 You, wrapped in your cloak, 2 arise and give warning! 3 Proclaim the
greatness of your Lord; 4 cleanse yourself; a 5 keep away from all
filth; b 6 do not be overwhelmed and weaken; c 7 be steadfast in your
Lord’s cause.
8 When the Trumpet sounds, 9 that will be a Day of anguish for the
disbelievers. 10 They will have no ease. 11 [Prophet], leave Me to deal
with the one I created helpless, d 12 then gave vast wealth, 13 and sons
by his side, 14 making everything easy for him––15 yet he still hopes I
will give him more. 16 No! He has been stubbornly hostile to Our
revelation: 17 I will inflict a spiralling torment on him. 18 He planned
and plotted––19 devilishly he plotted! 20 ferociously he plotted!––
21 and looked 22 and frowned and scowled 23 and turned away and
behaved arrogantly 24 and said, ‘This is just old sorcery, 25 just the talk
of a mortal!’
26 I will throw him into the scorching Fire. 27 What will explain to
you what the scorching Fire is? 28 It spares nothing and leaves
nothing; 29 it scorches the flesh of humans; 30 there are nineteen in
charge of it––31 none 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.