Surah Al-Muddaththir, Ayah 21-40 — Word by Word
المدثر
The Cloaked One
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
thumma naẓara
Then he considered [again];
thumma ʿabasa wabasara
Then he frowned and scowled;
thumma adbara wa-is'takbara
Then he turned back and was arrogant
faqāla in hādhā illā siḥ'run yu'tharu
And said, "This is not but magic imitated [from others].
in hādhā illā qawlu l-bashari
This is not but the word of a human being."
sa-uṣ'līhi saqara
I will drive him into Saqar.
wamā adrāka mā saqaru
And what can make you know what is Saqar?
lā tub'qī walā tadharu
It lets nothing remain and leaves nothing [unburned],
lawwāḥatun lil'bashari
Altering [i.e., blackening] the skins.
ʿalayhā tis'ʿata ʿashara
Over it are nineteen [angels].
wamā jaʿalnā aṣḥāba l-nāri illā malāikatan wamā jaʿalnā ʿiddatahum illā fit'natan lilladhīna kafarū liyastayqina alladhīna ūtū l-kitāba wayazdāda alladhīna āmanū īmānan walā yartāba alladhīna ūtū l-kitāba wal-mu'minūna waliyaqūla alladhīna fī qulūbihim maraḍun wal-kāfirūna mādhā arāda l-lahu bihādhā mathalan kadhālika yuḍillu l-lahu man yashāu wayahdī man yashāu wamā yaʿlamu junūda rabbika illā huwa wamā hiya illā dhik'rā lil'bashari
And We have not made the keepers of the Fire except angels. And We have not made their number except as a trial for those who disbelieve - that those who were given the Scripture will be convinced and those who have believed will increase in faith and those who were given the Scripture and the believers will not doubt and that those in whose hearts is disease [i.e., hypocrisy] and the disbelievers will say, "What does Allāh intend by this as an example?" Thus does Allāh send astray whom He wills and guide whom He wills. And none knows the soldiers of your Lord except Him. And it [i.e., mention of the Fire] is not but a reminder to humanity.
kallā wal-qamari
No! By the moon.
wa-al-layli idh adbara
And [by] the night when it departs.
wal-ṣub'ḥi idhā asfara
And [by] the morning when it brightens,
innahā la-iḥ'dā l-kubari
Indeed, it [i.e., the Fire] is of the greatest [afflictions].
nadhīran lil'bashari
As a warning to humanity -
liman shāa minkum an yataqaddama aw yata-akhara
To whoever wills among you to proceed or stay behind.
kullu nafsin bimā kasabat rahīnatun
Every soul, for what it has earned, will be retained.
illā aṣḥāba l-yamīni
Except the companions of the right,.
fī jannātin yatasāalūna
[Who will be] in gardens, questioning each other