The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
A questioner asked concerning a torment about to befall 1 Upon the disbelievers, which none can avert, 2 From Allah, the Lord of the ways of Ascent. 3 To Him the angels and the Spirit mount up, in a day whereof the measure is fifty thousand years. 4 So be thou patient with a sweet patience; 5 behold, men look upon that [reckoning] as something far away 6 but We see it is nigh. 7 The Day that the sky will be like the boiling filth of oil, (or molten copper or silver or lead, etc.). 8 and the mountains will become like dyed tufts of wool, 9 And friend shall not ask of friend 10 though they are in sight of each other. To ransom himself from the punishment of that Day, the sinner will wish that he might even ransom himself by his sons, 11 his companion (wife), his brother, 12 and of all the kinsfolk who ever sheltered him, 13 and whosoever is in the earth, all together, so that then it might deliver him. 14 Never! That is indeed a blazing fire. 15 A remover of exteriors. 16 It will summon whoever turns his back and flees, 17 And accumulated wealth and hoarded it. 18 ۞ Indeed, mankind was created anxious: 19 [As a rule,] whenever misfortune touches him, he is filled with self-pity; 20 but when they are fortunate, they become niggardly 21 Except those who closely follow (the Book of God), 22 and are constant in their Prayer; 23 They are those who assign a certain share of their property 24 For the needy and those dispossessed, 25 And those who believe in the Day of Judgement, 26 And those who fear the torment of their Lord, 27 Indeed, the punishment of their Lord is not that from which one is safe - 28 And those who guard their private parts, 29 except in regard to their spouses and those whom their right hands possess, for in regard to them they are not reproachable, 30 But those who trespass beyond this are transgressors;- 31 And those who of their trusts and their covenant are keepers. 32 And those who are upright in their testimonies, 33 and (finally) those who do not miss their ritual - prayers at the prescribed times; 34 all these shall live honourably in the Gardens. 35