The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
A questioner asked concerning a torment about to befall 1 to those who deny the truth. No power can hinder God 2 from God, the Lord of the Stairways. 3 by which the angels and the Spirit will ascend to Him in one Day which will last for fifty thousand years. 4 So persevere with becoming patience. 5 Verily! They see it (the torment) afar off, 6 And We see it nigh. 7 The day when the sky will be like molten silver. 8 and the mountains will become like tufts of wool, 9 And not a friend shall ask a friend, 10 They will be seeing them; the guilty will wish if only he could redeem himself from the punishment of that day, by offering his sons. 11 And his spouse and his brother 12 And his kin that sheltered him. 13 and whosoever is in the earth, all together, so that then it might deliver him. 14 But nay! for lo! it is the fire of hell 15 stripping away his skin, 16 calling him who drew back and turned away, 17 and amass [wealth] and thereupon withhold [it from their fellow-men]. 18 ۞ Indeed, the human was created grudging and impatient. 19 When they are afflicted, they complain, 20 and tight-fisted when good fortune visits him, 21 except those that pray, 22 Those who are constant at their prayer 23 those who give a due share of their wealth 24 for the beggar and the outcast, 25 And those who hold to the truth of the Day of Judgment; 26 And those who fear the punishment of their Lord, -- 27 for none is secure from the punishment of their Lord, 28 And those who protect their private organs (from adultery). 29 Are free of blame, 30 So those who desire more than this – it is they who are the transgressors. 31 and those who are faithful to their trusts and to their pledges; 32 And those who are firm upon their testimonies. 33 And those who protect their prayers. 34 These will dwell in Gardens, honoured. 35