The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
A questioner asked concerning a torment about to befall 1 those who deny the truth. [Know, then, that] nothing can ward it off, 2 [since it will come] from God, unto whom there are many ways of ascent: 3 To whom the angels and the soul take a day to ascend, whose length is fifty thousand years. 4 So be patient with gracious patience. 5 behold, men look upon that [reckoning] as something far away 6 While we behold it nigh: 7 On that Day the heaven shall become like molten copper, 8 And the hills become as flakes of wool, 9 no loyal friend shall question loyal 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 wife and his brother, 12 and his kinsfolk who had stood by him, 13 and whosoever is in the earth, all together, so that then it might deliver him. 14 No! Indeed, it is the Flame [of Hell], 15 It snatches away by the scalps, 16 It calls out to him who reverted and turned away. 17 And accumulated wealth and hoarded it. 18 ۞ Surely man is greedy by nature. 19 Fretful when evil touches him; 20 but when good comes upon him, he is grudging 21 save those that pray 22 Those who are regular in their prayers. 23 And those in whose wealth exists a recognised right, 24 for those that ask and those that are dispossessed, 25 And those who believe in the Day of Recompense, 26 And those who are fearful of their Lord's doom - 27 For their Lord's displeasure is the opposite of Peace and Tranquillity;- 28 who guard their privates 29 except from their wives and slave girls, in which case they are not to be blamed, 30 (but whoso seeks after more than that, they are the transgressors), 31 And those who are faithful to their trusts and their covenant 32 And those who are firm upon their testimonies. 33 and who guard their prayers [from all worldly intent]. 34 Those shall be in gardens, honored. 35