The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
A supplicant asked for a punishment bound to happen 1 Upon the disbelievers – the punishment that none can avert. 2 from punishing them. He is the Lord of the Ascending Stairways, 3 by which the angels and the Spirit will ascend to Him in one Day which will last for fifty thousand years. 4 Therefore do thou hold Patience,- a Patience of beautiful (contentment). 5 They see the (Day) indeed as a far-off (event): 6 but We see it near. 7 Upon the day when heaven shall be as molten copper 8 and the mountains shall be like puffs of wool. 9 And not a friend shall ask a friend, 10 though they may see each other. A sinner will wish that he could save himself from the torment of that day by sacrificing his children, 11 And his wife and his brother 12 And his nearest kindred who shelter him 13 And all those who are in the earth – then only if the redemption saves him! 14 By no means! for it would be the Fire of Hell!- 15 Eager to roast; 16 It shall call him who turneth back and backslideth. 17 and amass [wealth] and thereupon withhold [it from their fellow-men]. 18 ۞ Indeed, mankind was created anxious: 19 when evil visits him, impatient, 20 And niggardly when good reaches him;- 21 But not so the worshippers 22 who are steadfast in prayer; 23 who, from their wealth is a known right 24 for the beggar and the outcast, 25 And those who hold to the truth of the Day of Judgment; 26 and are fearful of the punishment of their Lord; 27 for none may ever feel secure from the punishment of their Lord; 28 And those who guard their private parts, 29 Except in the case of their wives or those whom their right hands possess-- for these surely are not to be blamed, 30 But whosoever seeks beyond that, they are the transgressors. 31 and those who fulfil their trusts and their covenants, 32 And those who stand firm in their testimonies; 33 and who take due care of their Prayer: 34 Such will be the honoured ones in the Gardens (of Bliss). 35