The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
A questioner asked about a Penalty to befall- 1 the unbelievers which none can prevent. 2 (A Penalty) from Allah, Lord of the Ways of Ascent. 3 by which the angels and the Spirit will ascend to Him in one Day which will last for fifty thousand years. 4 But be patient (O Muhammad) with a patience fair to see. 5 they see it as being far off; 6 But We see it (quite) near. 7 On that Day the heavens shall become like molten brass, 8 and the mountains will become like dyed tufts of wool, 9 And no friend will ask of a friend, 10 though they shall be within sight of each other. The guilty one will gladly ransom himself from the torment of that Day by sacrificing his own children, 11 And his wife and his brother, 12 his kin who sheltered him, 13 and all those on earth. 14 Never! That is indeed a blazing fire. 15 A remover of exteriors. 16 Calling: "[O Kafir (O disbeliever in Allah, His angels, His Book, His Messengers, Day of Resurrection and in Al-Qadar (Divine Preordainments), O Mushrik (O polytheist, disbeliever in the Oneness of Allah)] (all) such as turn their backs and turn away their faces (from Faith) [picking and swallowing them up from that great gathering of mankind (on the Day of Resurrection) just as a bird picks up a food-grain from the earth with its beak and swallows it up] [Tafsir Al-Qurtubi, Vol. 18, Page 289] 17 Who amasses and then hoards. 18 ۞ Indeed, mankind was created anxious: 19 If evil befalls him he is perturbed; 20 but when they are fortunate, they become niggardly 21 Not so those devoted to Prayer;- 22 Those who remain steadfast to their prayer; 23 those in whose wealth is a right known 24 For the beggar and the destitute. 25 who acknowledge the Day of Judgment, 26 and fear the chastisement of their Lord – 27 Indeed the punishment of their Lord is not a thing to be unafraid of! 28 And those who guard their chastity (i.e. private parts from illegal sexual acts). 29 Except with their wives and the bondwomen in their possession, for there is no reproach on them. 30 And whosoever seeketh beyond that, then it is those who are the trespassers 31 and who are faithful to their trusts and to their pledges: 32 And those who stand firm in their testimonies; 33 And those who keep a guard on their prayer, 34 all these shall live honourably in the Gardens. 35