The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
A caller supplicated about a punishment to fall on 1 those who deny the truth. [Know, then, that] nothing can ward it off, 2 a chastisement from Allah, the Lord of the ascending steps, 3 To Him the angels and the Spirit (Gabriel) ascend in a day, the measure of which is fifty thousand years. 4 So be thou patient with a sweet patience; 5 Verily they behold it afar off. 6 but We see it to be very near. 7 It shall befall on a Day whereon the heaven shall become like unto dregs of oil. 8 And the mountains will be like flakes of wool, 9 And no familiar friend will ask a question of his 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 of his spouse, and of his brother, 12 And his kin that harboured him 13 and whosoever is in the earth, altogether, so that it might save him. 14 But nay! Verily, all [that awaits him] is a raging flame, 15 A fire that melts the hide. 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 and who accumulated wealth without spending it for a good purpose. 18 ۞ Surely man was created fretful, 19 Fretful when evil befalleth him 20 And refraining, when good reaches him. 21 Except those who closely follow (the Book of God), 22 who are constant in prayer; 23 And those in whose wealth is a recognised right. 24 for the needy and the deprived, 25 those who firmly believe in the Day of Recompense, 26 who are afraid of the torment of their Lord, 27 for, behold, of their Sustainer's chastisement none may ever feel [wholly] secure; 28 those who preserve their chastity 29 except from their wives and slave girls, in which case they are not to be blamed, 30 But whosoever seeks beyond that, they are the transgressors. 31 And those who keep their pledges and their covenant, 32 and those who stand by their testimony 33 and who guard their prayers [from all worldly intent]. 34 They will be honoured in the Gardens of Bliss. 35