The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
ONE who is minded to ask might ask about the suffering which [in the hereafter] is bound to befall 1 to those who deny the truth. No power can hinder God 2 [It is] from Allah, owner 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 Wherefore be thou patient with a becoming patience. 5 They see the (Day) indeed as a far-off (event): 6 While we behold it nigh: 7 On that Day the heaven shall become like molten copper, 8 And the mountains will be like wool, 9 And no friend will ask after 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 family who had stood by him, 13 And all that are in the earth, so that it might save him. 14 But nay! Verily, all [that awaits him] is a raging flame, 15 tearing away his skin! 16 and it shall call him who withdrew and turned his back 17 And hoarded (wealth) and withheld it. 18 ۞ Lo! man was created anxious, 19 Irritable (discontented) when evil touches him; 20 And refraining, when good reaches him. 21 Except those who closely follow (the Book of God), 22 Who persevere in devotion, 23 And those in whose wealth exists a recognised right, 24 For the beggar and the destitute; 25 And those who accept the truth of the judgment day 26 And those who fear the punishment of their Lord, -- 27 Surely the chastisement of their Lord is (a thing) not to be felt secure of-- 28 who guard their carnal desires 29 Except in the case of their wives or those whom their right hands possess-- for these surely are not to be blamed, 30 And whosoever seeketh beyond that, then it is those who are the trespassers 31 (Those) who keep their trusts and their covenant, 32 And those who stand firm in their testimonies; 33 And those who protect their prayers. 34 Such will be the honoured ones in the Gardens (of Bliss). 35