The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
A doubter once demanded that punishment be immediately meted out, 1 to those who deny the truth. No power can hinder God 2 From Allah, the Lord of all pinnacles. 3 The angels and the Spirit will ascend to Him during a Day the extent of which is fifty thousand years. 4 But be patient (O Muhammad) with a patience fair to see. 5 behold, men look upon that [reckoning] as something far away 6 But We see it very near. 7 [It will take place] on a Day when the sky will be like molten lead, 8 and the mountains will become like dyed tufts of wool, 9 and no bosom friend will enquire about any of his bosom friends 10 Though within sight of one another. The sinner would like to ransom himself from the torment of that Day by offering his sons, 11 And his wife and his brother, 12 And his nearest kindred who shelter him 13 And all that are in the earth, if then it might deliver him. 14 No, in truth, it is a Furnace! 15 A remover of exteriors. 16 Inviting (all) such as turn their backs and turn away their faces (from the Right). 17 And collect (wealth) and hide it (from spending it in the Cause of Allah). 18 ۞ VERILY, man is born with a restless disposition. 19 When they are afflicted, they complain, 20 And refraining, when good reaches him. 21 Save worshippers. 22 Those who are constant at their prayer 23 who, from their wealth is a known right 24 For the needy and those dispossessed, 25 those who firmly believe in the Day of Recompense, 26 And those who are fearful of their Lord's torment 27 Surely no one can be secure from the punishment of his Lord, -- 28 And those who guard their chastity, 29 except in regard to their spouses and those whom their right hands possess, for in regard to them they are not reproachable, 30 But he who seeks to go beyond this, these it is that go beyond the limits-- 31 (Those) who keep their trusts and their covenant, 32 and those who stand by their testimony 33 and who take due care of their Prayer: 34 such people will receive due honor in Paradise. 35