The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
AN INQUIRER ASKED for the affliction that is to come 1 for the unbelievers, which none may avert, 2 (A Penalty) from Allah, Lord of the Ways of Ascent. 3 To Him the angels and the Spirit (Gabriel) ascend in a day, the measure of which is fifty thousand years. 4 So be patient with gracious patience. 5 Indeed, they see it [as] distant, 6 And We behold it nigh. 7 It shall befall on a Day whereon the heaven shall become like unto dregs of oil. 8 And the mountains will be like wool, 9 even intimate friends will not inquire about their friends, 10 although they shall be within sight of one another. The guilty one would fain ransom himself from the torment of that Day by offering his children, 11 And his wife and his brother. 12 And his kin that harboured him 13 and whosoever is in the earth, all together, so that then it might deliver him. 14 No! Indeed, it is the Flame [of Hell], 15 stripping away his skin, 16 It shall call him who turneth back and backslideth. 17 And masseth and then hoardeth. 18 ۞ Lo! man was created anxious, 19 When they are afflicted, they complain, 20 And niggardly when good befalls him 21 Except those who closely follow (the Book of God), 22 Who are constant at their worship 23 They are those who assign a certain share of their property 24 For the petitioner and the deprived - 25 who confirm the Day of Doom 26 and who stand in dread of their Sustainer's chastisement 27 Verily the torment of their Lord is not a thing to feel secure from. 28 And those who of their private parts are guards. 29 except from their spouses and those whom they rightfully possess [through wedlock], for which they incur no blame -- 30 (but whoso seeks after more than that, they are the transgressors), 31 and those who fulfil their trusts and their covenants, 32 and those who stand by their testimony 33 and who are constant in their prayers. 34 Those shall be in gardens, honored. 35