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 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 The angels and the Spirit will ascend to Him during a Day the extent of which is fifty thousand years. 4 Therefore, [O believer,] endure all adversity with goodly patience: 5 Verily! They see it (the torment) afar off, 6 but We see it near at hand. 7 On that Day the heavens shall become like molten brass, 8 And then the mountains shall become like unto wool dyed. 9 And no friend will ask after a friend, 10 Though they will be given sight of them. The guilty man will long to be able to ransom himself from the punishment of that day at the price of his children 11 And his spouse and his brother. 12 the kinsmen who gave him shelter, 13 and all persons of the earth, if only he could thus save himself. 14 By no means! For the raging flames of the fire 15 that will strip off the scalp. 16 and drag into it anyone who has turned away (from obeying God), 17 and amassed wealth and hoarded it. 18 ۞ Indeed, the human was created grudging and impatient. 19 When evil touches him, impatient, 20 when good visits him, grudging, 21 except those that pray 22 and are constant in their Prayer; 23 And those in whose wealth there is a fixed portion. 24 For the petitioner and the deprived - 25 And those who hold to the truth of the Day of Judgment; 26 And those who fear the punishment of their Lord, -- 27 Lo! the doom of their Lord is that before which none can feel secure - 28 And those who preserve their chastity 29 Save in regard to their spouses or those whom their right hands own; so verily they are not blameworthy 30 whereas such as seek to go beyond that [limit] are truly transgressors; 31 and those who are faithful to their trusts and to their pledges; 32 who testify to what they have witnessed, 33 and who observe their prayers. 34 Such will be the honoured ones in the Gardens (of Bliss). 35