The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
A questioner questioned concerning the doom about to fall 1 which will inevitably seize the disbelievers. 2 No one can defend him against God, the Lord of the exalted positions. 3 The angels and the Ruh [Jibrael (Gabriel)] ascend to Him in a Day the measure whereof is fifty thousand years, 4 Therefore, [O believer,] endure all adversity with goodly patience: 5 behold, men look upon that [reckoning] as something far away 6 Whereas We see it impending. 7 The day when the sky will become as molten copper, 8 And the mountains shall be as tufts of wool 9 and no friend will ask about his friend, 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 his companion wife, his brother, 12 his kin who sheltered him, 13 and all persons of the earth, if only he could thus save himself. 14 But never. It is pure white flame 15 Flaying off the scalp-skin. 16 It will summon whoever turns his back and flees, 17 and amass [wealth] and thereupon withhold [it from their fellow-men]. 18 ۞ Indeed, mankind was created anxious: 19 Fretful when evil befalleth him 20 And niggardly when good befalls him 21 Not so those devoted to Prayer;- 22 Those who are constant in their prayer 23 They are those who assign a certain share of their property 24 for those that ask and those that are dispossessed, 25 those who firmly believe in the Day of Recompense, 26 and fear the chastisement of their Lord – 27 the punishment of their Lord is not something for them to feel secure of, 28 and who are mindful of their chastity, 29 [not giving way to their desires] with any but their spouses - that is, those whom they rightfully possess [through wedlock]: for then, behold, they are free of all blame, 30 but whoever goes beyond this is a transgressor; 31 who honor their trust and promises, 32 And those who stand firm in their testimonies; 33 and are steadfast in their prayers. 34 Those are highly honored in the Gardens. 35