The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
A questioner asked concerning a torment about to befall 1 to those who deny the truth. No power can hinder God 2 (A punishment) from Allah, the Owner of the Elevated Passages. 3 all the angels and all the inspiration [ever granted to man] ascend unto Him [daily,] in a day the length whereof is [like] fifty thousand years… 4 So be thou patient with a sweet patience; 5 They see it [the Day of Judgement] to be far off, 6 while We think that it is near at hand. 7 Upon the day when heaven shall be as molten copper 8 and the mountains become like wool, 9 And not a friend shall ask a 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 wife, his brother, 12 And his kin that sheltered him. 13 And all that are in the earth, if then it might deliver him. 14 By no means! Surely it is a flaming fire 15 stripping away his skin, 16 It shall call him who turneth back and backslideth. 17 and amassed wealth and hoarded it. 18 ۞ Surely man is created of a hasty temperament 19 bewailing when evil befalls him, 20 And niggardly when good reaches him;- 21 except those that pray, 22 Those who remain steadfast to their prayer; 23 And those in whose riches is a known right. 24 For the beggar and the destitute; 25 And those who believe in the Day of Judgment, 26 And those who are fearful of the punishment of their Lord - 27 the punishment of their Lord is not something for them to feel secure of, 28 those who preserve their chastity 29 except from their wives and slave girls, in which case they are not to be blamed, 30 And whosoever seeketh beyond that, then it is those who are the trespassers 31 And those who are to their trusts and promises attentive 32 And those who are in their testimonies upright 33 and who take due care of their Prayer: 34 Those shall be in Gardens, high-honoured. 35