The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
A questioner asked of a chastisement about to fall 1 for the unbelievers, which none may avert, 2 From God, the Lord of the steps (of progression), 3 To Him the angels and the Spirit (Gabriel) ascend in a day, the measure of which is fifty thousand years. 4 So persevere with becoming patience. 5 Surely they think it to be far off, 6 But We see it (quite) near. 7 It shall befall on a Day whereon the sky will become like molten brass, 8 And then the mountains shall become like unto wool dyed. 9 and no bosom friend will enquire about any of his bosom friends 10 as they are given sight of them. The sinner will wish that he might ransom himself from the chastisement of that day even by his sons, 11 And his wife and his brother 12 and his kinsfolk who had stood by him, 13 And all that are in the earth, so that it might save him. 14 But no! There is a raging blaze 15 That would skin the scalp. 16 It shall insistently summon him who turned his back and retreated, 17 and who accumulated wealth without spending it for a good purpose. 18 ۞ Lo! man was created anxious, 19 [As a rule,] whenever misfortune touches him, he is filled with self-pity; 20 And niggardly when good befalls him 21 Except the observers of prayer - 22 Those who remain steadfast to their prayer; 23 And those within whose wealth is a known right 24 for the beggar and the outcast, 25 those who firmly believe in the Day of Recompense, 26 and are fearful of the punishment of their Lord; 27 For their Lord's displeasure is the opposite of Peace and Tranquillity;- 28 And those who guard their private parts, 29 Except with their wives and the (captives) whom their right hands possess,- for (then) they are not to be blamed, 30 But those who seek more than this will be transgressors; 31 And those who keep their pledges and their covenant, 32 who testify to what they have witnessed, 33 and who are constant in their prayers. 34 Those are highly honored in the Gardens. 35