The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
AN INQUIRER ASKED for the affliction that is to come 1 Upon the disbelievers, which none can avert, 2 from punishing them. He is the Lord of the Ascending Stairways, 3 by which the angels and the Spirit ascend to Him in one Day the duration of which is fifty thousand years. 4 But be patient (O Muhammad) with a patience fair to see. 5 Verily they behold it afar off. 6 While we behold it nigh: 7 The Day that the sky will be like the boiling filth of oil, (or molten copper or silver or lead, etc.). 8 And the mountains will be like flakes of wool, 9 And no friend will ask after a friend, 10 though they may see each other. A sinner will wish that he could save himself from the torment of that day by sacrificing his children, 11 And his spouse and his brother 12 his kinsmen who gave him refuge (from hardship) 13 and all those on earth. 14 By no means! Surely it is a flaming fire 15 Plucking out (his being) right to the skull!- 16 Calling: "[O Kafir (O disbeliever in Allah, His angels, His Book, His Messengers, Day of Resurrection and in Al-Qadar (Divine Preordainments), O Mushrik (O polytheist, disbeliever in the Oneness of Allah)] (all) such as turn their backs and turn away their faces (from Faith) [picking and swallowing them up from that great gathering of mankind (on the Day of Resurrection) just as a bird picks up a food-grain from the earth with its beak and swallows it up] [Tafsir Al-Qurtubi, Vol. 18, Page 289] 17 and who accumulated wealth without spending it for a good purpose. 18 ۞ Surely man was created fretful, 19 Fretful when evil touches him; 20 And, when good befalleth him, grudging; 21 except those that pray 22 and continue at their prayers, 23 who, from their wealth is a known right 24 for such as ask [for help] and such as are deprived [of what is good in life]; 25 who confirm the Day of Doom 26 And those who fear the punishment of their Lord, -- 27 for, behold, of their Sustainer's chastisement none may ever feel [wholly] secure; 28 And those who guard their chastity (i.e. private parts from illegal sexual acts). 29 Except with their wives and the bondwomen in their possession, for there is no reproach on them. 30 (but whoso seeks after more than that, they are the transgressors), 31 and who are faithful to their trusts and to their pledges: 32 And those who stand firm in their testimonies. 33 and are steadfast in their prayers. 34 Such will be the honoured ones in the Gardens (of Bliss). 35