The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
A questioner questioned concerning the doom about to fall 1 Upon the infidels -- which none would be able to repel -- 2 from God, the Lord of the Stairways. 3 by which the angels and the Spirit ascend to Him in one Day the duration of which is fifty thousand years. 4 So be patient (O Muhammad SAW), with a good patience. 5 Lo! they behold it afar off 6 but, We see it as near! 7 [It will take place] on a Day when the sky will be like molten lead, 8 And the mountains will be like wool, 9 And no friend will ask of a friend, 10 They will be seeing them; the guilty will wish if only he could redeem himself from the punishment of that day, by offering his sons. 11 And his wife and his brother 12 And his kindred who sheltered him, 13 And all those that are in the earth, (wishing) then (that) this might deliver him. 14 But nay! for lo! it is the fire of hell 15 It snatches away by the scalps, 16 and drag into it anyone who has turned away (from obeying God), 17 and amass [wealth] and thereupon withhold [it from their fellow-men]. 18 ۞ Indeed, mankind was created anxious: 19 When evil touches him, impatient, 20 and whenever good fortune comes to him, he selfishly withholds it [from others]. 21 Not so those devoted to Prayer;- 22 Those who remain constant in their Salat (prayers); 23 And those in whose wealth exists a recognised right, 24 For the beggar and the destitute; 25 And those who testify to the Day of Requital. 26 and are fearful of the punishment of their Lord; 27 Lo! the doom of their Lord is that before which none can feel secure - 28 and who are mindful of their chastity, 29 except in regard to their spouses and those whom their right hands possess, for in regard to them they are not reproachable, 30 but those who go beyond that limit are transgressors; 31 (Those) who keep their trusts and their covenant, 32 And those who are firm upon their testimonies. 33 and who guard their prayers [from all worldly intent]. 34 Such will be the honoured ones in the Gardens (of Bliss). 35