The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
A questioner asked concerning a torment about to befall 1 Upon the infidels -- which none would be able to repel -- 2 From Allah, Lord of the Ascending Stairways 3 To Him the angels and the Spirit (Gabriel) ascend in a day, the measure of which is fifty thousand years. 4 Therefore endure with a goodly patience. 5 behold, men look upon that [reckoning] as something far away 6 But We see it (quite) near. 7 On that Day the heaven shall become like molten copper, 8 And the mountains will be like flakes 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 And his kindred who sheltered him, 13 And all that are in the earth, so that it might save him. 14 But never. It is pure white flame 15 Taking away (burning completely) the head skin! 16 and it shall call him who withdrew and turned his back 17 and who accumulated wealth without spending it for a good purpose. 18 ۞ Verily man is impatient by nature: 19 If evil befalls him he is perturbed; 20 and tight-fisted when good fortune visits him, 21 Except those who establish prayer. 22 and constant in their prayers. 23 And those in whose wealth there is a known right, 24 for the impoverished nonrequester and the requester, 25 and those who believe in the Day of Judgement 26 And those who are fearful of their Lord's torment 27 Surely the chastisement of their Lord is (a thing) not to be felt secure of-- 28 who guard their privates 29 except from their wives and slave girls, in which case they are not to be blamed, 30 But those who seek more than this will be transgressors; 31 And those who are faithful to their trusts 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