The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
There hath asked an asker for the torment about to befall. 1 To the disbelievers; of it there is no preventer. 2 from punishing them. He is the Lord of the Ascending Stairways, 3 by which the angels and the Spirit will ascend to Him in one Day which will last for fifty thousand years. 4 So be thou patient with a sweet patience; 5 Verily they think that the chastisement is far off, 6 But We see it (quite) near. 7 It shall befall on a Day whereon the heaven shall become like unto dregs of oil. 8 The mountains like the tufts of (carded) wool, 9 no loyal friend shall question loyal friend, 10 though they shall be within sight of each other. The guilty one will gladly ransom himself from the torment of that Day by sacrificing his own children, 11 And his wife and his brother. 12 And his kin that sheltered him. 13 And all those who are in the earth – then only if the redemption saves him! 14 But nay! Verily, all [that awaits him] is a raging flame, 15 A fire that melts the hide. 16 It will summon whoever turns his back and flees, 17 And collect (wealth) and hide it (from use)! 18 ۞ Indeed, mankind was created anxious: 19 [As a rule,] whenever misfortune touches him, he is filled with self-pity; 20 when good visits him, grudging, 21 except those that pray 22 Those who are constant in their prayer 23 And those in whose riches is a known right. 24 For those who beg, and for the needy who cannot even ask. 25 And those who accept the truth of the judgment day 26 and go in fear of the chastisement of their Lord 27 Verily the torment of their Lord is not a thing to feel secure from. 28 who guard their carnal desires 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 who are faithful to their trusts and to their pledges: 32 And those who stand by their testimony 33 And those who guard (the sacredness) of their worship;- 34 Such shall dwell in the Gardens (i.e. Paradise) honoured. 35