The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
ONE who is minded to ask might ask about the suffering which [in the hereafter] is bound to befall 1 Upon the disbelievers – the punishment that none can avert. 2 No one can defend him against God, the Lord of the exalted positions. 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 while We think that it is near at hand. 7 The day when the sky will become as molten copper, 8 And the mountains will be like flakes of wool, 9 And friend shall not ask of friend 10 Though they will be put in sight of each other,- the sinner's desire will be: Would that he could redeem himself from the Penalty of that Day by (sacrificing) his children, 11 And his wife and his brother 12 And the nearest of his kinsfolk who gave him shelter, 13 and all persons of the earth, if only he could thus save himself. 14 No! Indeed, it is the Flame [of Hell], 15 Flaying off the scalp-skin. 16 It invites he who turned his back [on truth] and went away [from obedience] 17 and amassed wealth and covetously hoarded it. 18 ۞ Verily man is impatient by nature: 19 Fretful when evil befalleth him 20 when good visits him, grudging, 21 save those that pray 22 Who are constant at their worship 23 those who give a due share of their wealth 24 For the needy and those dispossessed, 25 And those who believe in the Day of Recompense 26 And those who are fearful of their Lord's doom - 27 for, behold, of their Sustainer's chastisement none may ever feel [wholly] secure; 28 those who preserve their chastity 29 except from their wives and slave girls, in which case they are not to be blamed, 30 But whosoever seeks beyond that, then it is those who are trespassers. 31 And those who keep their pledges and their covenant, 32 and standby their witnessing, 33 And those who protect their prayers. 34 It is these who will be honoured in Gardens. 35