The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
ONE who is minded to ask might ask about the suffering which [in the hereafter] is bound to befall 1 Upon the disbelievers, which none can avert, 2 [since it will come] from God, unto whom there are many ways of ascent: 3 all the angels and all the inspiration [ever granted to man] ascend unto Him [daily,] in a day the length whereof is [like] fifty thousand years… 4 Therefore endure with a goodly patience. 5 They see it [the Day of Judgement] 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 tufts of wool, 9 And no friend will ask [anything of] a friend, 10 Though they shall be made to see one another. Fain would the guilty ransom himself from the torment of that Day by his children. 11 And his wife and his brother 12 And his kin that sheltered him. 13 And all that are in the earth, if then it might deliver him. 14 No, in truth, it is a Furnace! 15 That would skin the scalp. 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 ۞ Surely man is greedy by nature. 19 Being greatly grieved when evil afflicts him 20 and tight-fisted when good fortune visits him, 21 Not so, however, those who consciously turn towards God in prayer. 22 Who persevere in devotion, 23 They are those who assign a certain share of their property 24 to those who ask [for help] and to the destitute; 25 And those who believe in the Day of Recompense 26 And those who fear the punishment of their Lord. 27 Verily the torment of their Lord is not a thing to feel secure from. 28 And those who protect their private organs (from adultery). 29 [not giving way to their desires] with any but their spouses - that is, those whom they rightfully possess [through wedlock]: for then, behold, they are free of all blame, 30 But those who seek more than this will be transgressors; 31 (Those) who keep their trusts and their covenant, 32 And those who are in their testimonies upright 33 and (finally) those who do not miss their ritual - prayers at the prescribed times; 34 Those shall be in Gardens, high-honoured. 35