The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
A beseecher besought the visitation of chastisement, 1 The infidels, of which there is no averter. 2 From Allah, Lord of the Ascending Stairways 3 To Him ascend the angels and the Spirit in a day the measure of which is fifty thousand years. 4 Therefore, [O believer,] endure all adversity with goodly patience: 5 Lo! they behold it afar off 6 but We see it near. 7 It shall befall on a Day whereon the sky will become like molten brass, 8 and the mountains shall be like puffs of wool. 9 and [when] no friend will ask about his friend, 10 (Though) they shall be made to see each other. The guilty one would fain redeem himself from the chastisement 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 those on earth. 14 No! Indeed, it is the Flame [of Hell], 15 tearing away his skin! 16 It calleth him who turned and fled (from truth), 17 and amass [wealth] and thereupon withhold [it from their fellow-men]. 18 ۞ Indeed, man is born impatient: 19 bewailing when evil befalls him, 20 And refraining, when good reaches him. 21 Except those devoted to Salat (prayers) 22 [and] who incessantly persevere in their prayer 23 And in whose wealth there is a right acknowledged 24 For the needy and those dispossessed, 25 those who firmly believe in the Day of Recompense, 26 And those who fear the displeasure of their Lord,- 27 Indeed, the punishment of their Lord is not that from which one is safe - 28 and guard their private parts 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 whoever goes beyond this is a transgressor; 31 and those who are faithful to their trusts and to their pledges; 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 Such shall dwell in the Gardens (i.e. Paradise) honoured. 35