The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
AN INQUIRER ASKED for the affliction that is to come 1 The unbelievers-- there is none to avert it-- 2 From Allah, the Lord of all pinnacles. 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 So be thou patient with a sweet patience; 5 They surely take it to be far away, 6 but We see it is nigh. 7 The day when the sky will be like molten silver. 8 And the mountains shall be as tufts of wool 9 no loyal friend shall question loyal 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 His wife and his brother, 12 and his kinsfolk who had stood by him, 13 And all, all that is on earth,- so it could deliver him: 14 But nay! Verily, all [that awaits him] is a raging flame, 15 It snatches away by the scalps, 16 and drag into it anyone who has turned away (from obeying God), 17 And collect (wealth) and hide it (from spending it in the Cause of Allah). 18 ۞ Indeed, man is born impatient: 19 When they are afflicted, they complain, 20 and whenever good fortune comes to him, he grows niggardly. 21 Except the observers of prayer - 22 and constant in their prayers. 23 In whose wealth a due share is included 24 For those who beg, and for the needy who cannot even ask. 25 And those who testify to the Day of Requital. 26 And those who are fearful of the punishment of their Lord - 27 Indeed, the punishment of their Lord is not that from which one is safe - 28 who guard their carnal desires 29 Except with their wives and the bondwomen in their possession, for there is no reproach on them. 30 But he who seeks to go beyond this, these it is that go beyond the limits-- 31 And those who fulfil their trusts and covenants, 32 And those who are in their testimonies upright 33 and who are constant in their prayers. 34 Those are highly honored in the Gardens. 35