The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
A doubter once demanded that punishment be immediately meted out, 1 Upon the disbelievers, which none can repel, 2 From Allah, Lord of the Ascending Stairways 3 To Him the angels and the Spirit mount up, in a day whereof the measure is fifty thousand years. 4 (Muhammad), exercise patience with no complaints. 5 They see the (Day) indeed as a far-off (event): 6 And We see it nigh. 7 On the day when the heaven shall be as molten copper 8 And then the mountains shall become like unto wool dyed. 9 And no friend will ask [anything of] a 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 of all the kinsfolk who ever sheltered him, 13 And all that are in the earth, if then it might deliver him. 14 But nay! Verily, all [that awaits him] is a raging flame, 15 A fire that melts the hide. 16 It calleth him who turned and fled (from truth), 17 And accumulated wealth and hoarded it. 18 ۞ Surely man is greedy by nature. 19 Being greatly grieved when evil afflicts him 20 And niggardly when good reaches him;- 21 Except those devoted to Salat (prayers) 22 [and] who incessantly persevere in their prayer 23 and in whose possessions there is a due share, acknowledged [by them,] 24 For the needy and those dispossessed, 25 who confirm the Day of Reckoning 26 And those who are fearful of their Lord's doom - 27 For their Lord's displeasure is the opposite of Peace and Tranquillity;- 28 and guard their private parts 29 Except in the case of their wives or those whom their right hands possess-- for these surely are not to be blamed, 30 But whosoever seeks beyond that, then it is those who are trespassers. 31 and those who fulfil their trusts and their covenants, 32 And those who stand firm in their testimonies; 33 And those who guard (the sacredness) of their worship;- 34 They will be honoured in the Gardens of Bliss. 35