The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
ONE who is minded to ask might ask about the suffering which [in the hereafter] is bound to befall 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 Therefore be patient, with a beautiful patience; 5 Verily they think that the chastisement is far off, 6 but, We see it as near! 7 On the day when the heaven shall be as molten copper 8 and the mountains shall be as plucked wool-tufts, 9 And no friend will ask concerning his friend. 10 Though they shall be made to see one another [(i.e. on the Day of Resurrection), there will be none but see his father, children and relatives, but he will neither speak to them nor will ask them for any help)], - the Mujrim, (criminal, sinner, disbeliever, etc.) would desire to ransom himself from the punishment of that Day by his children. 11 And his wife and his brother, 12 the kinsmen who gave him shelter, 13 And whoever is on earth entirely [so] then it could save him. 14 But no! There is a raging blaze 15 A remover of exteriors. 16 Calling: "[O Kafir (O disbeliever in Allah, His angels, His Book, His Messengers, Day of Resurrection and in Al-Qadar (Divine Preordainments), O Mushrik (O polytheist, disbeliever in the Oneness of Allah)] (all) such as turn their backs and turn away their faces (from Faith) [picking and swallowing them up from that great gathering of mankind (on the Day of Resurrection) just as a bird picks up a food-grain from the earth with its beak and swallows it up] [Tafsir Al-Qurtubi, Vol. 18, Page 289] 17 Who amasses and then hoards. 18 ۞ Indeed, mankind was created anxious: 19 Being greatly grieved when evil afflicts him 20 and tight-fisted when good fortune visits him, 21 Except the observers of prayer - 22 [and] who incessantly persevere in their prayer 23 who, from their wealth is a known right 24 For those who beg, and for the needy who cannot even ask. 25 who confirm the Day of Reckoning 26 And those who are fearful of their Lord's torment 27 Indeed the punishment of their Lord is not a thing to be unafraid of! 28 those who preserve their chastity 29 save from their wives and what their right hands own, then not being blameworthy 30 (but whoso seeks after more than that, they are the transgressors), 31 And those who fulfil their trusts and covenants, 32 And those who are upright in their testimonies, 33 And those who guard (the sacredness) of their worship;- 34 Those are highly honored in the Gardens. 35