The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
A questioner asked of a chastisement about to fall 1 To the disbelievers; of it there is no preventer. 2 (A Penalty) from Allah, Lord of the Ways of Ascent. 3 To whom the angels and the soul take a day to ascend, whose length is fifty thousand years. 4 So be patient with gracious patience. 5 Indeed, they see it [as] distant, 6 but We see it near at hand. 7 The day when the sky will be like molten silver. 8 and the mountains will become like dyed tufts of wool, 9 And no friend will ask of a friend, 10 though they are in sight of each other. To ransom himself from the punishment of that Day, the sinner will wish that he might even ransom himself by his sons, 11 his companion wife, his brother, 12 and his kinsfolk who gave him shelter, 13 and whosoever is in the earth, all together, so that then it might deliver him. 14 By no means! for it would be the Fire of Hell!- 15 Eager to roast; 16 It shall insistently summon him who turned his back and retreated, 17 and amass [wealth] and thereupon withhold [it from their fellow-men]. 18 ۞ Surely man was created fretful, 19 [As a rule,] whenever misfortune touches him, he is filled with self-pity; 20 when good visits him, grudging, 21 Not so are the prayerful. 22 Who persevere in devotion, 23 And in whose wealth there is a right acknowledged 24 For the beggar and the destitute. 25 And those who testify to the Day of Requital. 26 who are afraid of the torment of their Lord, 27 for none may ever feel secure from the punishment of their Lord; 28 who guard their privates 29 Except with their wives and the bondwomen in their possession, for there is no reproach on them. 30 But whosoever seeks beyond that, they are the transgressors. 31 and those who are faithful to their trusts and to their pledges; 32 and those who stand by their testimony 33 and are steadfast in their prayers. 34 such people will receive due honor in Paradise. 35