The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
A beseecher besought the visitation of chastisement, 1 The infidels, of which there is no averter. 2 [It is] from Allah, owner of the ways of ascent. 3 by which the angels and the Spirit will ascend to Him in one Day which will last for fifty thousand years. 4 So be thou patient with a sweet patience; 5 They surely take it to be far away, 6 while We think that it is near at hand. 7 On the Day the sky will be like murky oil, 8 and the mountains become like wool, 9 even intimate friends will not inquire about their friends, 10 though they shall be within sight of each other. The guilty one will gladly ransom himself from the torment of that Day by sacrificing his own children, 11 And his wife and his brother, 12 His kindred who sheltered him, 13 And all those who are in the earth – then only if the redemption saves him! 14 But nay! Verily, all [that awaits him] is a raging flame, 15 Plucking out (his being) right to the skull!- 16 It calleth him who turned and fled (from truth), 17 and amass [wealth] and thereupon withhold [it from their fellow-men]. 18 ۞ Surely man is greedy by nature. 19 Very nervous when touched by misfortune. 20 And refraining, when good reaches him. 21 Not so those devoted to Prayer;- 22 Those who remain steadfast to their prayer; 23 And those in whose wealth exists a recognised right, 24 For the beggar who asks, and for the unlucky who has lost his property and wealth, (and his means of living has been straitened); 25 And those who believe in the Day of Recompense, 26 And those who are fearful of the punishment of their Lord - 27 Surely no one can be secure from the punishment of his Lord, -- 28 And those who guard their chastity, 29 Except from their wives or those their right hands possess, for indeed, they are not to be blamed - 30 But whosoever seeks beyond that, they are the transgressors. 31 And those who respect their trusts and covenants; 32 who testify to what they have witnessed, 33 and who take due care of their Prayer: 34 such people will receive due honor in Paradise. 35