The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
A doubter once demanded that punishment be immediately meted out, 1 To the disbelievers; of it there is no preventer. 2 from punishing them. He is the Lord of the Ascending Stairways, 3 The angels and the Ruh [Jibrael (Gabriel)] ascend to Him in a Day the measure whereof is fifty thousand years, 4 (Muhammad), exercise patience with no complaints. 5 Indeed, they see it [as] distant, 6 Whereas We see it impending. 7 On the Day the sky will be like murky oil, 8 And the hills become as flakes of wool, 9 And friend shall not ask of friend 10 though they may see each other. A sinner will wish that he could save himself from the torment of that day by sacrificing his children, 11 his wife, his brother, 12 his kin who sheltered him, 13 And whoever is on earth entirely [so] then it could save him. 14 By no means! Verily it is a Flame. 15 stripping away his skin, 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 And accumulated wealth and hoarded it. 18 ۞ Indeed, man is born impatient: 19 bewailing when evil befalls him, 20 and tight-fisted when good fortune visits him, 21 Not so, however, those who consciously turn towards God in prayer. 22 and are constant in their Prayer; 23 and those in whose wealth there is a known right 24 to those who ask [for help] and to the destitute; 25 And those who believe the Day of Judgement to be true. 26 And those who are fearful of the punishment of their Lord - 27 Indeed the punishment of their Lord is not a thing to be unafraid of! 28 who guard their carnal desires 29 Are free of blame, 30 But whoever seeks beyond that, then they are the transgressors - 31 (Those) who keep their trusts and their covenant, 32 and standby their witnessing, 33 and who are constant in their prayers. 34 all these shall live honourably in the Gardens. 35