The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
A questioner asked about a Penalty to befall- 1 The Unbelievers, the which there is none to ward off,- 2 from punishing them. He is the Lord of the Ascending Stairways, 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 So be thou patient with a sweet patience; 5 they see it as being far off; 6 while We think that it is near at hand. 7 Upon the day when heaven shall be as molten copper 8 And the mountains shall be as tufts of wool 9 And friend shall not ask of 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 spouse and his brother 12 And his kin that sheltered him. 13 And all those who are on the earth, to save himself. 14 By no means! Verily it is a Flame. 15 tearing away his skin! 16 It will summon whoever turns his back and flees, 17 and amassed (riches) and hoarded. 18 ۞ Verily man is formed impatient. 19 Fretful when evil befalleth him 20 And niggardly when good befalls him 21 Not so are the prayerful. 22 Who persevere in devotion, 23 And those within whose wealth is a known right 24 For him who begs and for him who is denied (good) 25 And those who believe in the Day of Recompense 26 and are fearful of the punishment of their Lord; 27 for none is secure from the punishment of their Lord, 28 who guard their privates 29 except from their wives and what their right hands own, for these they are not blameworthy. 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 are in their testimonies upright 33 and who observe their prayers. 34 Such will be the honoured ones in the Gardens (of Bliss). 35