The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
A questioner asked of a chastisement about to fall 1 The unbelievers-- there is none to avert it-- 2 From Allah, the Lord 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, (O Prophet), persevere with gracious perseverance. 5 They surely take it to be far away, 6 But We see it very near. 7 On that Day the heaven shall become like molten copper, 8 And the mountains will be like wool, 9 And not a friend shall ask 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 wife, his brother, 12 And his kin that sheltered him. 13 And all that are in the earth, so that it might save him. 14 But nay! Verily, all [that awaits him] is a raging flame, 15 tearing 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 hoarded (wealth) and withheld it. 18 ۞ Indeed man is created very impatient, greedy. 19 When evil comes upon him he is impatient; 20 And when good toucheth him he is begrudging. 21 Not so those devoted to Prayer;- 22 who are constant in 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 in the Day of Judgment, 26 And those who fear the punishment of their Lord. 27 Verily! The torment of their Lord is that before which none can feel secure, 28 And those who guard their private parts 29 Except with their wives and the bondwomen in their possession, for there is no reproach on them. 30 (but whoso seeks after more than that, they are the transgressors), 31 and those who fulfil their trusts and their covenants, 32 And those who stand firm in their testimonies. 33 and who observe their prayers. 34 Those shall be in Gardens, high-honoured. 35