The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
A questioner asked concerning a torment about to befall 1 Upon the disbelievers, which none can repel, 2 from God, the Lord of the Stairways. 3 To whom the angels and the soul take a day to ascend, whose length is fifty thousand years. 4 So be patient (O Muhammad SAW), with a good patience. 5 Verily they behold it afar off. 6 And We behold it nigh. 7 The Day that the sky will be like the boiling filth of oil, (or molten copper or silver or lead, etc.). 8 The mountains like the tufts of (carded) wool, 9 And no friend inquires after friend 10 though they may be in one another's sight: [for,] everyone who was lost in sin will on that Day but desire to ransom himself from suffering at the price of his own children, 11 his companion (wife), his brother, 12 And his kindred who sheltered him, 13 And all those that are in the earth, (wishing) then (that) this might deliver him. 14 By no means! For the raging flames of the fire 15 A remover of exteriors. 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 who accumulated wealth without spending it for a good purpose. 18 ۞ Indeed, man is born impatient: 19 When evil comes upon him he is impatient; 20 when good visits him, grudging, 21 Not so are the prayerful. 22 Those who are constant at their prayer 23 They are those who assign a certain share of their property 24 for the beggar and the outcast, 25 And those who believe in the Day of Recompense 26 and go in fear of the chastisement of their Lord 27 surely the chastisement of their Lord is a thing none can feel secure from – 28 And those who guard their chastity (i.e. private parts from illegal sexual acts). 29 Except in the case of their wives or those whom their right hands possess-- for these surely are not to be blamed, 30 but whoever goes beyond this is a transgressor; 31 who honor their trust and promises, 32 who testify to what they have witnessed, 33 And those who are attentive at their worship. 34 They will be honoured in the Gardens of Bliss. 35