The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
A questioner asked concerning a torment about to befall 1 Upon the infidels -- which none would be able to repel -- 2 [since it will come] from God, unto whom there are many ways of ascent: 3 To Him the angels and the Spirit (Gabriel) ascend in a day, the measure of which is fifty thousand years. 4 So be thou patient with a sweet patience; 5 Lo! they behold it afar off 6 And We see it nigh. 7 On the Day the sky will be like murky oil, 8 And the mountains will be like wool, 9 No loyal friend will ask another loyal friend 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 his wife, his brother, 12 And the family in which he was. 13 And all that are in the earth, if then it might deliver him. 14 But never. It is pure white flame 15 A fire that melts the hide. 16 It invites he who turned his back [on truth] and went away [from obedience] 17 and amass [wealth] and thereupon withhold [it from their fellow-men]. 18 ۞ Human beings are created greedy. 19 [As a rule,] whenever misfortune touches him, he is filled with self-pity; 20 but when they are fortunate, they become niggardly 21 Except those who establish prayer. 22 Those who remain steadfast to their prayer; 23 and those in whose wealth there is a known right 24 for those that ask and those that are dispossessed, 25 And those who accept the truth of the judgment day 26 And those who are fearful of their Lord's doom - 27 Surely the chastisement of their Lord is (a thing) not to be felt secure of-- 28 And those who guard their private parts 29 Except with their wives and the (women slaves and captives) whom their right hands possess, for (then) they are not to be blamed, 30 But whosoever seeks beyond that, they are the transgressors. 31 and who are faithful to their trusts and to their pledges: 32 And those who stand firm in their testimonies; 33 and who take due care of their Prayer: 34 It is these who will be honoured in Gardens. 35