The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
One demanding, demanded the chastisement which must befall 1 The Unbelievers, the which there is none to ward off,- 2 From Allah, the Lord of all pinnacles. 3 To Him the angels and the Spirit (Gabriel) ascend in a day, the measure of which is fifty thousand years. 4 Therefore, [O believer,] endure all adversity with goodly patience: 5 they see it as being far off; 6 while We think that it is near at hand. 7 It shall befall on a Day whereon the heaven shall become like unto dregs of oil. 8 and the mountains will become like dyed tufts of wool, 9 And no friend will ask after a friend, 10 Though they shall be made to see one another. Fain would the guilty ransom himself from the torment of that Day by his children. 11 His wife and his brother, 12 and his kinsfolk who gave him shelter, 13 and whosoever is in the earth, altogether, so that it might save him. 14 Nay, verily it is a furnace 15 A remover of exteriors. 16 It will summon whoever turns his back and flees, 17 who amassed and hoarded. 18 ۞ Surely man was created fretful, 19 [As a rule,] whenever misfortune touches him, he is filled with self-pity; 20 And when good touches him, withholding [of it], 21 Except those who closely follow (the Book of God), 22 and continue at their prayers, 23 who, from their wealth is a known right 24 for the needy and the deprived, 25 And those who accept the truth of the judgment day 26 And those who fear the punishment of their Lord. 27 for none is secure from the punishment of their Lord, 28 And those who preserve their chastity 29 except from their wives and slave girls, in which case they are not to be blamed, 30 But whoso seeketh more than that, those are they who are transgressors; 31 and who preserve their trusts and their covenant, 32 and those who are upright in their testimonies; 33 And those who keep a guard on their prayer, 34 such people will receive due honor in Paradise. 35