The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
A questioner asked concerning a torment about to befall 1 To the disbelievers; of it there is no preventer. 2 From God, the Lord of the steps (of progression), 3 The angels and Jibreel, ascend towards Him – the punishment will befall on a day which spans fifty thousand years. 4 Therefore endure with a goodly patience. 5 Lo! they behold it afar off 6 but We see it to be very near. 7 The day the sky becomes like molten brass, 8 And the mountains will be like wool, 9 And no friend will ask [anything of] a 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 wife, his brother, 12 His kindred who sheltered him, 13 And all that are in the earth, so that it might save him. 14 Never! That is indeed a blazing fire. 15 It snatches away by the scalps, 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 collected [wealth] and hoarded. 18 ۞ Indeed, the human was created grudging and impatient. 19 If evil befalls him he is perturbed; 20 and tight-fisted when good fortune visits him, 21 Except those who closely follow (the Book of God), 22 and constant in their prayers. 23 And those in whose wealth exists a recognised right, 24 For the (needy) who asks and him who is prevented (for some reason from asking); 25 And those who believe in the Day of Recompense, 26 and who stand in dread of their Sustainer's chastisement 27 Surely the chastisement of their Lord is (a thing) not to be felt secure of-- 28 And those who preserve their chastity 29 Save with their wives and those whom their right hands possess, for thus they are not blameworthy; 30 But whoever seeks beyond that, then they are the transgressors - 31 who honor their trust and promises, 32 And those who stand firm in their testimonies; 33 And those who of their prayer are observant. 34 These will dwell in Gardens, honoured. 35