The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
One demanding, demanded the chastisement which must befall 1 (a chastisement meant) for the unbelievers, one which none can avert; 2 From Allah, the Lord of the ways of Ascent. 3 all the angels and all the inspiration [ever granted to man] ascend unto Him [daily,] in a day the length whereof is [like] fifty thousand years… 4 But be patient (O Muhammad) with a patience fair to see. 5 they see it as being far off; 6 But We see it [as] near. 7 It shall befall on a Day whereon the heaven shall become like unto dregs of oil. 8 And the mountains will be like flakes of wool, 9 And not a friend shall ask a friend, 10 as they are given sight of them. The sinner will wish that he might ransom himself from the chastisement of that day even by his sons, 11 And his wife and his brother 12 And the nearest of his kinsfolk who gave him shelter, 13 And whoever is on earth entirely [so] then it could save him. 14 But no! There is a raging blaze 15 stripping 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 collect (wealth) and hide it (from use)! 18 ۞ Indeed, man is born impatient: 19 when evil visits him, impatient, 20 and tight-fisted when good fortune visits him, 21 Not so, however, those who consciously turn towards God in prayer. 22 Those who are regular in their prayers. 23 In whose wealth a due share is included 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 fear the displeasure of their Lord,- 27 the punishment of their Lord is not something for them to feel secure of, 28 And those who preserve their chastity 29 except from their spouses and those whom they rightfully possess [through wedlock], for which they incur no blame -- 30 And whosoever seeketh beyond that, then it is those who are the trespassers 31 And those who respect their trusts and covenants; 32 And those who are upright in their testimonies, 33 and who take due care of their Prayer: 34 Such shall dwell in the Gardens (i.e. Paradise) honoured. 35