The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
A beseecher besought the visitation of chastisement, 1 for the unbelievers, which none may avert, 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 So, (O Prophet), persevere with gracious perseverance. 5 Indeed, they see it [as] distant, 6 And We behold it nigh. 7 The day when the sky will become as molten copper, 8 And the mountains will be like wool, 9 And no familiar friend will ask a question of his 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 And his spouse and his brother 12 his kin who sheltered him, 13 And all that are in the earth, if then it might deliver him. 14 By no means! Verily it is a Flame. 15 A fire that melts the hide. 16 It shall claim him who turned and fled (from truth), 17 And accumulated wealth and hoarded it. 18 ۞ Surely man is created of a hasty temperament 19 when evil visits him, impatient, 20 And niggardly when good reaches him;- 21 Not so are the prayerful. 22 [and] who incessantly persevere in their prayer 23 And those in whose wealth is a recognised right. 24 for those that ask and those that are dispossessed, 25 and who accept as true the [coming of the] Day of Judgment; 26 And those who fear the torment of their Lord, 27 Indeed the punishment of their Lord is not a thing to be unafraid of! 28 And those who preserve their chastity 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 those who trespass beyond this are transgressors;- 31 And those who keep their trusts and covenants; 32 Who uphold their testimonies, 33 and (finally) those who do not miss their ritual - prayers at the prescribed times; 34 They will be in gardens, honored. 35