The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
A caller supplicated about a punishment to fall on 1 Upon the disbelievers, which none can repel, 2 (A punishment) from Allah, the Owner of the Elevated Passages. 3 (Whereby) the angels and the Spirit ascend unto Him in a Day whereof the span is fifty thousand years. 4 So persevere with becoming patience. 5 Lo! they behold it afar off 6 And We behold it nigh. 7 The day the sky becomes like molten brass, 8 And then the mountains shall become like unto wool dyed. 9 And no friend will ask concerning 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 And his nearest kindred who shelter him 13 And all who are on the earth; so that this might deliver him. 14 No! Indeed, it is the Flame [of Hell], 15 Eager to roast; 16 and drag into it anyone who has turned away (from obeying God), 17 and amass [wealth] and thereupon withhold [it from their fellow-men]. 18 ۞ Lo! man was created anxious, 19 If evil befalls him he is perturbed; 20 If good comes to him he holds back his hand, 21 except those that pray, 22 Those who are constant at their prayer 23 In whose wealth a due share is included 24 For the petitioner and the deprived - 25 And those who believe in the Day of Recompense, 26 And those who are fearful of the punishment of their Lord - 27 Surely no one can be secure from the punishment of his Lord, -- 28 those who preserve their chastity 29 Except from their wives or those their right hands possess, for indeed, they are not to be blamed - 30 But he who seeks to go beyond this, these it is that go beyond the limits-- 31 and who preserve their trusts and their covenant, 32 Who uphold their testimonies, 33 and (finally) those who do not miss their ritual - prayers at the prescribed times; 34 They will be honoured in the Gardens of Bliss. 35