The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
ONE who is minded to ask might ask about the suffering which [in the hereafter] is bound to befall 1 those who deny the truth. [Know, then, that] nothing can ward it off, 2 [since it will come] from God, unto whom there are many ways of ascent: 3 by which the angels and the Spirit ascend to Him in one Day the duration of which is fifty thousand years. 4 Therefore, [O believers] behave with seemly patience. 5 Verily they behold it afar off. 6 but We see it is nigh. 7 On the day when the heavens become like molten metal. 8 And the mountains will be like flakes of wool, 9 No loyal friend will ask another loyal 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 kin that sheltered him. 13 and whosoever is in the earth, all together, so that then it might deliver him. 14 But never. It is pure white flame 15 Taking away (burning completely) the head skin! 16 It shall claim him who turned and fled (from truth), 17 and amass [wealth] and thereupon withhold [it from their fellow-men]. 18 ۞ Surely man is greedy by nature. 19 Being greatly grieved when evil afflicts him 20 and whenever good fortune comes to him, he grows niggardly. 21 Not so are the prayerful. 22 and continue at their prayers, 23 those in whose wealth is a right known 24 For him who begs and for him who is denied (good) 25 who confirm the Day of Reckoning 26 and go in fear of the punishment of their Lord, 27 Indeed the punishment of their Lord is not a thing to be unafraid of! 28 And those who guard their sex except from their wives and women slaves of old 29 except in regard to their spouses and those whom their right hands possess, for in regard to them they are not reproachable, 30 But whoso seeketh more than that, those are they who are transgressors; 31 And those who protect the property entrusted to them, and their agreements. 32 and those who are upright in their testimonies; 33 And those who guard their Salat (prayers) well. 34 Those shall dwell in Gardens, honoured. 35