The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of Allah, most benevolent, ever-merciful
ONE who is minded to ask might ask about the suffering which [in the hereafter] is bound to befall 1 Upon the disbelievers, which none can repel, 2 No one can defend him against God, the Lord of the exalted positions. 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 behold, they see it as if far off; 6 but We see it to be very near. 7 The Day that the sky will be like molten brass, 8 and the mountains will be like tufts of wool, 9 no loyal friend shall question loyal friend, 10 Though they shall be made to see one another [(i.e. on the Day of Resurrection), there will be none but see his father, children and relatives, but he will neither speak to them nor will ask them for any help)], - the Mujrim, (criminal, sinner, disbeliever, etc.) would desire to ransom himself from the punishment of that Day by his children. 11 His wife and his brother, 12 and his kinsfolk who had stood by him, 13 and all the people of the earth, if that could deliver him. 14 By no means! Verily it is a Flame. 15 That would skin the scalp. 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 amass [wealth] and thereupon withhold [it from their fellow-men]. 18 ۞ Surely man is created of a hasty temperament 19 Fretful when evil befalleth him 20 And niggardly when good befalls him 21 Except those who pray, 22 Who are constant at their worship 23 And in whose wealth there is a right acknowledged 24 For the beggar who asks, and for the unlucky who has lost his property and wealth, (and his means of living has been straitened); 25 And those who believe the Day of Judgement to be true. 26 and who stand in dread of their Sustainer's chastisement 27 Lo! the doom of their Lord is that before which none can feel secure - 28 and guard their private parts 29 Except with their wives and the bondwomen in their possession, for there is no reproach on them. 30 But whosoever seeks beyond that, then it is those who are trespassers. 31 and those who fulfil their trusts and their covenants, 32 And those who stand firm in their testimonies; 33 And those who protect their prayers. 34 They will live in gardens with honour. 35