The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of Allah, most benevolent, ever-merciful
A supplicant asked for a punishment bound to happen 1 The Unbelievers, the which there is none to ward off,- 2 (A punishment) from Allah, the Owner of the Elevated Passages. 3 To Him the angels and the Spirit (Gabriel) ascend in a day, the measure of which is fifty thousand years. 4 So be patient with gracious patience. 5 They see the (Day) indeed as a far-off (event): 6 And We behold it nigh. 7 On that Day the heaven shall become like molten copper, 8 And the hills become as flakes of wool, 9 And no friend will ask [anything of] a friend, 10 Though within sight of one another. The sinner would like to ransom himself from the torment of that Day by offering his sons, 11 His wife and his brother, 12 And the family in which he was. 13 And all, all that is on earth,- so it could deliver him: 14 But no! There is a raging blaze 15 Plucking out (his being) right to the skull!- 16 It calleth him who turned and fled (from truth), 17 And accumulated wealth and hoarded it. 18 ۞ Truly man was created very impatient;- 19 If evil befalls him he is perturbed; 20 And when good toucheth him he is begrudging. 21 save those that pray 22 who are constant in prayer; 23 And in whose wealth there is a right acknowledged 24 For the beggar and the destitute. 25 And those who accept the truth of the judgment day 26 And those who fear the punishment of their Lord. 27 Verily the torment of their Lord is not a thing to feel secure from. 28 and those who guard their private parts, 29 Are free of blame, 30 And whosoever seeketh beyond that, then it is those who are the trespassers 31 And those who protect the property entrusted to them, and their agreements. 32 And those who are in their testimonies upright 33 and (finally) those who do not miss their ritual - prayers at the prescribed times; 34 They will live in gardens with honour. 35