The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
A beseecher besought the visitation of chastisement, 1 to those who deny the truth. No power can hinder God 2 from punishing them. He is the Lord of the Ascending Stairways, 3 To Him ascend the angels and the Spirit in a day the measure of which is fifty thousand years. 4 Therefore be patient, with a beautiful patience; 5 Indeed, they see it [as] distant, 6 And We see it nigh. 7 On the Day the sky will be like murky oil, 8 And the mountains will be like wool, 9 even intimate friends will not inquire about their friends, 10 They will be shown each other. The criminal will wish that he could be ransomed from the punishment of that Day by his children 11 His wife and his brother, 12 his kinsmen who gave him refuge (from hardship) 13 and whosoever is in the earth, altogether, so that it might save him. 14 Nay, verily it is a furnace 15 will strip-off the flesh 16 It will summon whoever turns his back and flees, 17 And accumulated wealth and hoarded it. 18 ۞ Surely man is created of a hasty temperament 19 bewailing when evil befalls him, 20 And niggardly when good befalls him 21 Not so those devoted to Prayer;- 22 Who are constant at their worship 23 And those in whose wealth there is a fixed portion. 24 For the needy and those dispossessed, 25 and who accept as true the [coming of the] Day of Judgment; 26 and who stand in dread of their Sustainer's chastisement 27 Verily the torment of their Lord is not a thing to feel secure from. 28 And those who guard their private parts 29 except from their wives and slave girls, in which case they are not to be blamed, 30 But those who seek more than this will be transgressors; 31 And those who fulfil their trusts and covenants, 32 And those who stand firm in 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