The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
AN INQUIRER ASKED for the affliction that is to come 1 those who deny the truth. [Know, then, that] nothing can ward it off, 2 (A Penalty) from Allah, Lord of the Ways of Ascent. 3 To Him the angels and the Spirit (Gabriel) ascend in a day, the measure of which is fifty thousand years. 4 But be patient (O Muhammad) with a patience fair to see. 5 They see the (Day) indeed as a far-off (event): 6 But We see it very near. 7 The day when the sky will become as molten copper, 8 and the mountains shall be like puffs of wool. 9 And no friend will ask concerning his 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 companion wife, his brother, 12 the kinsmen who gave him shelter, 13 and all the people of the earth, if that could deliver him. 14 By no means! It will be the fierce flame 15 A remover of exteriors. 16 It shall claim him who turned and fled (from truth), 17 and who accumulated wealth without spending it for a good purpose. 18 ۞ Indeed, man is born impatient: 19 Fretful when evil touches him; 20 and tight-fisted when good fortune visits him, 21 Not so, however, those who consciously turn towards God in prayer. 22 who are steadfast in prayer; 23 and in whose possessions there is a due share, acknowledged [by them,] 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 in the Day of Judgment, 26 And those who fear the torment 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 Save with their wives and those whom their right hands possess, for thus they are not blameworthy; 30 (but whoso seeks after more than that, they are the transgressors), 31 And those who respect their trusts and covenants; 32 and those who are upright in their testimonies; 33 And those who are mindful of their moral obligations. 34 such people will receive due honor in Paradise. 35