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 which will inevitably seize the disbelievers. 2 From God, the Lord of the steps (of progression), 3 To whom the angels and the soul take a day to ascend, whose length is fifty thousand years. 4 So be thou patient with a sweet patience; 5 Indeed, they see it [as] distant, 6 And We behold it nigh. 7 [It will take place] on a Day when the sky will be like molten lead, 8 And the mountains shall be as tufts of wool 9 and no bosom friend will enquire about any of his bosom friends 10 Though they shall be made to see one another. Fain would the guilty ransom himself from the torment of that Day by his children. 11 And his wife and his brother, 12 And his kindred who sheltered him, 13 And all those who are in the earth – then only if the redemption saves him! 14 Nay, verily it is a furnace 15 It snatches away by the scalps, 16 It calleth him who turned and fled (from truth), 17 And masseth and then hoardeth. 18 ۞ Indeed man is created very impatient, greedy. 19 Being greatly grieved when evil afflicts him 20 and tight-fisted when good fortune visits him, 21 Except the observers of prayer - 22 Those who remain steadfast to their prayer; 23 They are those who assign a certain share of their property 24 for those that ask and those that are dispossessed, 25 And those who believe in the Day of Judgment, 26 And those who are fearful of the chastisement of their Lord-- 27 Surely the chastisement of their Lord is (a thing) not to be felt secure of-- 28 And those who guard their private parts, 29 Save in regard to their spouses or those whom their right hands own; so verily they are not blameworthy 30 (but whoso seeks after more than that, they are the transgressors), 31 who honor their trust and promises, 32 and those who stand by their testimony 33 and who guard their prayers [from all worldly intent]. 34 Those shall dwell in Gardens, honoured. 35