The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
ONE who is minded to ask might ask about the suffering which [in the hereafter] is bound to befall 1 Upon the infidels -- which none would be able to repel -- 2 From Allah, Lord of the Ascending Stairways 3 On that Day (of Judgment), long as fifty thousand years, the angels and the Spirit will ascend to Him. 4 Therefore do thou hold Patience,- a Patience of beautiful (contentment). 5 behold, they see it as if far off; 6 but We see it to be very near. 7 The day the sky becomes like molten brass, 8 and the mountains will be like tufts of wool, 9 And no friend inquires after friend 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 his wife, his brother, 12 the kinsmen who gave him shelter, 13 And all, all that is on earth,- so it could deliver him: 14 Nay, verily it is a furnace 15 that will strip off 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 masseth and then hoardeth. 18 ۞ Indeed, the human was created grudging and impatient. 19 When evil touches him, impatient, 20 and whenever good fortune comes to him, he selfishly withholds it [from others]. 21 Not so those devoted to Prayer;- 22 and are constant in their Prayer; 23 They are those who assign a certain share of their property 24 for such as ask [for help] and such as are deprived [of what is good in life]; 25 And those who believe in the Day of Recompense, 26 and fear the chastisement of their Lord – 27 Indeed the punishment of their Lord is not a thing to be unafraid of! 28 And those who guard their private parts, 29 [not giving way to their desires] with any but their spouses - that is, those whom they rightfully possess [through wedlock]: for then, behold, they are free of all blame, 30 But whoso seeketh more than that, those are they who are transgressors; 31 And those who keep their pledges and their covenant, 32 and those who are upright in their testimonies; 33 and who take due care of their Prayer: 34 all these shall live honourably in the Gardens. 35