The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
ONE who is minded to ask might ask about the suffering which [in the hereafter] is bound to befall 1 to those who deny the truth. No power can hinder God 2 [since it will come] from God, unto whom there are many ways of ascent: 3 To Him ascend the angels and the Spirit in a day the measure of which is fifty thousand years. 4 Therefore endure with a goodly patience. 5 They think that it (the Day of Judgment) is far away. 6 but We see it near. 7 On the day when the heavens become like molten metal. 8 And the hills will be light as wool. 9 And no friend will ask [anything of] a friend, 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, his brother, 12 And his family who had stood by him, 13 and all persons of the earth, if only he could thus save himself. 14 No! Indeed, it is the Flame [of Hell], 15 It snatches away by the scalps, 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 ۞ Truly man was created very impatient;- 19 When they are afflicted, they complain, 20 but when they are fortunate, they become niggardly 21 Not so those devoted to Prayer;- 22 Those who are regular in their prayers. 23 And those in whose wealth is a recognised right. 24 For the needy and those dispossessed, 25 And those who believe in the Day of Recompense, 26 And those who fear the punishment of their Lord. 27 the punishment of their Lord is not something for them to feel secure of, 28 And those who of their private parts are guards. 29 except in regard to their spouses and those whom their right hands possess, for in regard to them they are not reproachable, 30 (but whoso seeks after more than that, they are the transgressors), 31 And those who are to their trusts and promises attentive 32 And those who stand firm in their testimonies; 33 and who are constant in their prayers. 34 These will dwell in Gardens, honoured. 35