The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
A doubter once demanded that punishment be immediately meted out, 1 To the disbelievers; of it there is no preventer. 2 from punishing them. He is the 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 be patient, with a beautiful patience; 5 Indeed, they see it [as] distant, 6 And We see it nigh. 7 The Day that the sky will be like the boiling filth of oil, (or molten copper or silver or lead, etc.). 8 and the mountains shall be like puffs of wool. 9 and [when] no friend will ask about his friend, 10 although they shall be within sight of one another. The guilty one would fain ransom himself from the torment of that Day by offering his children, 11 His wife and his brother, 12 And his kindred who sheltered him, 13 And all that are in the earth, so that it might save him. 14 But nay! Verily, all [that awaits him] is a raging flame, 15 That would skin the scalp. 16 calling him who drew back and turned away, 17 and amass [wealth] and thereupon withhold [it from their fellow-men]. 18 ۞ Indeed, man is born impatient: 19 bewailing when evil befalls him, 20 but when they are fortunate, they become niggardly 21 Not so those devoted to Prayer;- 22 Those who are constant in their prayer 23 In whose wealth a due share is included 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 Recompense, 26 and who stand in dread of their Sustainer's chastisement 27 for none may ever feel secure from the punishment of their Lord; 28 And those who protect their private organs (from adultery). 29 Except with their wives and the (women slaves and captives) whom their right hands possess, for (then) they are not to be blamed, 30 But whosoever seeks beyond that, they are the transgressors. 31 And those who are to their trusts and promises attentive 32 and perform their witnessings, 33 And those who guard their Salat (prayers) well. 34 such people will receive due honor in Paradise. 35