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 those who deny the truth. No power can hinder God 2 From Allah, Lord of the Ascending Stairways 3 The angels and Jibreel, ascend towards Him – the punishment will befall on a day which spans fifty thousand years. 4 Wherefore be thou patient with a becoming patience. 5 They see it [the Day of Judgement] to be far off, 6 while We think that it is near at hand. 7 It shall befall on a Day whereon the heaven shall become like unto dregs of oil. 8 And then the mountains shall become like unto wool dyed. 9 And no friend will ask [anything of] a friend, 10 though they are in sight of each other. To ransom himself from the punishment of that Day, the sinner will wish that he might even ransom himself by his sons, 11 And his wife and his brother 12 and of all the kinsfolk who ever sheltered him, 13 And all, all that is on earth,- so it could deliver him: 14 By no means! Verily it is a Flame. 15 stripping away his skin, 16 It calleth him who turned and fled (from truth), 17 who amassed and hoarded. 18 ۞ Lo! man was created anxious, 19 When they are afflicted, they complain, 20 and whenever good fortune comes to him, he selfishly withholds it [from others]. 21 But not so the worshippers 22 Those who remain constant in their Salat (prayers); 23 And those in whose wealth there is a fixed portion. 24 for the needy and the deprived, 25 those who firmly believe in the Day of Recompense, 26 who are afraid of the torment of their Lord, 27 Verily the torment of their Lord is not a thing to feel secure from. 28 And those who of their private parts are guards. 29 Save with their wives and those whom their right hands possess, for thus they are not blameworthy; 30 But he who seeks to go beyond this, these it is that go beyond the limits-- 31 and who are faithful to their trusts and to their pledges: 32 And those who stand by their testimony 33 And those who guard their Salat (prayers) well. 34 These will dwell in Gardens, honoured. 35