The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
AN INQUIRER ASKED for the affliction that is to come 1 The unbelievers-- there is none to avert it-- 2 From Allah, the Lord of the ways of ascent. 3 by which the angels and the Spirit ascend to Him in one Day the duration of which is fifty thousand years. 4 So be thou patient with a sweet patience; 5 they see it as being far off; 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 will be like tufts 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 And his wife and his brother 12 and his kinsfolk who had stood by him, 13 and of whoever [else] lives on earth, all of them - so that he could but save himself. 14 No! Indeed, it is the Flame [of Hell], 15 Flaying off the scalp-skin. 16 It calleth him who turned and fled (from truth), 17 and amassed wealth and hoarded it. 18 ۞ Indeed, mankind was created anxious: 19 [As a rule,] whenever misfortune touches him, he is filled with self-pity; 20 when good visits him, grudging, 21 Not so, however, those who consciously turn towards God in prayer. 22 [and] who incessantly persevere in their prayer 23 and those in whose wealth there is a known right 24 to those who ask [for help] and to the destitute; 25 and those who believe in the Day of Judgement 26 And those who are fearful of their Lord's torment 27 the punishment of their Lord is not something for them to feel secure of, 28 and who are mindful of their chastity, 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 whoever seeks beyond that, then they are the transgressors - 31 And those who are faithful to their trusts and their covenant 32 Who uphold their testimonies, 33 And those who protect their prayers. 34 Such shall dwell in the Gardens (i.e. Paradise) honoured. 35