The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
A questioner questioned concerning the doom about to fall 1 Upon the disbelievers, which none can avert, 2 from God, the Lord of the Stairways. 3 To Him the angels and the Spirit mount up, in a day whereof the measure is fifty thousand years. 4 Therefore do thou hold Patience,- a Patience of beautiful (contentment). 5 Verily they behold it afar off. 6 but We see it near at hand. 7 On the day when the heaven shall be as molten copper 8 And the mountains will be like wool, 9 And not a friend shall ask a friend, 10 Though they will be put in sight of each other,- the sinner's desire will be: Would that he could redeem himself from the Penalty of that Day by (sacrificing) his children, 11 And his wife and his brother, 12 And the family in which he was. 13 and all persons of the earth, if only he could thus save himself. 14 By no means! Surely it is a flaming fire 15 Flaying off the scalp-skin. 16 It shall claim him who turned and fled (from truth), 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 And refraining, when good reaches him. 21 save those that pray 22 and continue at their prayers, 23 They are those who assign a certain share of their property 24 For those who beg, and for the needy who cannot even ask. 25 who confirm the Day of Reckoning 26 And those who are fearful of the punishment of their Lord - 27 Lo! the doom of their Lord is that before which none can feel secure - 28 And those who guard their private parts, 29 except from their spouses and those whom they rightfully possess [through wedlock], for which they incur no blame -- 30 And whosoever seeketh beyond that, then it is those who are the trespassers 31 And those who keep their pledges and their covenant, 32 And those who stand firm in their testimonies. 33 and (finally) those who do not miss their ritual - prayers at the prescribed times; 34 These will dwell in Gardens, honoured. 35