The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
ONE who is minded to ask might ask about the suffering which [in the hereafter] is bound to befall 1 The unbelievers-- there is none to avert it-- 2 (A punishment) from Allah, the Owner of the Elevated Passages. 3 (Whereby) the angels and the Spirit ascend unto Him in a Day whereof the span is fifty thousand years. 4 (Muhammad), exercise patience with no complaints. 5 Verily they think that the chastisement is far off, 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 will be like flakes of wool, 9 And no familiar friend will ask a question of his friend 10 though they shall be within sight of each other. The guilty one will gladly ransom himself from the torment of that Day by sacrificing his own children, 11 and his spouse and his brother, 12 and of all the kinsfolk who ever sheltered him, 13 And all that are in the earth, so that it might save him. 14 By no means! Verily it is a Flame. 15 That would skin the scalp. 16 and drag into it anyone who has turned away (from obeying God), 17 who amassed and hoarded. 18 ۞ Verily man is formed impatient. 19 When evil comes upon him he is impatient; 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 the needy and those dispossessed, 25 and those who believe in the Day of Judgement 26 And those who fear the punishment of their Lord, -- 27 Verily the torment of their Lord is not a thing to feel secure from. 28 and who are mindful of their chastity, 29 except from their spouses and those whom they rightfully possess [through wedlock], for which they incur no blame -- 30 whereas such as seek to go beyond that [limit] are truly transgressors; 31 And those who protect the property entrusted to them, and their agreements. 32 who testify to what they have witnessed, 33 and (finally) those who do not miss their ritual - prayers at the prescribed times; 34 It is these who will be honoured in Gardens. 35