The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
AN INQUIRER ASKED for the affliction that is to come 1 Upon the disbelievers, which none can repel, 2 [since it will come] from God, unto whom there are many ways of ascent: 3 To Him ascend the angels and the Spirit in a day the measure of which is fifty thousand years. 4 Therefore be patient, with a beautiful patience; 5 Surely they think it to be far off, 6 But We see it [as] near. 7 The Day that the sky will be like molten brass, 8 And the mountains will be like wool, 9 and no friend will ask about his friend, 10 as they are given sight of them. The sinner will wish that he might ransom himself from the chastisement of that day even by his sons, 11 And his wife and his brother 12 And the family in which he was. 13 and of whoever [else] lives on earth, all of them - so that he could but save himself. 14 By no means! For the raging flames of the fire 15 Eager to roast; 16 Calling: "[O Kafir (O disbeliever in Allah, His angels, His Book, His Messengers, Day of Resurrection and in Al-Qadar (Divine Preordainments), O Mushrik (O polytheist, disbeliever in the Oneness of Allah)] (all) such as turn their backs and turn away their faces (from Faith) [picking and swallowing them up from that great gathering of mankind (on the Day of Resurrection) just as a bird picks up a food-grain from the earth with its beak and swallows it up] [Tafsir Al-Qurtubi, Vol. 18, Page 289] 17 and amassed (riches) and hoarded. 18 ۞ Surely man is greedy by nature. 19 Fretful when evil befalleth him 20 And niggardly when good touches him; 21 Not so are the prayerful. 22 who are steadfast in prayer; 23 And those in whose wealth exists a recognised right, 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 accept the truth of the judgment day 26 And those who fear the displeasure of their Lord,- 27 for, behold, of their Sustainer's chastisement none may ever feel [wholly] secure; 28 And those who guard their chastity (i.e. private parts from illegal sexual acts). 29 Are free of blame, 30 And whosoever seeketh beyond that, then it is those who are the trespassers 31 who honor their trust and promises, 32 And those who are in their testimonies upright 33 And those who of their prayer are observant. 34 Those are highly honored in the Gardens. 35