The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace
A questioner asked of a chastisement about to fall 1 The infidels, of which there is no averter. 2 (A punishment) from Allah, the Owner of the Elevated Passages. 3 To Him the angels and the Spirit mount up, in a day whereof the measure is fifty thousand years. 4 So be patient with gracious patience. 5 behold, men look upon that [reckoning] as something far away 6 And We behold 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 friend will ask concerning his friend. 10 They will be seeing them; the guilty will wish if only he could redeem himself from the punishment of that day, by offering his sons. 11 his companion wife, his brother, 12 And his family who had stood by him, 13 And all those who are in the earth – then only if the redemption saves him! 14 No! Indeed, it is the Flame [of Hell], 15 Eager to roast; 16 It will summon whoever turns his back and flees, 17 And accumulated wealth and hoarded it. 18 ۞ Indeed, man is born impatient: 19 when evil visits him, impatient, 20 and whenever good fortune comes to him, he grows niggardly. 21 Except those devoted to Salat (prayers) 22 and are constant in their Prayer; 23 And in whose wealth there is a right acknowledged 24 For the petitioner and the deprived - 25 And those who hold to the truth of the Day of Judgment; 26 And those who are fearful of their Lord's torment 27 surely the chastisement of their Lord is a thing none can feel secure from – 28 and who are mindful of their chastity, 29 [not giving way to their desires] with any but their spouses - that is, those whom they rightfully possess [through wedlock]: for then, behold, they are free of all blame, 30 (but whoso seeks after more than that, they are the transgressors), 31 And those who of their trusts and their covenant are keepers. 32 And those who are upright in their testimonies, 33 And those who keep a guard on their prayer, 34 These it is who in the gardens [of paradise] shall be honoured! 35