The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of Allah, most benevolent, ever-merciful
A questioner asked concerning a torment about to befall 1 Upon the infidels -- which none would be able to repel -- 2 From Allah, Lord of the Ascending Stairways 3 all the angels and all the inspiration [ever granted to man] ascend unto Him [daily,] in a day the length whereof is [like] fifty thousand years… 4 So be thou patient with a sweet patience; 5 They see the (Day) indeed as a far-off (event): 6 But We see it (quite) near. 7 [It will take place] on a Day when the sky will be like molten lead, 8 And the mountains will be like flakes of wool, 9 And no friend will ask of a 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 his family who had stood by him, 13 and all those on earth. 14 By no means! Verily it is a Flame. 15 Plucking out (his being) right to the skull!- 16 It shall insistently summon him who turned his back and retreated, 17 and amassed wealth and hoarded it. 18 ۞ Verily man is impatient by nature: 19 bewailing when evil befalls him, 20 And niggardly when good befalls him 21 Not so those devoted to Prayer;- 22 Who persevere in devotion, 23 And those in whose wealth there is a fixed portion. 24 For the needy and those dispossessed, 25 And those who believe the Day of Judgement to be true. 26 And those who fear the punishment of their Lord. 27 Indeed the punishment of their Lord is not a thing to be unafraid of! 28 And those who of their private parts are guards. 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 he who seeks to go beyond this, these it is that go beyond the limits-- 31 and those who fulfil their trusts and their covenants, 32 And those who stand firm in their testimonies. 33 And those who guard (the sacredness) of their worship;- 34 They will live in gardens with honour. 35