The Heights (Al-Ma'aarej)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace
There hath asked an asker for the torment about to befall. 1 (a chastisement meant) for the unbelievers, one which none can avert; 2 from God, the Lord of the Stairways. 3 The angels and the Spirit will ascend to Him during a Day the extent of which is fifty thousand years. 4 But be patient (O Muhammad) with a patience fair to see. 5 Verily they think that the chastisement is far off, 6 And We see it nigh. 7 On that Day the heavens shall become like molten brass, 8 and the mountains become like wool, 9 And not a friend shall ask a friend, 10 Though within sight of one another. The sinner would like to ransom himself from the torment of that Day by offering his sons, 11 and of his spouse, and of his brother, 12 the kinsmen who gave him shelter, 13 And all those that are in the earth, (wishing) then (that) this might deliver him. 14 Nay, verily it is a furnace 15 stripping away his skin, 16 It shall insistently summon him who turned his back and retreated, 17 And amasses (wealth) then shuts it up. 18 ۞ Truly man was created very impatient;- 19 bewailing when evil befalls him, 20 And niggardly when good reaches him;- 21 Except the observers of prayer - 22 Those who remain constant in their Salat (prayers); 23 those in whose wealth is a right known 24 For the beggar and the destitute. 25 And those who believe in the Day of Recompense, 26 And those who fear the torment of their Lord, 27 Indeed the punishment of their Lord is not a thing to be unafraid of! 28 and guard their private parts 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 whosoever seeks beyond that, then it is those who are trespassers. 31 (Those) who keep their trusts and their covenant, 32 And those who stand by their testimony 33 And those who [carefully] maintain their prayer: 34 These it is who in the gardens [of paradise] shall be honoured! 35