Al Ma'arij

1 In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. A questioner questioned concerning the doom about to fall

1 A supplicant asked for a punishment bound to happen

2 Upon the disbelievers, which none can repel,

2 To the disbelievers; of it there is no preventer.

3 From Allah, Lord of the Ascending Stairways

3 [It is] from Allah, owner of the ways of ascent.

4 (Whereby) the angels and the Spirit ascend unto Him in a Day whereof the span is fifty thousand years.

4 The angels and the Spirit will ascend to Him during a Day the extent of which is fifty thousand years.

5 But be patient (O Muhammad) with a patience fair to see.

5 So be patient with gracious patience.

6 Lo! they behold it afar off

6 Indeed, they see it [as] distant,

7 While we behold it nigh:

7 But We see it [as] near.

8 The day when the sky will become as molten copper,

8 On the Day the sky will be like murky oil,

9 And the hills become as flakes of wool,

9 And the mountains will be like wool,

10 And no familiar friend will ask a question of his friend

10 And no friend will ask [anything of] a friend,

11 Though they will be given sight of them. The guilty man will long to be able to ransom himself from the punishment of that day at the price of his children

11 They will be shown each other. The criminal will wish that he could be ransomed from the punishment of that Day by his children

12 And his spouse and his brother

12 And his wife and his brother

13 And his kin that harboured him

13 And his nearest kindred who shelter him

14 And all that are in the earth, if then it might deliver him.

14 And whoever is on earth entirely [so] then it could save him.

15 But nay! for lo! it is the fire of hell

15 No! Indeed, it is the Flame [of Hell],

16 Eager to roast;

16 A remover of exteriors.

17 It calleth him who turned and fled (from truth),

17 It invites he who turned his back [on truth] and went away [from obedience]

18 And hoarded (wealth) and withheld it.

18 And collected [wealth] and hoarded.

19 Lo! man was created anxious,

19 Indeed, mankind was created anxious:

20 Fretful when evil befalleth him

20 When evil touches him, impatient,

21 And, when good befalleth him, grudging;

21 And when good touches him, withholding [of it],

22 Save worshippers.

22 Except the observers of prayer -

23 Who are constant at their worship

23 Those who are constant in their prayer

24 And in whose wealth there is a right acknowledged

24 And those within whose wealth is a known right

25 For the beggar and the destitute;

25 For the petitioner and the deprived -

26 And those who believe in the Day of Judgment,

26 And those who believe in the Day of Recompense

27 And those who are fearful of their Lord's doom -

27 And those who are fearful of the punishment of their Lord -

28 Lo! the doom of their Lord is that before which none can feel secure -

28 Indeed, the punishment of their Lord is not that from which one is safe -

29 And those who preserve their chastity

29 And those who guard their private parts

30 Save with their wives and those whom their right hands possess, for thus they are not blameworthy;

30 Except from their wives or those their right hands possess, for indeed, they are not to be blamed -

31 But whoso seeketh more than that, those are they who are transgressors;

31 But whoever seeks beyond that, then they are the transgressors -

32 And those who keep their pledges and their covenant,

32 And those who are to their trusts and promises attentive

33 And those who stand by their testimony

33 And those who are in their testimonies upright

34 And those who are attentive at their worship.

34 And those who [carefully] maintain their prayer:

35 These will dwell in Gardens, honoured.

35 They will be in gardens, honored.

36 What aileth those who disbelieve, that they keep staring toward thee (O Muhammad), open - eyed,

36 So what is [the matter] with those who disbelieve, hastening [from] before you, [O Muhammad],

37 On the right and on the left, in groups ?

37 [To sit] on [your] right and [your] left in separate groups?

38 Doth every man among them hope to enter the Garden of Delight ?

38 Does every person among them aspire to enter a garden of pleasure?

39 Nay, verily. Lo! We created them from what they know.

39 No! Indeed, We have created them from that which they know.

40 But nay! I swear by the Lord of the rising - places and the setting - places of the planets that We verily are Able

40 So I swear by the Lord of [all] risings and settings that indeed We are able

41 To replace them by (others) better than them. And we are not to be outrun.

41 To replace them with better than them; and We are not to be outdone.

42 So let them chat and play until they meet their Day which they are promised,

42 So leave them to converse vainly and amuse themselves until they meet their Day which they are promised -

43 The day when they come forth from the graves in haste, as racing to a goal,

43 The Day they will emerge from the graves rapidly as if they were, toward an erected idol, hastening.

44 With eyes aghast, abasement stupefying them: Such is the Day which they are promised.

44 Their eyes humbled, humiliation will cover them. That is the Day which they had been promised.