The Qur'an, 70. al-Ma`arij
70. al-Ma`arij: The Ladders
1 A questioner questioned concerning
the doom about to fall
2 Upon the disbelievers, which
none can repel,
3 From Allah, Lord of the Ascending
Stairways
4 (Whereby) the angels and the
Spirit ascend unto Him in a Day whereof the span is fifty thousand years.
5 But be patient (O Muhammad)
with a patience fair to see.
6 Lo! they behold it afar off
7 While we behold it nigh:
8 The day when the sky will
become as molten copper,
9 And the hills become as flakes
of wool,
10 And no familiar friend will
ask a question of his 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
12 And his spouse and his brother
13 And his kin that harboured
him
14 And all that are in the earth,
if then it might deliver him.
15 But nay! for lo! it is the
fire of hell
16 Eager to roast;
17 It calleth him who turned
and fled (from truth),
18 And hoarded (wealth) and
withheld it.
19 Lo! man was created anxious,
20 Fretful when evil befalleth
him
21 And, when good befalleth
him, grudging;
22 Save worshippers.
23 Who are constant at their
worship
24 And in whose wealth there
is a right acknowledged
25 For the beggar and the destitute;
26 And those who believe in
the Day of Judgment,
27 And those who are fearful
of their Lord's doom -
28 Lo! the doom of their Lord
is that before which none can feel secure -
29 And those who preserve their
chastity
30 Save with their wives and
those whom their right hands possess, for thus they are not blameworthy;
31 But whoso seeketh more than
that, those are they who are transgressors;
32 And those who keep their
pledges and their covenant,
33 And those who stand by their
testimony
34 And those who are attentive
at their worship.
35 These will dwell in Gardens,
honoured.
36 What aileth those who disbelieve,
that they keep staring toward thee (O Muhammad), open-eyed,
37 On the right and on the left,
in groups ?
38 Doth every man among them
hope to enter the Garden of Delight ?
39 Nay, verily. Lo! We created
them from what 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
41 To replace them by (others)
better than them. And we are not to be outrun.
42 So let them chat and play
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,
44 With eyes aghast, abasement
stupefying them: Such is the Day which they are promised.
