Surah The Ascending stairways [Al-Maarij] in English

An asker asked for a punishment sure to befall

—which none can avert from the faithless —

from Allah, Lord of the lofty stations.

The angels and the Spirit ascend to Him in a day whose span is fifty thousand years.

So be patient, with a patience that is graceful.

Indeed they see it to be far off,

and We see it to be near.

The day when the sky will be like molten copper,

and the mountains like [tufts of] dyed wool,

and no friend will inquire about [the welfare of his] friend,

[though] they will be placed within each other’s sight. The guilty one will wish he could ransom himself from the punishment of that day at the price of his children,

his spouse and his brother,

his kin, which had sheltered him

and all those who are upon the earth, if that might deliver him.

Never! Indeed, it is a blazing fire,

which strips away the scalp.

It invites him, who has turned back [from the truth] and forsaken [it],

amassing [wealth] and hoarding [it].

Indeed man has been created covetous:

anxious when an ill befalls him

and grudging [charity] when good comes his way

—[all are such] except the prayerful,

those who persevere in their prayers

and there is a known share in whose wealth

for the beggar and the deprived,

and who affirm the Day of Retribution,

and those who are apprehensive of the punishment of their Lord

(there is indeed no security from the punishment of their Lord)

and those who guard their private parts

(apart from their spouses and their slave women, for then they are not blameworthy;

but whoever seeks beyond that—it is they who are the transgressors)

and those who keep their trusts and covenants,

and those who are observant of their testimonies,

and those who are watchful of their prayers.

They will be in gardens, held in honour.

What is the matter with the faithless that they scramble toward you,

from left and right, in groups?

Does each man among them hope to enter the garden of bliss?

Never! Indeed, We created them from what they know.

So I swear by the Lord of the easts and the wests that We are able

to replace them with [others] better than them and We are not to be outmaneuvered.

So leave them to gossip and play till they encounter the day they are promised:

the day when they emerge from graves, hastening, as if racing toward a target,