Al-Ma'aarij

ONE who is minded to ask might ask about the suffering which [in the hereafter] is bound to befall

those who deny the truth. [Know, then, that] nothing can ward it off,

[since it will come] from God, unto whom there are many ways of ascent:

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…

Therefore, [O believer,] endure all adversity with goodly patience:

behold, men look upon that [reckoning] as something far away –

but, We see it as near!

[It will take place] on a Day when the sky will be like molten lead,

and the mountains will be like tufts of wool,

and [when] no friend will ask about his friend,

though they may be in one another's sight: [for,] everyone who was lost in sin will on that Day but desire to ransom himself from suffering at the price of his own children,

and of his spouse, and of his brother,

and of all the kinsfolk who ever sheltered him,

and of whoever [else] lives on earth, all of them - so that he could but save himself.

But nay! Verily, all [that awaits him] is a raging flame,