Al-Ma'aarij

A man [mockingly] demanded the punishment.

سَأَلَ سَائِلٌ بِعَذَابٍ وَاقِعٍ

sa-ala sāilun biʿadhābin wāqiʿin

It will fall on the disbelievers––none can deflect it––

لِلْكَافِرِينَ لَيْسَ لَهُ دَافِعٌ

lil'kāfirīna laysa lahu dāfiʿun

from God, the Lord of the Ways of Ascent,

مِنَ اللَّهِ ذِي الْمَعَارِجِ

mina l-lahi dhī l-maʿāriji

by which the angels and the Spirit ascend to Him, on a Day whose length is fifty thousand years.

تَعْرُجُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ إِلَيْهِ فِي يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ خَمْسِينَ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ

taʿruju l-malāikatu wal-rūḥu ilayhi fī yawmin kāna miq'dāruhu khamsīna alfa sanatin

So be patient, [Prophet], as befits you.

فَاصْبِرْ صَبْرًا جَمِيلًا

fa-iṣ'bir ṣabran jamīlan

The disbelievers think it is distant,

إِنَّهُمْ يَرَوْنَهُ بَعِيدًا

innahum yarawnahu baʿīdan

but We know it to be close.

وَنَرَاهُ قَرِيبًا

wanarāhu qarīban

On a Day when the heavens will be like molten brass

يَوْمَ تَكُونُ السَّمَاءُ كَالْمُهْلِ

yawma takūnu l-samāu kal-muh'li

and the mountains like tufts of wool,

وَتَكُونُ الْجِبَالُ كَالْعِهْنِ

watakūnu l-jibālu kal-ʿih'ni

when no friend will ask about his friend,

وَلَا يَسْأَلُ حَمِيمٌ حَمِيمًا

walā yasalu ḥamīmun ḥamīman

even when they are within sight of one another. The guilty person will wish he could save himself from the suffering of that Day by sacrificing his sons,

يُبَصَّرُونَهُمْ ۚ يَوَدُّ الْمُجْرِمُ لَوْ يَفْتَدِي مِنْ عَذَابِ يَوْمِئِذٍ بِبَنِيهِ

yubaṣṣarūnahum yawaddu l-muj'rimu law yaftadī min ʿadhābi yawmi-idhin bibanīhi

his spouse, his brother,

وَصَاحِبَتِهِ وَأَخِيهِ

waṣāḥibatihi wa-akhīhi

the kinsfolk who gave him shelter,

وَفَصِيلَتِهِ الَّتِي تُؤْوِيهِ

wafaṣīlatihi allatī tu'wīhi

and everyone on earth, if it could save him.

وَمَنْ فِي الْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا ثُمَّ يُنْجِيهِ

waman fī l-arḍi jamīʿan thumma yunjīhi

But no! There is a raging flame

كَلَّا ۖ إِنَّهَا لَظَىٰ

kallā innahā laẓā

that strips away the skin,

نَزَّاعَةً لِلشَّوَىٰ

nazzāʿatan lilshawā

and it will claim everyone who rejects the truth, turns away,

تَدْعُو مَنْ أَدْبَرَ وَتَوَلَّىٰ

tadʿū man adbara watawallā

amasses wealth and hoards it.

وَجَمَعَ فَأَوْعَىٰ

wajamaʿa fa-awʿā

Man was truly created anxious:

إِنَّ الْإِنْسَانَ خُلِقَ هَلُوعًا

inna l-insāna khuliqa halūʿan

he is fretful when misfortune touches him,

إِذَا مَسَّهُ الشَّرُّ جَزُوعًا

idhā massahu l-sharu jazūʿan

but tight-fisted when good fortune comes his way.

وَإِذَا مَسَّهُ الْخَيْرُ مَنُوعًا

wa-idhā massahu l-khayru manūʿan

Not so those who pray

إِلَّا الْمُصَلِّينَ

illā l-muṣalīna

and are constant in their prayers;

الَّذِينَ هُمْ عَلَىٰ صَلَاتِهِمْ دَائِمُونَ

alladhīna hum ʿalā ṣalātihim dāimūna

who give a due share of their wealth

وَالَّذِينَ فِي أَمْوَالِهِمْ حَقٌّ مَعْلُومٌ

wa-alladhīna fī amwālihim ḥaqqun maʿlūmun

to beggars and the deprived;

لِلسَّائِلِ وَالْمَحْرُومِ

lilssāili wal-maḥrūmi

who believe in the Day of Judgement

وَالَّذِينَ يُصَدِّقُونَ بِيَوْمِ الدِّينِ

wa-alladhīna yuṣaddiqūna biyawmi l-dīni

and fear the punishment of their Lord––

وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ مِنْ عَذَابِ رَبِّهِمْ مُشْفِقُونَ

wa-alladhīna hum min ʿadhābi rabbihim mush'fiqūna

none may feel wholly secure from it––

إِنَّ عَذَابَ رَبِّهِمْ غَيْرُ مَأْمُونٍ

inna ʿadhāba rabbihim ghayru mamūnin

who guard their chastity

وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِفُرُوجِهِمْ حَافِظُونَ

wa-alladhīna hum lifurūjihim ḥāfiẓūna

from all but their spouses or their slave-girls––there is no blame attached to [relations with] these,

إِلَّا عَلَىٰ أَزْوَاجِهِمْ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ غَيْرُ مَلُومِينَ

illā ʿalā azwājihim aw mā malakat aymānuhum fa-innahum ghayru malūmīna

but those whose desires exceed this limit are truly transgressors––

فَمَنِ ابْتَغَىٰ وَرَاءَ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الْعَادُونَ

famani ib'taghā warāa dhālika fa-ulāika humu l-ʿādūna

who are faithful to their trusts and their pledges;

وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِأَمَانَاتِهِمْ وَعَهْدِهِمْ رَاعُونَ

wa-alladhīna hum li-amānātihim waʿahdihim rāʿūna

who give honest testimony

وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ بِشَهَادَاتِهِمْ قَائِمُونَ

wa-alladhīna hum bishahādātihim qāimūna

and are steadfast in their prayers.

وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ عَلَىٰ صَلَاتِهِمْ يُحَافِظُونَ

wa-alladhīna hum ʿalā ṣalātihim yuḥāfiẓūna

They will be honoured in Gardens of bliss.

أُولَـٰئِكَ فِي جَنَّاتٍ مُكْرَمُونَ

ulāika fī jannātin muk'ramūna

What is wrong with the disbelievers? Why do they rush to peer at you [Prophet],

فَمَالِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا قِبَلَكَ مُهْطِعِينَ

famāli alladhīna kafarū qibalaka muh'ṭiʿīna

from right and left, in crowds?

عَنِ الْيَمِينِ وَعَنِ الشِّمَالِ عِزِينَ

ʿani l-yamīni waʿani l-shimāli ʿizīna

Does every one of them expect to enter a Garden of bliss?

أَيَطْمَعُ كُلُّ امْرِئٍ مِنْهُمْ أَنْ يُدْخَلَ جَنَّةَ نَعِيمٍ

ayaṭmaʿu kullu im'ri-in min'hum an yud'khala jannata naʿīmin

No! We created them from the substance they know,

كَلَّا ۖ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاهُمْ مِمَّا يَعْلَمُونَ

kallā innā khalaqnāhum mimmā yaʿlamūna

and, by the Lord of every sunrise and sunset, We have the power

فَلَا أُقْسِمُ بِرَبِّ الْمَشَارِقِ وَالْمَغَارِبِ إِنَّا لَقَادِرُونَ

falā uq'simu birabbi l-mashāriqi wal-maghāribi innā laqādirūna

to substitute for them others better than they are- nothing can prevent Us from doing this.

عَلَىٰ أَنْ نُبَدِّلَ خَيْرًا مِنْهُمْ وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمَسْبُوقِينَ

ʿalā an nubaddila khayran min'hum wamā naḥnu bimasbūqīna

So leave them to wallow in idle talk, until they come face to face with their promised Day,

فَذَرْهُمْ يَخُوضُوا وَيَلْعَبُوا حَتَّىٰ يُلَاقُوا يَوْمَهُمُ الَّذِي يُوعَدُونَ

fadharhum yakhūḍū wayalʿabū ḥattā yulāqū yawmahumu alladhī yūʿadūna

the Day they will rush out of their graves as if rallying to a flag,

يَوْمَ يَخْرُجُونَ مِنَ الْأَجْدَاثِ سِرَاعًا كَأَنَّهُمْ إِلَىٰ نُصُبٍ يُوفِضُونَ

yawma yakhrujūna mina l-ajdāthi sirāʿan ka-annahum ilā nuṣubin yūfiḍūna

eyes downcast and covered in shame: that is the Day of which they were warned.

خَاشِعَةً أَبْصَارُهُمْ تَرْهَقُهُمْ ذِلَّةٌ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ الْيَوْمُ الَّذِي كَانُوا يُوعَدُونَ

khāshiʿatan abṣāruhum tarhaquhum dhillatun dhālika l-yawmu alladhī kānū yūʿadūna