AN INQUIRER ASKED for the affliction that is to com
Upon the infidels -- which none would be able to repel -
From God, the Lord of the steps (of progression)
To whom the angels and the soul take a day to ascend, whose length is fifty thousand years
So persevere with becoming patience
They surely take it to be far away
But We see it very near
The day the sky becomes like molten brass
The mountains like the tufts of (carded) wool
And no friend inquires after friend
Though within sight of one another. The sinner would like to ransom himself from the torment of that Day by offering his sons
His wife and his brother
And his family who had stood by him
And all those who are on the earth, to save himself
But never. It is pure white flam
That would skin the scalp
It will summon whoever turns his back and flees
Who amasses and then hoards
Surely man is greedy by nature
If evil befalls him he is perturbed
If good comes to him he holds back his hand
Except those who closely follow (the Book of God)
Who persevere in devotion
In whose wealth a due share is include
For the needy and those dispossessed
And those who believe in the Day of Judgement
And those who fear the punishment of their Lord, -
Surely no one can be secure from the punishment of his Lord, -
And those who guard their sex except from their wives and women slaves of ol
Are free of blame
But those who seek more than this will be transgressors
And those who fulfil their trusts and covenants
Who uphold their testimonies
And those who are mindful of their moral obligations
They will live in gardens with honour
What is the matter with unbelievers that they stare at you with fixed gazes and hasten towards yo
In crowds, right and left
Does every one of them wish to enter the garden of tranquility
Never so. We have created them from what they know
So I swear by the Lord of the Easts and the Wests that We are certainly abl
To bring better people than they in their place; and they will not be able to thwart Us
So leave them to their vain disputes and amusement till they meet their day (of reckoning) promised them
The day when they will come out of their graves in all haste as though rushing to their altars
Eyes lowered, shame attending. That is the day they have been promised