al-Ma‘ārij

An asker asked for a punishment sure to befall

— Ali Quli Qarai

—which none can avert from the faithless —

— Ali Quli Qarai

from Allah, Lord of the lofty stations.

— Ali Quli Qarai

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

So be patient, with a patience that is graceful.

— Ali Quli Qarai

Indeed they see it to be far off,

— Ali Quli Qarai

and We see it to be near.

— Ali Quli Qarai

The day when the sky will be like molten copper,

— Ali Quli Qarai

and the mountains like [tufts of] dyed wool,

— Ali Quli Qarai

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

[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,

— Ali Quli Qarai

his spouse and his brother,

— Ali Quli Qarai

his kin, which had sheltered him

— Ali Quli Qarai

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

Never! Indeed, it is a blazing fire,

— Ali Quli Qarai

which strips away the scalp.

— Ali Quli Qarai

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

amassing [wealth] and hoarding [it].

— Ali Quli Qarai

Indeed man has been created covetous:

— Ali Quli Qarai

anxious when an ill befalls him

— Ali Quli Qarai

and grudging [charity] when good comes his way

— Ali Quli Qarai

—[all are such] except the prayerful,

— Ali Quli Qarai

those who persevere in their prayers

— Ali Quli Qarai

and there is a known share in whose wealth

— Ali Quli Qarai

for the beggar and the deprived,

— Ali Quli Qarai

and who affirm the Day of Retribution,

— Ali Quli Qarai

and those who are apprehensive of the punishment of their Lord

— Ali Quli Qarai

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

and those who guard their private parts

— Ali Quli Qarai

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

and those who keep their trusts and covenants,

— Ali Quli Qarai

and those who are observant of their testimonies,

— Ali Quli Qarai

and those who are watchful of their prayers.

— Ali Quli Qarai

They will be in gardens, held in honour.

— Ali Quli Qarai

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

from left and right, in groups?

— Ali Quli Qarai

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

with a humbled look [in their eyes], overcast by abasement. That is the day they had been promised.

— Ali Quli Qarai