70. Al-Ma'arij

A supplicant asked for a punishment bound to happen1

A doubter once demanded that punishment be immediately meted out

A questioner might ask about the catastrophe that is bound to fall

To the disbelievers; of it there is no preventer.

to those who deny the truth. No power can hinder God

Upon those who deny the Truth. None can repel it

[It is] from Allāh, owner of the ways of ascent.

from punishing them. He is the Lord of the Ascending Stairways

From Allah, Lord of the Stairways of Ascent. (He enables all things to ascend, evolve and become what they are destined to be)

The angels and the Spirit [i.e., Gabriel] will ascend to Him during a Day the extent of which is fifty thousand years.

by which the angels and the Spirit will ascend to Him in one Day which will last for fifty thousand years

The Universal forces and the Divine Energy ascend unto Him in a Day the measure of which is fifty thousand years

So be patient with gracious patience.

Therefore, [O believers] behave with seemly patience

Therefore, you shall do your part with a most handsome steadfastness

Indeed, they see it [as] distant,

They see it [the Day of Judgement] to be far off

Behold, they see it far away

But We see it [as] near.

but We see it near at hand

But We see it near

On the Day the sky will be like murky oil,1

On that Day the heavens shall become like molten brass

The Day when the sky will melt away

And the mountains will be like wool,1

and the mountains will become like tufts of wool

And the mountains will become as flakes of wool

And no friend will ask [anything of] a friend,

and no friend will ask about his friend

And a friend will not ask about his friend

They will be shown each other. The criminal will wish that he could be ransomed from the punishment of that Day by his children.

though they shall be within sight of each other. The guilty one will gladly ransom himself from the torment of that Day by sacrificing his own children

Even though they will be within sight of one another. The guilty will desire to give his own children to ransom himself from suffering of the Day

And his wife and his brother

his wife, his brother

And his wife and his brother

And his nearest kindred who shelter him.

and his kinsfolk who gave him shelter

And his whole family and the tribe that raised and sheltered him

And whoever is on earth entirely [so] then it could save him.

and all the people of the earth, if that could deliver him

And all who lived on earth - all of them if then it might save him

No!1 Indeed, it is the Flame [of Hell],

But no! There is a raging blaze

But nay! Behold, it is a raging flame

A remover of exteriors.1

stripping away his skin

That burns all coverings and defenses

It invites he who turned his back [on truth] and went away [from obedience]

and it will claim all those who turned their backs [on the true faith] and turned away [from the truth]

It calls him who turned and fled from Truth

And collected [wealth] and hoarded.

and amassed wealth and hoarded it

And hoarded wealth, and withheld it

Indeed, mankind was created anxious:

Indeed, man is born impatient

Verily, man is created with an anxious disposition

When evil touches him, impatient,

when misfortune touches him he starts lamenting

Nervous when harm touches him

And when good touches him, withholding [of it],

and whenever good fortune comes to him, he grows niggardly

And niggardly when good reaches him

Except the observers of prayer -

But not so the worshippers

Except the MUSALLEEN. (Who are Musalleen? NOT the so-called ritualistic praying ones)

Those who are constant in their prayer

who are steadfast in prayer

MUSALLEEN are those who always follow the Divine System

And those within whose wealth is a known right1

those who give a due share of their wealth

And in whose wealth and possessions is a KNOWN RIGHT

For the petitioner and the deprived -

to those who ask [for help] and to the destitute

For him who asks for help, and for him who is deprived

And those who believe in the Day of Recompense

and those who believe in the Day of Judgement

(And Musalleen are) those who have conviction in the Day of Judgment. And hence, in the Law of Recompense

And those who are fearful of the punishment of their Lord -

and are fearful of the punishment of their Lord

And those who are fearful of their Lord's Law of Requital

Indeed, the punishment of their Lord is not that from which one is safe -

for none may ever feel secure from the punishment of their Lord

(They know that) Verily, their Lord's Law of Requital makes no exceptions, so that none can feel secure

And those who guard their private parts

those who preserve their chastity

Those men and women who preserve their chastity

Except from their wives or those their right hands possess,1 for indeed, they are not to be blamed -

except from their spouses and those whom they rightfully possess [through wedlock], for which they incur no blame

They have intimate relations only with their spouses - that is, those who are rightfully theirs through wedlock. For such relationship they are free of blame. ('Aw' = Or = That is = And)

But whoever seeks beyond that, then they are the transgressors -

but those who go beyond that limit are transgressors

But anyone who seeks beyond this, those are the transgressors

And those who are to their trusts and promises attentive.

and those who are faithful to their trusts and to their pledges

(And Musalleen are those) who guard their trusts and duties assigned to them, and their pledges, as a shepherd guards his flock

And those who are in their testimonies upright

and those who stand by their testimony

And those who are truthful in witness and stand by their testimony

And those who [carefully] maintain their prayer:

and are steadfast in their prayers

And those who consolidate and protect the Divine System

They will be in gardens,1 honored.

They will be honoured in the Gardens of Bliss

(Musalleen are the ones who collectively build it on earth and) inherit the Paradise in the Hereafter. Such are the honored ones

So what is [the matter] with those who disbelieve, hastening [from] before you, [O Muḥammad],

But what is the matter with those who deny the truth, that they come hastening towards you

What, then, is the matter with the rejecters that they rush to and fro before you, confused? (Instead of joining hands)

[To sit] on [your] right and [your] left in separate groups?1

from the right and from the left, in crowds

On the right and on the left, in groups

Does every person among them aspire to enter a garden of pleasure?

Does every one of them aspire to be admitted into a Garden of Delight

Does everyone of them hope to enter the Garden of Bliss with this attitude

No! Indeed, We have created them from that which they know.1

Certainly not! They know quite well out of what We created them

Nay! Verily, they know full well what potentials We created them with

So I swear by the Lord of [all] risings and settings1 that indeed We are able

But nay! I call to witness the Lord of the Easts and the Wests, that We have the power

But nay! I call to Witness the Lord of all points in the East and all points in the West, behold, We are Able

To replace them with better than them; and We are not to be outdone.

to replace them with others better than them: nothing can prevent Us from doing this

To replace them by others better than they are. For, there is nothing to prevent Us

So leave them to converse vainly and amuse themselves until they meet their Day which they are promised -

so leave them to indulge in vain idle talk and amuse themselves, until they face the Day which they have been promised

Let them chat and play until they meet their Day which they are promised

The Day they will emerge from the graves rapidly as if they were, toward an erected idol, hastening.1

the Day when they shall come out of their graves in haste, as if they were racing to a goal

The Day they shall come forth in haste from their dead states, as if racing toward a goal post

Their eyes humbled, humiliation will cover them. That is the Day which they had been promised.

with downcast eyes and faces distorted in shame; such is the Day which they are promised

With their eyes subdued in shame, humiliation overwhelming them. Such is the Day which they were promised again and again