سورة Al-Ma'arij (The Ways of Ascent )

A doubter once demanded that punishment be immediately meted out,

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

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

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

Therefore, [O believers] behave with seemly patience.

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

but We see it near at hand.

On that Day the heavens shall become like molten brass,

and the mountains will become like tufts of wool,

and no friend will ask about his friend,

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,

his wife, his brother,

and his kinsfolk who gave him shelter,

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

But no! There is a raging blaze

stripping away his skin,

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

and amassed wealth and hoarded it.

Indeed, man is born impatient:

when misfortune touches him he starts lamenting,

and whenever good fortune comes to him, he grows niggardly.

But not so the worshippers

who are steadfast in prayer;

those who give a due share of their wealth

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

and those who believe in the Day of Judgement

and are fearful of the punishment of their Lord;

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

those who preserve their chastity

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

but those who go beyond that limit are transgressors;

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

and those who stand by their testimony

and are steadfast in their prayers.

They will be honoured in the Gardens of Bliss.

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

from the right and from the left, in crowds?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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