70. Al-Ma'arij
المعارج“The Ascending Stairways”
The Surah takes its name from the word dhil Ma'arij in verse 3.(Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Quran)
Verse Structure
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سَأَلَ سَآئِلٌۢ بِعَذَابٍ وَاقِعٍ
A supplicant asked for a punishment bound to happen1
sa-ala sāilun biʿadhābin wāqiʿin
لِّلْكَـٰفِرِينَ لَيْسَ لَهُۥ دَافِعٌ
To the disbelievers; of it there is no preventer.
lil'kāfirīna laysa lahu dāfiʿun
مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ ذِى ٱلْمَعَارِجِ
[It is] from Allāh, owner of the ways of ascent.
mina l-lahi dhī l-maʿāriji
تَعْرُجُ ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةُ وَٱلرُّوحُ إِلَيْهِ فِى يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُۥ خَمْسِينَ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ
The angels and the Spirit [i.e., Gabriel] will ascend to Him during a Day the extent of which is fifty thousand years.
taʿruju l-malāikatu wal-rūḥu ilayhi fī yawmin kāna miq'dāruhu khamsīna alfa sanatin
فَٱصْبِرْ صَبْرًا جَمِيلًا
So be patient with gracious patience.
fa-iṣ'bir ṣabran jamīlan
إِنَّهُمْ يَرَوْنَهُۥ بَعِيدًا
Indeed, they see it [as] distant,
innahum yarawnahu baʿīdan
وَنَرَىٰهُ قَرِيبًا
But We see it [as] near.
wanarāhu qarīban
يَوْمَ تَكُونُ ٱلسَّمَآءُ كَٱلْمُهْلِ
On the Day the sky will be like murky oil,1
yawma takūnu l-samāu kal-muh'li
وَتَكُونُ ٱلْجِبَالُ كَٱلْعِهْنِ
And the mountains will be like wool,1
watakūnu l-jibālu kal-ʿih'ni
وَلَا يَسْـَٔلُ حَمِيمٌ حَمِيمًا
And no friend will ask [anything of] a friend,
walā yasalu ḥamīmun ḥamīman
يُبَصَّرُونَهُمْ ۚ يَوَدُّ ٱلْمُجْرِمُ لَوْ يَفْتَدِى مِنْ عَذَابِ يَوْمِئِذٍۭ بِبَنِيهِ
They will be shown each other. The criminal will wish that he could be ransomed from the punishment of that Day by his children.
yubaṣṣarūnahum yawaddu l-muj'rimu law yaftadī min ʿadhābi yawmi-idhin bibanīhi
وَصَـٰحِبَتِهِۦ وَأَخِيهِ
And his wife and his brother
waṣāḥibatihi wa-akhīhi
وَفَصِيلَتِهِ ٱلَّتِى تُـْٔوِيهِ
And his nearest kindred who shelter him.
wafaṣīlatihi allatī tu'wīhi
وَمَن فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا ثُمَّ يُنجِيهِ
And whoever is on earth entirely [so] then it could save him.
waman fī l-arḍi jamīʿan thumma yunjīhi
كَلَّآ ۖ إِنَّهَا لَظَىٰ
No!1 Indeed, it is the Flame [of Hell],
kallā innahā laẓā
نَزَّاعَةً لِّلشَّوَىٰ
A remover of exteriors.1
nazzāʿatan lilshawā
تَدْعُوا۟ مَنْ أَدْبَرَ وَتَوَلَّىٰ
It invites he who turned his back [on truth] and went away [from obedience]
tadʿū man adbara watawallā
وَجَمَعَ فَأَوْعَىٰٓ
And collected [wealth] and hoarded.
wajamaʿa fa-awʿā
۞ إِنَّ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ خُلِقَ هَلُوعًا
Indeed, mankind was created anxious:
inna l-insāna khuliqa halūʿan
إِذَا مَسَّهُ ٱلشَّرُّ جَزُوعًا
When evil touches him, impatient,
idhā massahu l-sharu jazūʿan
وَإِذَا مَسَّهُ ٱلْخَيْرُ مَنُوعًا
And when good touches him, withholding [of it],
wa-idhā massahu l-khayru manūʿan
إِلَّا ٱلْمُصَلِّينَ
Except the observers of prayer -
illā l-muṣalīna
ٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ عَلَىٰ صَلَاتِهِمْ دَآئِمُونَ
Those who are constant in their prayer
alladhīna hum ʿalā ṣalātihim dāimūna
وَٱلَّذِينَ فِىٓ أَمْوَٰلِهِمْ حَقٌّ مَّعْلُومٌ
And those within whose wealth is a known right1
wa-alladhīna fī amwālihim ḥaqqun maʿlūmun
لِّلسَّآئِلِ وَٱلْمَحْرُومِ
For the petitioner and the deprived -
lilssāili wal-maḥrūmi
وَٱلَّذِينَ يُصَدِّقُونَ بِيَوْمِ ٱلدِّينِ
And those who believe in the Day of Recompense
wa-alladhīna yuṣaddiqūna biyawmi l-dīni
وَٱلَّذِينَ هُم مِّنْ عَذَابِ رَبِّهِم مُّشْفِقُونَ
And those who are fearful of the punishment of their Lord -
wa-alladhīna hum min ʿadhābi rabbihim mush'fiqūna
إِنَّ عَذَابَ رَبِّهِمْ غَيْرُ مَأْمُونٍ
Indeed, the punishment of their Lord is not that from which one is safe -
inna ʿadhāba rabbihim ghayru mamūnin
وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ لِفُرُوجِهِمْ حَـٰفِظُونَ
And those who guard their private parts
wa-alladhīna hum lifurūjihim ḥāfiẓūna
إِلَّا عَلَىٰٓ أَزْوَٰجِهِمْ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَـٰنُهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ غَيْرُ مَلُومِينَ
Except from their wives or those their right hands possess,1 for indeed, they are not to be blamed -
illā ʿalā azwājihim aw mā malakat aymānuhum fa-innahum ghayru malūmīna
فَمَنِ ٱبْتَغَىٰ وَرَآءَ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْعَادُونَ
But whoever seeks beyond that, then they are the transgressors -
famani ib'taghā warāa dhālika fa-ulāika humu l-ʿādūna
وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ لِأَمَـٰنَـٰتِهِمْ وَعَهْدِهِمْ رَٰعُونَ
And those who are to their trusts and promises attentive.
wa-alladhīna hum li-amānātihim waʿahdihim rāʿūna
وَٱلَّذِينَ هُم بِشَهَـٰدَٰتِهِمْ قَآئِمُونَ
And those who are in their testimonies upright
wa-alladhīna hum bishahādātihim qāimūna
وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ عَلَىٰ صَلَاتِهِمْ يُحَافِظُونَ
And those who [carefully] maintain their prayer:
wa-alladhīna hum ʿalā ṣalātihim yuḥāfiẓūna
أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ فِى جَنَّـٰتٍ مُّكْرَمُونَ
They will be in gardens,1 honored.
ulāika fī jannātin muk'ramūna
فَمَالِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ قِبَلَكَ مُهْطِعِينَ
So what is [the matter] with those who disbelieve, hastening [from] before you, [O Muḥammad],
famāli alladhīna kafarū qibalaka muh'ṭiʿīna
عَنِ ٱلْيَمِينِ وَعَنِ ٱلشِّمَالِ عِزِينَ
[To sit] on [your] right and [your] left in separate groups?1
ʿani l-yamīni waʿani l-shimāli ʿizīna
أَيَطْمَعُ كُلُّ ٱمْرِئٍ مِّنْهُمْ أَن يُدْخَلَ جَنَّةَ نَعِيمٍ
Does every person among them aspire to enter a garden of pleasure?
ayaṭmaʿu kullu im'ri-in min'hum an yud'khala jannata naʿīmin
كَلَّآ ۖ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَـٰهُم مِّمَّا يَعْلَمُونَ
No! Indeed, We have created them from that which they know.1
kallā innā khalaqnāhum mimmā yaʿlamūna
فَلَآ أُقْسِمُ بِرَبِّ ٱلْمَشَـٰرِقِ وَٱلْمَغَـٰرِبِ إِنَّا لَقَـٰدِرُونَ
So I swear by the Lord of [all] risings and settings1 that indeed We are able
falā uq'simu birabbi l-mashāriqi wal-maghāribi innā laqādirūna
عَلَىٰٓ أَن نُّبَدِّلَ خَيْرًا مِّنْهُمْ وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمَسْبُوقِينَ
To replace them with better than them; and We are not to be outdone.
ʿalā an nubaddila khayran min'hum wamā naḥnu bimasbūqīna
فَذَرْهُمْ يَخُوضُوا۟ وَيَلْعَبُوا۟ حَتَّىٰ يُلَـٰقُوا۟ يَوْمَهُمُ ٱلَّذِى يُوعَدُونَ
So leave them to converse vainly and amuse themselves until they meet their Day which they are promised -
fadharhum yakhūḍū wayalʿabū ḥattā yulāqū yawmahumu alladhī yūʿadūna
يَوْمَ يَخْرُجُونَ مِنَ ٱلْأَجْدَاثِ سِرَاعًا كَأَنَّهُمْ إِلَىٰ نُصُبٍ يُوفِضُونَ
The Day they will emerge from the graves rapidly as if they were, toward an erected idol, hastening.1
yawma yakhrujūna mina l-ajdāthi sirāʿan ka-annahum ilā nuṣubin yūfiḍūna
خَـٰشِعَةً أَبْصَـٰرُهُمْ تَرْهَقُهُمْ ذِلَّةٌ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ ٱلْيَوْمُ ٱلَّذِى كَانُوا۟ يُوعَدُونَ
Their eyes humbled, humiliation will cover them. That is the Day which they had been promised.
khāshiʿatan abṣāruhum tarhaquhum dhillatun dhālika l-yawmu alladhī kānū yūʿadūna
Arabic text: Uthmani script via Qur'an.com API v4. Translation: Sahih International. Revelation order: Egyptian Standard (Al-Azhar).