A SCEPTIC² once demanded that punishment be visite
forthwith upon the unbelievers. No power can hinder
God from punishing them. He is the Lord of the Stairways
whereby the angels and the Spirit will ascend to Him in one day whose space is fifty thousand years
Therefore conduct yourself with becoming patience
They think the Day of Judgement is far off
but We see it near at hand
On that day the sky shall become like molten brass
and the mountains like tufts of wool scattered in the wind
No bosom friend shall ask a bosom friend when eye meets eye
To redeem himself from the torment of that day the sinner will gladly sacrifice his children
his consort, his brother
the kin who gave him shelter
and all that are on the earth, if then this might deliver him
But no! The fire of Hel
shall drag him down by the scalp
shall claim him who had turned his bac
and amassed riches and covetously hoarded them
Indeed, man was created impatient
When evil befalls him he is despondent
but, blessed with good fortune, he grows niggardly
Not so the worshippers
who are steadfast in prayer
who set aside a due portion of their wealth
for the beggar and for the dispossessed
who truly believe in the Day of Reckoning
and dread the punishment of their Lord
(for none is secure from the punishment of their Lord)
who restrain their carnal desire
(save with their wives and slave-girls, for with these they are blameless
transgressors are those who lust after other than these)
who keep their trusts and promise
and bear true witness
and who attend to their prayers with promptitude
These shall be laden with honours, in fair Gardens
But what has befallen the unbelievers, that they scramble towards yo
in multitudes from right and left
Are they each seeking to enter a Garden of Delight
No! Of what We created them they know full well
I swear by the Lord of the easts and of the wests that We have the power
to replace them by others better than they: nothing can hinder us from so doing
So let them paddle, let them play until they face the day they are promised
the day when they shall rush headlong from their graves
like men rallying to a standard, with downcast eyes and countenances distorted and abject. Such is the day they are promised