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Surah 70 · Meccan · 44 Verses

المعارج

SURAH AL-MA'ARIJ

The Ascending Stairways

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

1

سَأَلَ سَآئِلٌۢ بِعَذَابٍۢ وَاقِعٍۢ

A supplicant asked for a punishment bound to happen1748

  1. [1748] In the Hereafter. Disbelievers had challenged the Prophet (ﷺ) by invoking Allāh to bring on His punishment. See 8:32. ↩

2

لِّلْكَٰفِرِينَ لَيْسَ لَهُۥ دَافِعٌۭ

To the disbelievers; of it there is no preventer.

3

مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ ذِى ٱلْمَعَارِجِ

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

4

تَعْرُجُ ٱلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةُ وَٱلرُّوحُ إِلَيْهِ فِى يَوْمٍۢ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُۥ خَمْسِينَ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍۢ

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

5

فَٱصْبِرْ صَبْرًۭا جَمِيلًا

So be patient with gracious patience.

6

إِنَّهُمْ يَرَوْنَهُۥ بَعِيدًۭا

Indeed, they see it [as] distant,

7

وَنَرَىٰهُ قَرِيبًۭا

But We see it [as] near.

8

يَوْمَ تَكُونُ ٱلسَّمَآءُ كَٱلْمُهْلِ

On the Day the sky will be like murky oil,1749

  1. [1749] Or "molten metal." ↩

9

وَتَكُونُ ٱلْجِبَالُ كَٱلْعِهْنِ

And the mountains will be like wool,1750

  1. [1750] i.e., in the process of disintegration. ↩

10

وَلَا يَسْـَٔلُ حَمِيمٌ حَمِيمًۭا

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

11

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

12

وَصَٰحِبَتِهِۦ وَأَخِيهِ

And his wife and his brother

13

وَفَصِيلَتِهِ ٱلَّتِى تُـْٔوِيهِ

And his nearest kindred who shelter him

14

وَمَن فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًۭا ثُمَّ يُنجِيهِ

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

15

كَلَّآ ۖ إِنَّهَا لَظَىٰ

No!1751 Indeed, it is the Flame [of Hell],

  1. [1751] An emphatic refusal meaning "It is not to be." ↩

16

نَزَّاعَةًۭ لِّلشَّوَىٰ

A remover of exteriors.1752

  1. [1752] This refers to the skin of the head or of the body or to the body extremities - which will be burned away. ↩

17

تَدْعُوا۟ مَنْ أَدْبَرَ وَتَوَلَّىٰ

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

18

وَجَمَعَ فَأَوْعَىٰٓ

And collected [wealth] and hoarded.

19

۞ إِنَّ ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ خُلِقَ هَلُوعًا

Indeed, mankind was created anxious:

20

إِذَا مَسَّهُ ٱلشَّرُّ جَزُوعًۭا

When evil touches him, impatient,

21

وَإِذَا مَسَّهُ ٱلْخَيْرُ مَنُوعًا

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

22

إِلَّا ٱلْمُصَلِّينَ

Except the observers of prayer -

23

ٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ عَلَىٰ صَلَاتِهِمْ دَآئِمُونَ

Those who are constant in their prayer

24

وَٱلَّذِينَ فِىٓ أَمْوَٰلِهِمْ حَقٌّۭ مَّعْلُومٌۭ

And those within whose wealth is a known right1753

  1. [1753] i.e., a specified share, meaning the obligatory zakāh. ↩

25

لِّلسَّآئِلِ وَٱلْمَحْرُومِ

For the petitioner and the deprived -

26

وَٱلَّذِينَ يُصَدِّقُونَ بِيَوْمِ ٱلدِّينِ

And those who believe in the Day of Recompense

27

وَٱلَّذِينَ هُم مِّنْ عَذَابِ رَبِّهِم مُّشْفِقُونَ

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

28

إِنَّ عَذَابَ رَبِّهِمْ غَيْرُ مَأْمُونٍۢ

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

29

وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ لِفُرُوجِهِمْ حَٰفِظُونَ

And those who guard their private parts

30

إِلَّا عَلَىٰٓ أَزْوَٰجِهِمْ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَٰنُهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ غَيْرُ مَلُومِينَ

Except from their wives or those their right hands possess,1754 for indeed, they are not to be blamed -

  1. [1754] i.e., female slaves. ↩

31

فَمَنِ ٱبْتَغَىٰ وَرَآءَ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْعَادُونَ

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

32

وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ لِأَمَٰنَٰتِهِمْ وَعَهْدِهِمْ رَٰعُونَ

And those who are to their trusts and promises attentive

33

وَٱلَّذِينَ هُم بِشَهَٰدَٰتِهِمْ قَآئِمُونَ

And those who are in their testimonies upright

34

وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ عَلَىٰ صَلَاتِهِمْ يُحَافِظُونَ

And those who [carefully] maintain their prayer:

35

أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ فِى جَنَّٰتٍۢ مُّكْرَمُونَ

They will be in gardens,1755 honored.

  1. [1755] In Paradise. ↩

36

فَمَالِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ قِبَلَكَ مُهْطِعِينَ

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

37

عَنِ ٱلْيَمِينِ وَعَنِ ٱلشِّمَالِ عِزِينَ

[To sit] on [your] right and [your] left in separate groups?1756

  1. [1756] They sat at a distance in order to oppose and mock the Prophet (ﷺ), claiming that they would enter Paradise before the believers. ↩

38

أَيَطْمَعُ كُلُّ ٱمْرِئٍۢ مِّنْهُمْ أَن يُدْخَلَ جَنَّةَ نَعِيمٍۢ

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

39

كَلَّآ ۖ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَٰهُم مِّمَّا يَعْلَمُونَ

No! Indeed, We have created them from that which they know.1757

  1. [1757] i.e., a liquid disdained. So how can they expect to enter Paradise except by the will of their Creator? ↩

40

فَلَآ أُقْسِمُ بِرَبِّ ٱلْمَشَٰرِقِ وَٱلْمَغَٰرِبِ إِنَّا لَقَٰدِرُونَ

So I swear by the Lord of [all] risings and settings1758 that indeed We are able

  1. [1758] i.e., Allāh (subḥānahu wa taʿālā), who determines the point at which the sun, moon and stars rise and set according to season and every position of observation. ↩

41

عَلَىٰٓ أَن نُّبَدِّلَ خَيْرًۭا مِّنْهُمْ وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمَسْبُوقِينَ

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

42

فَذَرْهُمْ يَخُوضُوا۟ وَيَلْعَبُوا۟ حَتَّىٰ يُلَٰقُوا۟ يَوْمَهُمُ ٱلَّذِى يُوعَدُونَ

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

43

يَوْمَ يَخْرُجُونَ مِنَ ٱلْأَجْدَاثِ سِرَاعًۭا كَأَنَّهُمْ إِلَىٰ نُصُبٍۢ يُوفِضُونَ

The Day they will emerge from the graves rapidly as if they were, toward an erected idol, hastening.1759

  1. [1759] i.e., just as they used to race, whenever an idol was newly appointed, to be the first of its worshippers. ↩

44

خَٰشِعَةً أَبْصَٰرُهُمْ تَرْهَقُهُمْ ذِلَّةٌۭ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ ٱلْيَوْمُ ٱلَّذِى كَانُوا۟ يُوعَدُونَ

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

About This Surah

Surah Al-Ma'arij answers a demand to hasten punishment with the scale of divine judgment, then describes human impatience and the practices that reform it: steady prayer, recognized rights in wealth, belief in accountability, sexual restraint, trusts, testimony, and guarded worship. Its “fifty thousand years” imagery concerns the final scale and must not be converted into physics calculations or end-times dates.

Al-Ma'arij begins with someone demanding punishment and states that no one can repel what comes from God. Angels and the Spirit ascend in a day described as fifty thousand years. This image communicates the scale of divine judgment; it does not provide a formula for cosmology, relativity, calendar conversion, or dating the Hour.

The Messenger is told to exercise beautiful patience while people regard judgment as distant. The day’s terror exposes how even intimate relationships and accumulated wealth cannot purchase rescue. Such imagery should not be used to celebrate suffering or threaten named individuals.

Human beings are described as anxious when harm touches them and withholding when good arrives, with an important exception: people constant in prayer, those whose wealth contains a recognized right for the asker and deprived, those who believe in judgment, protect sexual boundaries, honor trusts and testimony, and preserve prayer. The chapter therefore moves from diagnosis of moral instability to habits of responsibility.

Historical sexual vocabulary requires qualified interpretation and never excuses coercion or abuse. Giving rights in wealth encourages justice and charity without guaranteeing financial multiplication. The closing challenges arrogant expectations of paradise and returns creation, death, replacement, and final emergence to God’s authority.

Core Themes

  • Divine judgment beyond human haste
  • Beautiful patience under mockery
  • Human anxiety and possessiveness
  • Steady prayer as moral formation
  • Recognized rights in wealth
  • Trusts, testimony, sexuality, and accountability

Structure

Verses 1-18: Demanded punishment and the scale of the Day — 1-18

Verses 1-18 focus on demanded punishment and the scale of the day.

Verses 19-35: Human instability and the qualities of worshippers — 19-35

Verses 19-35 focus on human instability and the qualities of worshippers.

Verses 36-41: Arrogant expectation and divine creative power — 36-41

Verses 36-41 focus on arrogant expectation and divine creative power.

Verses 42-44: Final emergence and fulfilled warning — 42-44

Verses 42-44 focus on final emergence and fulfilled warning.

Key Passages

Demanded punishment and the scale of the Day — 1-18

Verses 1-18 address demanded punishment and the scale of the day.

Human instability and the qualities of worshippers — 19-35

Verses 19-35 address human instability and the qualities of worshippers.

Arrogant expectation and divine creative power — 36-41

Verses 36-41 address arrogant expectation and divine creative power.

Final emergence and fulfilled warning — 42-44

Verses 42-44 address final emergence and fulfilled warning.

Recitation Note

No exclusive time, fixed repetition count, or guaranteed worldly outcome is asserted here for reciting Surah Al-Ma'arij. Reading it is worship and study; any claim about protection, healing, provision, family outcomes, or a prescribed number requires separate exact evidence and narrow wording.

Interpretation Limits

  • The fifty-thousand-year image is not a physics equation or date-setting tool.
  • Judgment scenes must not be used to threaten named individuals or celebrate suffering.
  • Sexual-boundary vocabulary never authorizes coercion, exploitation, or abuse.
  • Charity and recognized wealth rights do not guarantee financial multiplication.

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