Surah Al-Ma`ārij (The Ascending Stairways) in English

1. فلا أقسم برب المشارق والمغارب إنا لقادرون

   40

   So I swear by the Lord of the easts and the wests that We are able

   fa-lā ʾuqsimu bi-rabbi l-mashāriqi wa-l-maghāribi ʾinnā la-qādirūna

2. على أن نبدل خيرا منهم وما نحن بمسبوقين

   41

   to replace them with [others] better than them and We are not to be outmaneuvered.

   ʿalā ʾan nubaddila khayran minhum wa-mā naḥnu bi-masbūqīna

3. فذرهم يخوضوا ويلعبوا حتى يلاقوا يومهم الذي يوعدون

   42

   So leave them to gossip and play till they encounter the day they are promised:

   fa-dharhum yakhūḍū wa-yalʿabū ḥattā yulāqū yawmahumu lladhī yūʿadūna

4. يوم يخرجون من الأجداث سراعا كأنهم إلى نصب يوفضون

   43

   the day when they emerge from graves, hastening, as if racing toward a target,

   yawma yakhrujūna mina l-ʾajdāthi sirāʿan ka-ʾannahum ʾilā nuṣubin yūfiḍūna

5. خاشعة أبصارهم ترهقهم ذلة ذلك اليوم الذي كانوا يوعدون

   44

   with a humbled look [in their eyes], overcast by abasement. That is the day they had been promised.

   khāshiʿatan ʾabṣāruhum tarhaquhum dhillatun dhālika l-yawmu lladhī kānū yūʿadūna