THE WORD OF GOD

THE WORD OF GOD From The Scriptures The Quran is the book of God. It has been preserved in its entirety since its revelation to the Prophet of Islam between CE 610 and 632. It is a book that brings glad tidings to humankind, along with divine admonition, and stresses the importance of man’s discovery of the Truth on a spiritual and intellectual level. Translated from Arabic and commentary by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan THE ASCENDING STAIRWAYS In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful 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. (70: 1-14) The scenes of Doomsday cannot either be revealed in reality or truly described in the present world. However, in the Quran, these have been allegorically conveyed by allusions and examples, so that man should have a brief idea of their significance. When Doomsday arrives, it will be so terrible that man will forget his relations and the interests to which he gives the utmost importance today and for which he ignores the Truth. 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,