Surah Al-Ma'arij
Surah 70 · The Ascending Stairways · 44 verses · meccan
The Ways of Ascent — al-Ma'arij, from verse 3, describing Allah as the Lord of the ascending stairways.
The story
Allah says people are born worried — we panic when things go wrong and we hold on tight when things go well. Then He says: except the people who pray. Prayer changes how you handle everything.
How it unfolds
AYAH 1-18
A day of fifty thousand years
The demand for punishment, and a Day whose length is stated.
AYAH 19-21
Created anxious
Impatient in hardship, withholding in ease — the human default.
AYAH 22-35
Except those who pray
Nine qualities that break the pattern, beginning and ending with prayer.
Verses to carry
- 70:19"Indeed, mankind was created anxious."
- 70:22"Except those who pray." The exception clause the rest of the surah unpacks.
- 70:24"And those in whose wealth is a known right for the petitioner and the deprived."
Remember this
Feeling worried is normal. Prayer is what Allah gave us for it.
Talk about it
What do you do when you feel worried? Could praying be part of it?