The Town (Al-Balad)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
۞ I swear by this city -- 1 And you shall be made free from obligation in this city-- 2 by the begetter, and that he begot, 3 We have certainly created man into hardship. 4 Does he think that never will anyone overcome him? 5 He says (boastfully): "I have wasted wealth in abundance!" 6 Does he think that no one sees him? 7 Have We not given him two eyes, 8 And a tongue, and a pair of lips?- 9 and guided him on the two highways? 10 But he hath made no haste on the path that is steep. 11 And what can make you know what is [breaking through] the difficult pass? 12 It is the freeing of a slave 13 or giving food on a day of hunger 14 to an orphan near of kin; 15 Or the poor in distress; 16 the believers who cooperate with others in patience (steadfastness) and kindness. 17 Those are the Companions of the Right. 18 As for those who rejected Our Signs, they are the People of the Left Hand. 19 On them will be Fire vaulted over (all round). 20