The Town (Al-Balad)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ I do not (need to) swear by this town (Mecca) 1 and you are a lodger in this country. 2 And by the giver of birth, and whom he fathered, 3 Verily, We have created man into [a life of] pain, toil and trial. 4 Does he think then that no one has power over him? 5 He may say (boastfully); Wealth have I squandered in abundance! 6 Does he think that no one has seen him? 7 Have We not made for him two eyes? 8 And a tongue and a pair of lips? 9 And guide him to the parting of the mountain ways? 10 But he would not attempt the uphill road, 11 What will explain to you what the ascent is? 12 [It is] the freeing of one's neck [from the burden of sin,] 13 the giving of food upon the day of hunger 14 to an orphaned relative 15 Or to the poor man lying in the dust. 16 And then being among those who believed and advised one another to patience and advised one another to compassion. 17 Those who do so are the people of the right hand, 18 and [as for] those who are bent on denying the truth of Our revelations, they are the people of the left hand, 19 Upon them is a fire, in which they are imprisoned, closed and shut above them. 20