The Town (Al-Balad)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ No, I swear by this country (Mecca), 1 and you are a lodger in this country. 2 and I swear by the parent and his offspring: 3 indeed, We created man in trouble. 4 Does he think that no one has power over him? 5 (He boasts and shows off) saying, "I have spent a great deal of money (for the cause of God)". 6 Does he think that no one has seen him? 7 Have We not given him two eyes, 8 And a tongue and two lips? 9 and guided him on the two paths (of good and evil)? 10 But he did not venture to scale the difficult steep. 11 And what could make thee conceive what it is, that steep uphill road? 12 It is the freeing of a slave; 13 or the feeding, upon a day of [one's own] hunger, 14 of an orphaned relative 15 or a needy man in misery; 16 And to be of those who believe and exhort one another to perseverance and exhort one another to pity. 17 Their place will be on the right hand. 18 But those who reject Our Signs, they are the (unhappy) Companions of the Left Hand. 19 On them is fire closed over. 20