The Town (Al-Balad)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
۞ Nay, I swear by this city - 1 And you are free to live upon it, -- 2 and [I call to witness] parent and offspring: 3 Verily We have created man into toil and struggle. 4 Thinketh he, that none hath power over him? 5 He says, "I have spent enormous wealth." 6 Does he think that no one sees him? 7 Did We not grant him two eyes, 8 and a tongue, and two lips, 9 Have We not shown him the ways of good and evil? 10 But he has made no effort to pass on the path that is steep. 11 How will you comprehend what the Steep ascent is? -- 12 (It is) to free a slave, 13 or, in a day of famine, the feeding of 14 of an orphan near of kin, 15 or to a needy person in distress; 16 Then he became one of those who believed, and recommended one another to perseverance and patience, and (also) recommended one another to pity and compassion. 17 These are the people of the right hand. 18 But those who disbelieve in Our verses, they are the Companions of the Left, 19 On them will be Fire vaulted over (all round). 20