The Town (Al-Balad)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
۞ I CALL THIS earth to witness -- 1 and you are a lodger in this country. 2 And the begetter and whom he begot. 3 Verily, We have created man into [a life of] pain, toil and trial. 4 Thinketh he, that none hath power over him? 5 He says (boastfully): "I have wasted wealth in abundance!" 6 Thinks he that none sees him? 7 Have We not appointed to him two eyes, 8 and a tongue, and a pair of lips, 9 And shown unto him the two highways? 10 But he did not venture to scale the difficult steep. 11 What could let you know what the height is! 12 To free a neck (from the burden of debt or slavery), 13 the giving of food upon the day of hunger 14 of an orphan near of kin, 15 or of a needy [stranger] 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 These 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 with the Fire closed above them. 20