The Town (Al-Balad)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
۞ Nay! I swear by this city. 1 and you are a lodger in this country. 2 And by the giver of birth, and whom he fathered, 3 We have certainly created man into hardship. 4 Thinketh he, that none hath power over him? 5 He says: "I have wasted a great deal of wealth." 6 Thinketh he that none beholdeth him? 7 Have We not given him two eyes, 8 One tongue, and two lips, 9 And showed him two highways (of good and evil)? 10 But he has made no effort to pass on the path that is steep. 11 And what do you know what that difficult steep is? 12 (It is) Freeing a neck (slave, etc.) 13 Or the giving of food in a day of hunger 14 to an orphaned relative 15 or to a needy person in distress; 16 so that he becomes one of those who believe, charge each other to be patient, and charge each other to be merciful. 17 They are the people of the right hand (and will succeed). 18 And those who denied Our signs, are the people of the left. 19 with the Fire closed above them. 20