The Town (Al-Balad)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
۞ NAY! I call to witness this land 1 And you are free to live upon it, -- 2 And by the giver of birth, and whom he fathered, 3 Verily, We have created man in toil. 4 Thinketh he, that none hath power over him? 5 And he saith: I have destroyed vast wealth: 6 What, does he think none has seen him? 7 Have We not given him two eyes, 8 One tongue, and two lips, 9 And have shown him the two ways? 10 But he has not broken through the difficult pass. 11 What will explain to you what the ascent is? 12 It is freeing the neck, 13 Or, feeding, in a day of privation, 14 An orphan of near relationship 15 or some needy person in distress, 16 and being, withal, of those who have attained to faith, and who enjoin upon one another patience in adversity, and enjoin upon one another compassion. 17 Those are the Companions of the Right Hand. 18 whereas those who are bent on denying the truth of Our messages - they are such as have lost themselves in evil, 19 On them will be Fire vaulted over (all round). 20