The Town (Al-Balad)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ I swear by this city (Mecca) – 1 and you are a lodger in this country. 2 And by the begetter and that which he begat, 3 that We have created the human being to face a great deal of hardship. 4 Does he think that no one has power over him? 5 He shall say: I have wasted much wealth. 6 Does man think that no one saw him? 7 Have We not given him two eyes, 8 And a tongue and two lips, 9 Have We not shown him the ways of good and evil? 10 Yet he has not assaulted the steep; 11 What will explain to you what the ascent is? 12 It is the setting free of a slave 13 or, in a day of famine, the feeding of 14 to an orphaned relative 15 Or a needy person in misery 16 And moreover to be of those who accepted faith, and who urged patience to one another and who urged graciousness to one another. 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 over them is a Fire covered down. 20