The Town (Al-Balad)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
۞ I swear by this city -- 1 And thou art an indweller of this city - 2 And by the giver of birth, and whom he fathered, 3 Verily We have created man into toil and hardship. 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 made for 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 and what shall teach thee what is the steep? 12 It is freeing someone's neck from slavery; 13 Or, feeding, in a day of privation, 14 An orphan, of kin, 15 or to a destitute lying in dust; 16 so that he becomes one of those who believe, charge each other to be patient, and charge each other to be merciful. 17 These are the People of the Right Hand. 18 And those who disbelieve in Our signs, they are the Companions of the Left Hand; 19 On them will be Fire vaulted over (all round). 20