The Town (Al-Balad)
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
۞ No, I swear by this country (Mecca), 1 this land in which thou art free to dwell 2 and I swear by the parent and his offspring: 3 We have certainly created man into hardship. 4 Thinketh he that none hath power over him? 5 He may say (boastfully); Wealth have I squandered in abundance! 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 and shown him the two paths? 10 Yet he has not scaled the height. 11 And what could make thee conceive what it is, that steep uphill road? 12 The freeing of a slave, 13 or giving food on a day of hunger 14 an orphaned relative 15 or to a needy person in distress; 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. 18 But those who reject Our Signs, they are the (unhappy) Companions of the Left Hand. 19 Over them shall be Fire closing round. 20