The Town (Al-Balad)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ I do not (need to) swear by this town (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 none has power over him! 5 He shall say: I have wasted much wealth. 6 Does he think that no one sees him? 7 Have We not made for him a pair of eyes?- 8 and a tongue, and a pair of lips, 9 and shown him the two highways [of good and evil]? 10 But he has not broken through the difficult pass. 11 And what will make you know the path that is steep? 12 It is the freeing of a slave 13 or, in a day of famine, the feeding of 14 An orphan of near relationship 15 Or to the indigent (down) in the dust. 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 Such are the Companions of the Right Hand. 18 And those who disbelieve in Our signs, they are the Companions of the Left Hand; 19 Fire will be an awning over them. 20