The Town (Al-Balad)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nay! I swear by this city. 1 in which you are now living 2 And (the mystic ties of) parent and child;- 3 that We have created man into a life of toil and trial. 4 Thinketh he, that none hath power over him? 5 He boasts, "I have spent wealth abundant!" 6 Deemest he that none beholdeth him? 7 Did We not assign unto him two eyes 8 a tongue, and two lips, 9 And have shown him the two ways? 10 But he could not scale the steep ascent. 11 and what shall teach thee what is the steep? 12 (It is:) freeing the bondman; 13 Or feeding on a day of severe hunger 14 An orphan of near relationship 15 Or to the indigent (down) in the dust. 16 Then he became one of those who believed, and recommended one another to perseverance and patience, and (also) recommended one another to pity and compassion. 17 They are those on the Right Hand (the dwellers of Paradise), 18 But those who disbelieve in Our verses, they are the Companions of the Left, 19 Fire will be an awning over them. 20