The Town (Al-Balad)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
۞ I swear by this city (Makkah); 1 this land in which thou art free to dwell 2 And the parent and the offspring, 3 We have certainly created man into hardship. 4 Thinks he that none can overcome him? 5 He shall say: I have wasted much wealth. 6 Does he think that no one sees him? 7 Have We not appointed to him two eyes, 8 And a tongue and a pair of lips? 9 And shown him the two ways (good and evil)? 10 But he has made no effort to pass on the path that is steep. 11 And what could make thee conceive what it is, that steep uphill road? 12 It is the freeing of a slave; 13 the giving of food upon the day of hunger 14 to an orphaned relative 15 or to a needy person in distress; 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 But those who deny Our revelations are the people of the left hand: 19 The Fire will be shut over them (i.e. they will be enveloped by the Fire without any opening or window or outlet. 20