The Town (Al-Balad)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nay, I swear by this city - 1 And you, [O Muhammad], are free of restriction in this city - 2 And the parent and the offspring, 3 We have indeed created man surrounded by hardships. 4 Thinketh he, that none hath power over him? 5 He saith: I have wasted riches plenteous. 6 Does he, then, think that no one sees him? 7 Have We not given him two eyes, 8 And a tongue and two lips? 9 And guide him to the parting of the mountain ways? 10 But he hath made no haste on the path that is steep. 11 How will you comprehend what the Steep ascent is? -- 12 It is freeing the neck, 13 Or the giving of food in a day of privation 14 to an orphan near of kin; 15 or some needy person in distress, 16 And to be of those who believe and exhort one another to perseverance and exhort one another to pity. 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 On them is fire closed over. 20