The Town (Al-Balad)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
۞ I do not (need to) swear by this town (Mecca) 1 And thou art a freeman of this City;- 2 And (the mystic ties of) parent and child;- 3 Verily, We have created man in toil. 4 Does he think that no one can overpower him? 5 He shall say: I have wasted much wealth. 6 Does he then think that no one sees him? 7 Did We not give him two eyes, 8 a tongue, and two lips, 9 and shown him the two highways [of good and evil]? 10 But he did not venture to scale the difficult steep. 11 And what can make you know what is [breaking through] the difficult pass? 12 (It is) Freeing a neck (slave, etc.) 13 or giving food upon a day of hunger 14 An orphan of near relationship 15 or of a needy [stranger] lying 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 These are the people of the right hand. 18 But those who reject Our Signs, they are the (unhappy) Companions of the Left Hand. 19 with the Fire closed above them. 20