The Town (Al-Balad)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
۞ Nay, I swear by this city - 1 And thou art a freeman of this City;- 2 And by the begetter (i.e. Adam) and that which he begot (i.e. his progeny); 3 Verily We have created man into toil and hardship. 4 Thinketh he that none hath power over him? 5 He boasts, "I have spent wealth abundant!" 6 Does he think that no one has seen him? 7 Have We not appointed to him two eyes, 8 And a tongue and two lips, 9 And did We not show him the two highroads (of good and evil)? 10 Yet he has not scaled the height. 11 Ah, what will convey unto thee what the Ascent is! - 12 It is the freeing of a slave 13 or the feeding, upon a day of [one's own] hunger, 14 to an orphaned relative 15 Or to the poor man lying in the dust. 16 And moreover to be of those who accepted faith, and who urged patience to one another and who urged graciousness to one another. 17 These are the people of the right hand. 18 whereas those who are bent on denying the truth of Our messages - they are such as have lost themselves in evil, 19 with the Fire closed above them. 20