The Town (Al-Balad)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Nay! I swear by this city 1 and you are a lodger in this country. 2 by the begetter, and that he begot, 3 Certainly We have created man to be in distress. 4 Thinketh he, that none hath power over him? 5 He shall say: I have wasted much wealth. 6 Does he then think that no one sees him? 7 Have We not made for him a pair of eyes? 8 And a tongue and two lips, 9 and shown him the two paths? 10 But he has not broken through the difficult pass. 11 Would that you knew what Aqaba is! 12 (It is) to free a slave, 13 or the feeding, upon a day of [one's own] hunger, 14 of an orphaned relative 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 These are the fellows of the righthand. 18 But those who reject Our Signs, they are the (unhappy) Companions of the Left Hand. 19 over them is a Fire covered down. 20