The Town (Al-Balad)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ NAY! I call to witness this land 1 And you, [O Muhammad], are free of restriction in this city - 2 And the begetter and whom he begot. 3 We have indeed created man surrounded by hardships. 4 Does he think that no one has power over him? 5 He saith: I have wasted riches plenteous. 6 Thinketh he that none beholdeth him? 7 Have We not made for him a pair of eyes?- 8 One tongue, and two lips, 9 And showed him two highways (of good and evil)? 10 But he has not broken through the difficult pass. 11 And what will explain to thee the path that is steep?- 12 It is the freeing of a slave 13 the giving of food upon the day of hunger 14 To the orphan with claims of relationship, 15 Or the poor in distress; 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 Those are the companions of the right. 18 As for those who disbelieve in Our revelations, they are the people of the left 19 who will be engulfed in the fire. 20