The Town (Al-Balad)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ I swear by this city -- 1 And you shall be made free from obligation in this city-- 2 by the begetter, and that he begot, 3 that We have created the human being to face a great deal of hardship. 4 Does he think that no one can overpower him? 5 He says, “I destroyed vast wealth.” 6 Thinketh he that none beholdeth him? 7 Have We not given him two eyes, 8 One tongue, and two lips, 9 And shown unto him the two highways? 10 But he has not broken through the difficult pass. 11 And what can make you know what is [breaking through] the difficult pass? 12 It is the freeing of a slave 13 or, in a day of famine, the feeding of 14 an orphaned relative 15 or some needy person in distress, 16 Then he became of those who believed and enjoined on each other steadfastness and enjoined on each other compassion. 17 Such are the Companions of the Right Hand. 18 But those who disbelieve in Our verses, they are the Companions of the Left, 19 On them is fire closed over. 20