The Town (Al-Balad)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Nay! I swear by this city 1 in which you are now living 2 And (the mystic ties of) parent and child;- 3 Verily We have created man into toil and hardship. 4 Thinketh he that none hath power over him? 5 He saith: I have wasted riches plenteous. 6 Does he believe that none has seen him? 7 Did We not grant him two eyes, 8 a tongue, and two lips, 9 Have We not shown him the ways of good and evil? 10 Yet he has not scaled the height. 11 And what do you know what that difficult steep is? 12 It is the freeing of a slave; 13 Or the giving of food in a day of hunger 14 of an orphan near of kin, 15 Or to the indigent (down) in the dust. 16 Then will he be of those who believe, and enjoin patience, (constancy, and self-restraint), and enjoin deeds of kindness and compassion. 17 Those are the Companions of the Right. 18 As for those who rejected Our Signs, they are the People of the Left Hand. 19 over them is a Fire covered down. 20