The Town (Al-Balad)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ I CALL THIS earth to witness -- 1 And thou art a freeman of this City;- 2 by the begetter, and that he begot, 3 Verily, We have created man into [a life of] pain, toil and trial. 4 Does he think that no one has power over him? 5 He will say: 'I have destroyed a vast wealth' 6 Does he think that no one sees him? 7 Have We not made for him two eyes 8 And a tongue and two lips? 9 And did We not guide him to the two elevated things? 10 Yet he has not assaulted the steep; 11 And what have you understood, what the valley is! 12 It is the freeing of a slave 13 Or the giving of food in a day of privation 14 to an orphaned relative 15 Or to the poor man lying 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 They are those on the Right Hand (the dwellers of Paradise), 18 And those who denied Our signs, are the people of the left. 19 Fire will be an awning over them. 20