The Town (Al-Balad)
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
۞ I swear by this city (Mecca) – 1 and thou art a lodger in this land; 2 and [I call to witness] parent and offspring: 3 We have certainly created man into hardship. 4 What, does he think none has power over him, 5 He may say (boastfully); Wealth have I squandered in abundance! 6 Does man think that no one saw him? 7 Have We not given him two eyes, 8 and a tongue and two lips? 9 Have We not shown him the ways of good and evil? 10 But he has not broken through the difficult pass. 11 And what do you know what that difficult steep is? 12 It is the setting free of a slave 13 And to feed in the day of hunger. 14 To an orphan near of kin. 15 or to a destitute lying in dust; 16 And to be of those who believe and exhort one another to perseverance and exhort one another to pity. 17 Their place will be on the right hand. 18 As for those who rejected Our Signs, they are the People of the Left Hand. 19 Over them shall be Fire closing round. 20