The Town (Al-Balad)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ I do not (need to) swear by this town (Mecca) 1 in which you are now living 2 And by the begetter and that which he begat, 3 Verily We have created man into toil and hardship. 4 Does he think that none has power over him! 5 He says: "I have wasted a great deal of wealth." 6 Does man think that no one saw him? 7 Did We not grant him two eyes, 8 And a tongue and two lips, 9 And guide him to the parting of the mountain ways? 10 Yet he has not assaulted the steep; 11 And what do you know what that difficult steep is? 12 It is freeing the neck, 13 Or feeding on a day of severe hunger 14 An orphan near of kin, 15 or of a needy [stranger] lying in the dust 16 And then being among those who believed and advised one another to patience and advised one another to compassion. 17 Those are the Companions of the Right Hand. 18 But those who deny Our revelations are the people of the left hand: 19 over them is a Fire covered down. 20