The Town (Al-Balad)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
۞ I CALL THIS earth to witness -- 1 And thou art a freeman of this City;- 2 And by the giver of birth, and whom he fathered, 3 that We have created the human being to face a great deal of hardship. 4 Deemest he that none will overpower him? 5 He boasts, "I have spent wealth abundant!" 6 Thinketh he that none beholdeth him? 7 Did We not make two eyes for him? 8 And a tongue and two lips, 9 and guided him on the two highways? 10 But he hath made no haste on the path that is steep. 11 And what could make thee conceive what it is, that steep uphill road? 12 (It is) Freeing a neck (slave, etc.) 13 Or the giving of food in a day of privation 14 to an orphan near of kin; 15 Or to the indigent (down) in the dust. 16 And to be of those who believe and exhort one another to perseverance and exhort one another to pity. 17 These are the fellows of the righthand. 18 But those who disbelieve Our revelations, their place will be on the left hand. 19 with the Fire closed above them. 20