The Town (Al-Balad)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Nay, I swear by this city - 1 And you are free to live upon it, -- 2 by the begetter, and that he begot, 3 Verily, We have created man in toil. 4 Thinks he that none can overcome him? 5 He says, "I have spent wealth in abundance." 6 Does he think that no one sees him? 7 Have We not given him two eyes, 8 And a tongue and a pair of lips? 9 and guided him on the two highways? 10 But he would not try to ascend the steep uphill road... 11 And what will make you know the path that is steep? 12 [It is] the freeing of one's neck [from the burden of sin,] 13 Or feeding on a day of severe hunger 14 An orphan of near relationship 15 Or to the indigent (down) in the dust. 16 And moreover to be of those who accepted faith, and who urged patience to one another and who urged graciousness to one another. 17 These are the People of the Right Hand. 18 But those who deny Our revelations are the people of the left hand: 19 Upon them is a fire, in which they are imprisoned, closed and shut above them. 20