The Town (Al-Balad)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ I do not (need to) swear by this town (Mecca) 1 and thou art a lodger in this land; 2 And by oath of your forefather Ibrahim, and by you – his illustrious son! 3 Certainly We have created man to be in distress. 4 Thinks he that none can overcome him? 5 He says: “I have squandered enormous wealth.” 6 Thinketh he that none beholdeth him? 7 Have We not given him two eyes, 8 And a tongue and a pair of lips? 9 And have shown him the two ways? 10 But he did not venture to scale the difficult steep. 11 Ah, what will convey unto thee what the Ascent is! - 12 To free a neck (from the burden of debt or slavery), 13 or, in a day of famine, the feeding of 14 To the orphan with claims of relationship, 15 or some needy person in distress, 16 and being, withal, of those who have attained to faith, and who enjoin upon one another patience in adversity, and enjoin upon one another compassion. 17 They are those on the Right Hand (the dwellers of Paradise), 18 As for those who rejected Our Signs, they are the People of the Left Hand. 19 Fire will be an awning over them. 20