The Town (Al-Balad)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Nay! I swear by this city 1 And you are free to live upon it, -- 2 And by the begetter (i.e. Adam) and that which he begot (i.e. his progeny); 3 Assuredly We have created man in trouble. 4 Does he think that no one has power over him? 5 (He boasts and shows off) saying, "I have spent a great deal of money (for the cause of God)". 6 Thinketh he that none beholdeth him? 7 Have We not made for him a pair of eyes? 8 and a tongue and two lips? 9 and shown him the two highways [of good and evil]? 10 But he would not attempt the uphill road, 11 And what have you understood, what the valley is! 12 (It is) the setting free of a slave, 13 or the feeding in times of famine 14 an orphaned relative 15 Or the poor in distress; 16 And to be of those who believe and exhort one another to perseverance and exhort one another to pity. 17 These are the people of the right hand. 18 and [as for] those who are bent on denying the truth of Our revelations, they are the people of the left hand, 19 On them is fire closed over. 20