The Town (Al-Balad)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Nay! I swear by this city 1 – this city wherein you have been rendered violable– 2 and by parent and offspring, 3 We created the human in fatigue. 4 Thinketh he, that none hath power over him? 5 He says (boastfully): "I have wasted wealth in abundance!" 6 Deemest he that none beholdeth him? 7 Have We not made for him a pair of eyes?- 8 and a tongue, and a pair of lips, 9 And did We not show him the two highroads (of good and evil)? 10 But he hath made no haste on the path that is steep. 11 And what will make you comprehend what the uphill road is? 12 It is the freeing of a slave 13 Or the giving of food in a day of privation 14 An orphan, of kin, 15 Or to the indigent (down) in the dust. 16 and, then besides this, he be one of those who believed, and enjoined upon one another steadfastness and enjoined upon one another compassion. 17 Those who do so are the people of the right hand, 18 whereas those who are bent on denying the truth of Our messages - they are such as have lost themselves in evil, 19 and the Fire will close in on them. 20