The Town (Al-Balad)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ No, I swear by this country (Mecca), 1 And thou art a freeman of this City;- 2 and by parent and offspring, 3 Verily, We have created man into [a life of] pain, toil and trial. 4 Does he think then that no one has power over him? 5 He says, "I have spent enormous wealth." 6 Does he think that no one sees him? 7 Have We not given him two eyes, 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 have you understood, what the valley is! 12 To free a neck (from the burden of debt or slavery), 13 or, in a day of famine, the feeding of 14 An orphan, of kin, 15 Or to the indigent (down) in the dust. 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 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 who will be engulfed in the fire. 20