The Town (Al-Balad)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
۞ I swear by this city -- 1 in which you are now living 2 And the begetter and that which he begat, 3 indeed, We created man in trouble. 4 Does he think that never will anyone overcome him? 5 He shall say: I have wasted much wealth. 6 Thinketh he that none beholdeth him? 7 Have We not made for him two eyes? 8 and a tongue, and a pair of lips, 9 And have shown him the two ways? 10 But he has made no effort to pass on the path that is steep. 11 And what do you know what that difficult steep is? 12 (It is) Freeing a neck (slave, etc.) 13 or the feeding in times of famine 14 of an orphaned relative 15 and downtrodden destitute person, (so that he would be of) 16 Then he became one of those who believed, and recommended one another to perseverance and patience, and (also) recommended one another to pity and compassion. 17 Those are the companions of the right. 18 As for those who disbelieve in Our revelations, they are the people of the left 19 The Fire will be shut over them (i.e. they will be enveloped by the Fire without any opening or window or outlet. 20