al-Balad: The City

1. I swear by this city (Makkah);

2. And you are free (from sin, to punish the enemies of Islâm on the Day of the conquest) in this city (Makkah),

3. And by the begetter (i.e., Adam) and that which he begot (i.e., his progeny);

4. Verily, We have created man in toil.

5. Thinks he that none can overcome him?

6. He says (boastfully): "I have wasted wealth in abundance!"

7. Thinks he that none sees him?

8. Have We not made for him a pair of eyes?

9. And a tongue and a pair of lips?

10. And shown him the two ways (good and evil)?

11. But he has made no effort to pass on the path that is steep.

12. And what will make you know the path that is steep?

13. (It is) Freeing a neck (slave, etc.)

14. Or giving food in a day of hunger (famine),

15. To an orphan near of kin.

16. Or to a Miskîn (poor) afflicted with misery.

17. 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.

18. They are those on the Right Hand (the dwellers of Paradise),

19. But those who disbelieved in Our Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.), they are those on the Left Hand (the dwellers of Hell).

20. The Fire will be shut over them (i.e., they will be enveloped by the Fire without any opening or window or outlet.

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