Surah Al-Balad · The City

لَآ أُقْسِمُ بِهَـٰذَا ٱلْبَلَدِ ۝١

lā uq'simu bihādhā l-balad

I swear by this city [i.e., Makkah]

وَأَنتَ حِلٌّۢ بِهَـٰذَا ٱلْبَلَدِ ۝٢

wa-anta ḥillun bihādhā l-balad

And you, [O Muḥammad], are free of restriction in this city

وَوَالِدٍ وَمَا وَلَدَ ۝٣

wawālidin wamā walad

And [by] the father and that which was born [of him],

لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ فِى كَبَدٍ ۝٤

laqad khalaqnā l-insāna fī kabad

We have certainly created man into hardship.

أَيَحْسَبُ أَن لَّن يَقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ أَحَدٌ ۝٥

ayaḥsabu an lan yaqdira ʿalayhi aḥad

Does he think that never will anyone overcome him?

يَقُولُ أَهْلَكْتُ مَالًا لُّبَدًا ۝٦

yaqūlu ahlaktu mālan lubadā

He says, "I have spent wealth in abundance."

أَيَحْسَبُ أَن لَّمْ يَرَهُۥٓ أَحَدٌ ۝٧

ayaḥsabu an lam yarahu aḥad

Does he think that no one has seen him?

أَلَمْ نَجْعَل لَّهُۥ عَيْنَيْنِ ۝٨

alam najʿal lahu ʿaynayn

Have We not made for him two eyes?

وَلِسَانًا وَشَفَتَيْنِ ۝٩

walisānan washafatayn

And a tongue and two lips?

وَهَدَيْنَـٰهُ ٱلنَّجْدَيْنِ ۝١٠

wahadaynāhu l-najdayn

And have shown him the two ways?

فَلَا ٱقْتَحَمَ ٱلْعَقَبَةَ ۝١١

falā iq'taḥama l-ʿaqabah

But he has not broken through the difficult pass.

وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا ٱلْعَقَبَةُ ۝١٢

wamā adrāka mā l-ʿaqabah

And what can make you know what is [breaking through] the difficult pass?

فَكُّ رَقَبَةٍ ۝١٣

fakku raqabah

It is the freeing of a slave

أَوْ إِطْعَـٰمٌ فِى يَوْمٍ ذِى مَسْغَبَةٍ ۝١٤

aw iṭ'ʿāmun fī yawmin dhī masghabah

Or feeding on a day of severe hunger

يَتِيمًا ذَا مَقْرَبَةٍ ۝١٥

yatīman dhā maqrabah

An orphan of near relationship

أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ ۝١٦

aw mis'kīnan dhā matrabah

Or a needy person in misery

ثُمَّ كَانَ مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلْمَرْحَمَةِ ۝١٧

thumma kāna mina alladhīna āmanū watawāṣaw bil-ṣabri watawāṣaw bil-marḥamah

And then being among those who believed and advised one another to patience and advised one another to compassion.

أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ أَصْحَـٰبُ ٱلْمَيْمَنَةِ ۝١٨

ulāika aṣḥābu l-maymanah

Those are the companions of the right.

وَٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ بِـَٔايَـٰتِنَا هُمْ أَصْحَـٰبُ ٱلْمَشْـَٔمَةِ ۝١٩

wa-alladhīna kafarū biāyātinā hum aṣḥābu l-mashamah

But they who disbelieved in Our signs - those are the companions of the left.

عَلَيْهِمْ نَارٌ مُّؤْصَدَةٌۢ ۝٢٠

ʿalayhim nārun mu'ṣadah

Over them will be fire closed in.