Al-Balad · The City

لَآ أُقْسِمُ بِهَـٰذَا ٱلْبَلَدِ ﴿١﴾

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

lā uq'simu bihādhā l-baladi

وَأَنتَ حِلٌّۢ بِهَـٰذَا ٱلْبَلَدِ ﴿٢﴾

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

wa-anta ḥillun bihādhā l-baladi

وَوَالِدٍۢ وَمَا وَلَدَ ﴿٣﴾

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

wawālidin wamā walada

لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ فِى كَبَدٍ ﴿٤﴾

We have certainly created man into hardship.

laqad khalaqnā l-insāna fī kabadin

أَيَحْسَبُ أَن لَّن يَقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ أَحَدٌۭ ﴿٥﴾

Does he think that never will anyone overcome him?

ayaḥsabu an lan yaqdira ʿalayhi aḥadun

يَقُولُ أَهْلَكْتُ مَالًۭا لُّبَدًا ﴿٦﴾

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

yaqūlu ahlaktu mālan lubadan

أَيَحْسَبُ أَن لَّمْ يَرَهُۥٓ أَحَدٌ ﴿٧﴾

Does he think that no one has seen him?

ayaḥsabu an lam yarahu aḥadun

أَلَمْ نَجْعَل لَّهُۥ عَيْنَيْنِ ﴿٨﴾

Have We not made for him two eyes?

alam najʿal lahu ʿaynayni

وَلِسَانًۭا وَشَفَتَيْنِ ﴿٩﴾

And a tongue and two lips?

walisānan washafatayni

وَهَدَيْنَـٰهُ ٱلنَّجْدَيْنِ ﴿١٠﴾

And have shown him the two ways?

wahadaynāhu l-najdayni

فَلَا ٱقْتَحَمَ ٱلْعَقَبَةَ ﴿١١﴾

But he has not broken through the difficult pass.

falā iq'taḥama l-ʿaqabata

وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا ٱلْعَقَبَةُ ﴿١٢﴾

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

wamā adrāka mā l-ʿaqabatu

فَكُّ رَقَبَةٍ ﴿١٣﴾

It is the freeing of a slave

fakku raqabatin

أَوْ إِطْعَـٰمٌۭ فِى يَوْمٍۢ ذِى مَسْغَبَةٍۢ ﴿١٤﴾

Or feeding on a day of severe hunger

aw iṭ'ʿāmun fī yawmin dhī masghabatin

يَتِيمًۭا ذَا مَقْرَبَةٍ ﴿١٥﴾

An orphan of near relationship

yatīman dhā maqrabatin

أَوْ مِسْكِينًۭا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍۢ ﴿١٦﴾

Or a needy person in misery

aw mis'kīnan dhā matrabatin

ثُمَّ كَانَ مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلْمَرْحَمَةِ ﴿١٧﴾

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

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

أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ أَصْحَـٰبُ ٱلْمَيْمَنَةِ ﴿١٨﴾

Those are the companions of the right.

ulāika aṣḥābu l-maymanati

وَٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ بِـَٔايَـٰتِنَا هُمْ أَصْحَـٰبُ ٱلْمَشْـَٔمَةِ ﴿١٩﴾

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

wa-alladhīna kafarū biāyātinā hum aṣḥābu l-mashamati

عَلَيْهِمْ نَارٌۭ مُّؤْصَدَةٌۢ ﴿٢٠﴾

Over them will be fire closed in.

ʿalayhim nārun mu'ṣadatun