Surah Al-Balad (The City) in English

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

1. لا أقسم بهذا البلد

   1

   I swear by this town,

   lā ʾuqsimu bi-hādhā l-baladi

2. وأنت حل بهذا البلد

   2

   as you reside in this town;

   wa-ʾanta ḥillun bi-hādhā l-baladi

3. ووالد وما ولد

   3

   [and] by the father and him whom he begot:

   wa-wālidin wa-mā walada

4. لقد خلقنا الإنسان في كبد

   4

   certainly We created man in travail.

   la-qad khalaqnā l-ʾinsāna fī kabadin

5. أيحسب أن لن يقدر عليه أحد

   5

   Does he suppose that no one will ever have power over him?

   ʾa-yaḥsabu ʾan lan yaqdira ʿalayhi ʾaḥadun

6. يقول أهلكت مالا لبدا

   6

   He says, ‘I have squandered immense wealth.’

   yaqūlu ʾahlaktu mālan lubadan

7. أيحسب أن لم يره أحد

   7

   Does he suppose that no one sees him?

   ʾa-yaḥsabu ʾan lam yarahū ʾaḥadun

8. ألم نجعل له عينين

   8

   Have We not made for him two eyes,

   ʾa-lam najʿal lahū ʿaynayni

9. ولسانا وشفتين

   9

   a tongue, and two lips,

   wa-lisānan wa-shafatayni

10. وهديناه النجدين

    10

    and shown him the two paths [of good and evil]?

    wa-hadaynāhu n-najdayni

11. فلا اقتحم العقبة

    11

    Yet he has not embarked upon the uphill task.

    fa-lā qtaḥama l-ʿaqabata

12. وما أدراك ما العقبة

    12

    And what will show you what is the uphill task?

    wa-mā ʾadrāka mā l-ʿaqabatu

13. فك رقبة

    13

    [It is] the freeing of a slave,

    fakku raqabatin

14. أو إطعام في يوم ذي مسغبة

    14

    or feeding, during days of [general] starvation,

    ʾaw ʾiṭʿāmun fī yawmin dhī masghabatin

15. يتيما ذا مقربة

    15

    an orphan among relatives

    yatīman dhā maqrabatin

16. أو مسكينا ذا متربة

    16

    or a needy man in desolation,

    ʾaw miskīnan dhā matrabatin

17. ثم كان من الذين آمنوا وتواصوا بالصبر وتواصوا بالمرحمة

    17

    while being one of those who have faith and enjoin one another to patience, and enjoin one another to compassion.

    thumma kāna mina lladhīna ʾāmanū wa-tawāṣaw bi-ṣ-ṣabri wa-tawāṣaw bi-l-marḥamati

18. أولئك أصحاب الميمنة

    18

    They are the People of the Right Hand.

    ʾulāʾika ʾaṣḥābu l-maymanati

19. والذين كفروا بآياتنا هم أصحاب المشأمة

    19

    But those who defy Our signs, they are the People of the Left Hand.

    wa-lladhīna kafarū bi-ʾāyātinā hum ʾaṣḥābu l-mashʾamati

20. عليهم نار مؤصدة

    20

    A closed Fire will be [imposed] upon them.

    ʿalayhim nārun muʾṣadatun