Al-Balad

لَا أُقْسِمُ بِهَٰذَا الْبَلَدِ ١

I swear by this city (Mecca),

وَأَنتَ حِلٌّ بِهَٰذَا الْبَلَدِ ٢

(O My Esteemed Beloved,) because you are residing in it.

وَوَالِدٍ وَمَا وَلَدَ ٣

(O My Esteemed Beloved!) By (your) father (Adam or Ibrahim [Abraham]) and by those who are born,

لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ فِي كَبَدٍ ٤

Indeed, We have created man (ever suffering) in rigours.

أَيَحْسَبُ أَن لَّن يَقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ أَحَدٌ ٥

Does he think that no one can ever overpower him?

يَقُولُ أَهْلَكْتُ مَالًا لُّبَدًا ٦

(Boasting,) he says: ‘I have spent heaps of wealth.’

أَيَحْسَبُ أَن لَّمْ يَرَهُ أَحَدٌ ٧

Does he think that no one has seen him (making this extravagant spending)?

أَلَمْ نَجْعَل لَّهُ عَيْنَيْنِ ٨

Have We not made for him two eyes?

وَلِسَانًا وَشَفَتَيْنِ ٩

And (have We not given him) a tongue and two lips?

وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ ١٠

And (have We also not) shown him the two highways (of good and evil)?

فَلَا اقْتَحَمَ الْعَقَبَةَ ١١

But he has not yet attempted the steep ascent (of the Din [Religion]) of truth and the practical life dedicated to good and piety).

وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الْعَقَبَةُ ١٢

And what have you thought of the steep ascent (of the rigours of the Din [Religion] of truth)?

فَكُّ رَقَبَةٍ ١٣

It is freeing a neck (from slavery and subjugation),

أَوْ إِطْعَامٌ فِي يَوْمٍ ذِي مَسْغَبَةٍ ١٤

Or feeding on a day of scarcity (the poor and the needy during famine and scarcity i.e., striving to put an end to their sufferings and economic crises),

يَتِيمًا ذَا مَقْرَبَةٍ ١٥

The orphaned relative,

أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ ١٦

Or the poverty-stricken destitute who is completely rundown (and homeless).

ثُمَّ كَانَ مِنَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْمَرْحَمَةِ ١٧

(Provided this striving soul is) one of those who believe and advise one another patience and tolerance and urge one another for mutual affection and mercy.

أُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ الْمَيْمَنَةِ ١٨

These are the people of the Right Hand (i.e., the privileged and the pardoned).

وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِآيَاتِنَا هُمْ أَصْحَابُ الْمَشْأَمَةِ ١٩

And those who reject Our signs are the people of the Left Hand (the callous and the doomed).

عَلَيْهِمْ نَارٌ مُّؤْصَدَةٌ ٢٠

Fire will be enclosed upon them (covering from all sides).