Al-Balad البلد
The City
Al-Balad opens with an oath sworn on "this city" — Makkah, and by implication the Prophet ﷺ himself, made lawful to swear by because of his presence there — before turning to a claim about the human condition: God created man into hardship (kabad), a life of struggle that is simply the default, not a punishment or an anomaly. The surah confronts a boastful attitude, someone who claims to have spent great wealth and assumes no one is watching him, then asks whether he has considered the two eyes, tongue, and lips God gave him, and the two highways of good and evil he was shown. It defines the steep path (al-'aqabah) not as ritual but as concrete action: freeing a slave, feeding the orphan and the destitute in a day of famine, and being among those who believe and urge each other to patience and mercy — practical religion, made explicit rather than left abstract.
لَآ أُقْسِمُ بِهَـٰذَا ٱلْبَلَدِ
I swear by this city––
وَأَنتَ حِلٌّۢ بِهَـٰذَا ٱلْبَلَدِ
and you [Prophet] are an inhabitant of this city––
وَوَالِدٍ وَمَا وَلَدَ
[I swear] by parent and offspring,
لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ فِى كَبَدٍ
that We have created man for toil and trial.
أَيَحْسَبُ أَن لَّن يَقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ أَحَدٌ
Does he think that no one will have power over him?
يَقُولُ أَهْلَكْتُ مَالًا لُّبَدًا
‘I have squandered great wealth,’ he says.
أَيَحْسَبُ أَن لَّمْ يَرَهُۥٓ أَحَدٌ
Does he think no one observes him?
أَلَمْ نَجْعَل لَّهُۥ عَيْنَيْنِ
Did We not give him eyes,
وَلِسَانًا وَشَفَتَيْنِ
a tongue, lips,
وَهَدَيْنَـٰهُ ٱلنَّجْدَيْنِ
and point out to him the two clear ways [of good and evil]?
فَلَا ٱقْتَحَمَ ٱلْعَقَبَةَ
Yet he has not attempted the steep path.
وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا ٱلْعَقَبَةُ
What will explain to you what the steep path is?
فَكُّ رَقَبَةٍ
It is to free a slave,
أَوْ إِطْعَـٰمٌ فِى يَوْمٍ ذِى مَسْغَبَةٍ
to feed at a time of hunger
يَتِيمًا ذَا مَقْرَبَةٍ
an orphaned relative
أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ
or a poor person in distress,
ثُمَّ كَانَ مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلْمَرْحَمَةِ
and to be one of those who believe and urge one another to steadfastness and compassion.
أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ أَصْحَـٰبُ ٱلْمَيْمَنَةِ
Those who do this will be on the right-hand side,
وَٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ بِـَٔايَـٰتِنَا هُمْ أَصْحَـٰبُ ٱلْمَشْـَٔمَةِ
but those who disbelieve in Our revelations will be on the left-hand side,
عَلَيْهِمْ نَارٌ مُّؤْصَدَةٌۢ
and the Fire will close in on them.
Arabic text and translation (M.A.S. Abdel Haleem) via the Quran.Foundation API.
Frequently asked
Twenty verses.
Meccan, revealed in Makkah.
"The city" — referring to Makkah, sworn by in the surah's opening oath.
Freeing a slave, feeding the orphan or the destitute in a time of famine, and belonging to those who believe and urge one another to patience and mercy.