Surah Al-Balad

بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

1. 90:1 ▶

   لَآ أُقْسِمُ بِهَـٰذَا ٱلْبَلَدِ ﴿١﴾

   lā 'uqsimu bihādha l-balad

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

2. 90:2 ▶

   وَأَنتَ حِلٌّۢ بِهَـٰذَا ٱلْبَلَدِ ﴿٢﴾

   wa'anta ḥillum bihādha l-balad

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

3. 90:3 ▶

   وَوَالِدٍ وَمَا وَلَدَ ﴿٣﴾

   wawālidiw wamā walad

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

   Said to be Adam (upon him be peace).

4. 90:4 ▶

   لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ فِى كَبَدٍ ﴿٤﴾

   laqad khalaqna l-insāna fī kabad

   We have certainly created man into hardship.

5. 90:5 ▶

   أَيَحْسَبُ أَن لَّن يَقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ أَحَدٌ ﴿٥﴾

   ayaḥsabu 'al lay yaqdira ʿalayhi 'aḥad

   Does he think that never will anyone overcome him?

6. 90:6 ▶

   يَقُولُ أَهْلَكْتُ مَالًا لُّبَدًا ﴿٦﴾

   yaqūlu 'ahlaktu mālal lubadā

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

7. 90:7 ▶

   أَيَحْسَبُ أَن لَّمْ يَرَهُۥٓ أَحَدٌ ﴿٧﴾

   ayaḥsabu 'al lam yarahū 'aḥad

   Does he think that no one has seen him?

8. 90:8 ▶

   أَلَمْ نَجْعَل لَّهُۥ عَيْنَيْنِ ﴿٨﴾

   alam najʿal lahū ʿaynayn

   Have We not made for him two eyes?

9. 90:9 ▶

   وَلِسَانًا وَشَفَتَيْنِ ﴿٩﴾

   walisānaw washafatayn

   And a tongue and two lips?

10. 90:10 ▶

    وَهَدَيْنَـٰهُ ٱلنَّجْدَيْنِ ﴿١٠﴾

    wahadaynāhu n-najdayn

    And have shown him the two ways?

    Of good and evil.

11. 90:11 ▶

    فَلَا ٱقْتَحَمَ ٱلْعَقَبَةَ ﴿١١﴾

    fala qtaḥama l-ʿaqabah

    But he has not broken through the difficult pass.

    i.e., the steep incline or obstacle. In other words, he has not spent in the cause of Allāh but only boasts of spending in front of others.

12. 90:12 ▶

    وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا ٱلْعَقَبَةُ ﴿١٢﴾

    wamā 'adrāka ma l-ʿaqabah

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

13. 90:13 ▶

    فَكُّ رَقَبَةٍ ﴿١٣﴾

    fakku raqabah

    It is the freeing of a slave

14. 90:14 ▶

    أَوْ إِطْعَـٰمٌ فِى يَوْمٍ ذِى مَسْغَبَةٍ ﴿١٤﴾

    aw 'iṭʿāmun fī yawmin dhī masghabah

    Or feeding on a day of severe hunger

15. 90:15 ▶

    يَتِيمًا ذَا مَقْرَبَةٍ ﴿١٥﴾

    yatīman dhā maqrabah

    An orphan of near relationship

16. 90:16 ▶

    أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ ﴿١٦﴾

    aw miskīnan dhā matrabah

    Or a needy person in misery

17. 90:17 ▶

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

    thumma kāna mina lladhīna 'āmanū watawāṣaw biṣ-ṣabri watawāṣaw bil-marḥamah

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

18. 90:18 ▶

    أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ أَصْحَـٰبُ ٱلْمَيْمَنَةِ ﴿١٨﴾

    ulā'ika 'aṣḥābu l-maymanah

    Those are the companions of the right.

    Or "the companions of good fortune," i.e., those who receive their records in their right hands and proceed to Paradise.

19. 90:19 ▶

    وَٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ بِـَٔايَـٰتِنَا هُمْ أَصْحَـٰبُ ٱلْمَشْـَٔمَةِ ﴿١٩﴾

    walladhīna kafarū bi'āyātinā hum 'aṣḥābu l-mash'amah

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

    Or "the companions of ill fortune," i.e., those who receive their records in their left hands and proceed to Hell.

20. 90:20 ▶

    عَلَيْهِمْ نَارٌ مُّؤْصَدَةٌۢ ﴿٢٠﴾

    ʿalayhim nārum mu'ṣadah

    Over them will be fire closed in.

    The cover over Hell will be sealed and locked, containing its fire and its inhabitants.

In the transliteration, “|”: the reciter stops; “·”: sakt, a brief cut without taking a breath.