Surah Al-Balad

Ta'awwudh · Seeking Refuge

أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ

A'udhu billahi min ash-shaytani ar-rajim. I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the accursed.

The Name · Bismillah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Bismillahi ar-Rahmani ar-Rahim. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

✦

The Surah · Al-Balad

﴾١﴿ لَا أُقْسِمُ بِهَٰذَا الْبَلَدِ

La uqsimu bi-hadha al-balad

I swear by this city.

﴾٢﴿ وَأَنتَ حِلٌّ بِهَٰذَا الْبَلَدِ

Wa anta hillun bi-hadha al-balad

And you are a free dweller in this city.

﴾٣﴿ وَوَالِدٍ وَمَا وَلَدَ

Wa walidin wa ma walad

And by the father and what he begot.

﴾٤﴿ لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ فِي كَبَدٍ

Laqad khalaqna al-insana fi kabad

We have certainly created the human in hardship.

﴾٥﴿ أَيَحْسَبُ أَنْ لَّن يَقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ أَحَدٌ

A-yahsabu an lan yaqdira 'alayhi ahad

Does he think that no one has power over him?

﴾٦﴿ يَقُولُ أَهْلَكْتُ مَالًا لُّبَدًا

Yaqulu ahlaktu malan lubada

He says: I have wasted abundant wealth.

﴾٧﴿ أَيَحْسَبُ أَنْ لَّمْ يَرَهُ أَحَدٌ

A-yahsabu an lam yarahu ahad

Does he think no one saw him?

﴾٨﴿ أَلَمْ نَجْعَلْ لَهُ عَيْنَيْنِ

Alam naj'al lahu 'aynayn

Did We not make for him two eyes?

﴾٩﴿ وَلِسَانًا وَشَفَتَيْنِ

Wa lisanan wa shafatayn

And a tongue and two lips?

﴾١٠﴿ وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ

Wa hadaynahu an-najdayn

And shown him the two paths?

﴾١١﴿ فَلَا اقْتَحَمَ الْعَقَبَةَ

Fala iqtahama al-'aqabah

But he has not broken through the steep ascent.

﴾١٢﴿ وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الْعَقَبَةُ

Wa ma adraka ma al-'aqabah

And what could inform you of what the steep ascent is?

﴾١٣﴿ فَكُّ رَقَبَةٍ

Fakku raqabah

The freeing of a slave.

﴾١٤﴿ أَوْ إِطْعَامٌ فِي يَوْمٍ ذِي مَسْغَبَةٍ

Aw it'amun fi yawmin dhi masghabah

Or feeding on a day of severe hunger.

﴾١٥﴿ يَتِيمًا ذَا مَقْرَبَةٍ

Yatiman dha maqrabah

An orphan of near relation.

﴾١٦﴿ أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ

Aw miskinan dha matrabah

Or a poor person in misery.

﴾١٧﴿ ثُمَّ كَانَ مِنَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْمَرْحَمَةِ

Thumma kana mina alladhina amanu wa tawasaw bis-sabri wa tawasaw bil-marhamah

Then to be among those who believed and counseled each other to patience and to mercy.

﴾١٨﴿ أُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ الْمَيْمَنَةِ

Ula-ika ashabu al-maymanah

These are the companions of the right.

﴾١٩﴿ وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِآيَاتِنَا هُمْ أَصْحَابُ الْمَشْأَمَةِ

Walladhina kafaru bi-ayatina hum ashabu al-mash-amah

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

﴾٢٠﴿ عَلَيْهِمْ نَارٌ مُّؤْصَدَةٌ

'Alayhim narun mu-sadah

Over them will be fire closed in.

The Tafsir · The Breakdown

What The Surah Means

Overview

Surah Al-Balad is twenty verses, chapter 90 — a Meccan surah and one of the most ethically demanding in Juz Amma. The opening swears by Mecca, but what the oath establishes is not the holiness of the city. It establishes the difficulty of the human life lived within it and the demanding moral road the human being is asked to climb.

Three movements: verses 1–4 swear by the city, the Prophet's presence in it, and parent and child — culminating in the declaration that We have created the human in kabad. Verses 5–10 expose the proud human and list the gifts. Verses 11–20 introduce al-aqabah, the steep ascent, define what climbing it requires, and close with the two destinations.

The central concept is al-aqabah — a steep mountain pass, used here as a metaphor for the moral life. The question the surah asks is whether you are undertaking the actual climb, or merely standing at the foot of the mountain claiming credit for having seen it.

The city is sworn by. The human is created in hardship. The faculties are given. The two paths are shown. The aqabah stands waiting. The surah asks: have you climbed it, or only looked at it?

Verses 1–4 · The Oaths and the Human Condition

I swear by this city. And you are a free dweller in this city. And by the father and what he begot. We have certainly created the human in hardship.

La uqsimu bi-hadha al-balad: a classical Arabic rhetorical pattern — appearing to deny the oath while intensifying it. The city is Mecca.

Wa anta hillun bi-hadha al-balad: addressed to the Prophet ﷺ directly. He is a free dweller in his own city — which makes the Quraysh persecution more outrageous. Some scholars read this as also predicting the future conquest of Mecca, when he would be free in the city as victorious leader.

Wa walidin wa ma walad: by Adam and his descendants — and by every parent and child. The oath swears by the entire chain of generation.

Laqad khalaqna al-insana fi kabad: the central declaration. Kabad means hardship, struggle, toil, constant exertion against resistance. Birth, helplessness, learning, self-formation, providing, declining, dying — every stage involves kabad. The verse names this as the divine arrangement: the human was created this way deliberately. Kabad is not a malfunction. It is the design.

The human was created in kabad. Not as accident. By design. Stop searching for the life without struggle. That life is not on offer. Climb the aqabah instead.

Verses 5–10 · The Faculties and the Two Paths

Does he think no one has power over him? He says: I have wasted abundant wealth. Does he think no one saw him? Did We not make for him two eyes? And a tongue and two lips? And shown him the two paths?

A-yahsabu an lan yaqdira 'alayhi ahad: the human has imagined himself in a position where no one can constrain him, judge him, or call him to account.

Yaqulu ahlaktu malan lubada: the public boast of the wealthy Quraysh — claiming how much they had spent on conspicuous displays. The Quran exposes the boasting as evidence of the underlying disease: the belief that the wealth was theirs to waste, and that no one was watching.

A-yahsabu an lam yarahu ahad: does he think no one saw him? The boasting is being witnessed. The display is being recorded.

Alam naj'al lahu 'aynayn · wa lisanan wa shafatayn: the eyes that see were given by the One who is looking back. The tongue and lips that boast were given by the One being denied. Every faculty used to assert independence is the gift of the One whose need is being denied.

Wa hadaynahu an-najdayn: the two roads — righteousness and corruption. Allah has shown both. The lack of action is not lack of capacity. It is lack of will.

Two eyes that see and are seen. A tongue and lips that speak and are heard. Two paths shown clearly. The capacity is given. The knowledge is given. The choice is yours.

Verses 11–16 · The Steep Ascent

But he has not broken through the steep ascent. And what could inform you of what the steep ascent is? The freeing of a slave. Or feeding on a day of severe hunger — an orphan of near relation, or a poor person in misery.

Fala iqtahama al-'aqabah: the verb iqtahama means to break through, to plunge through, to force a passage. The human can see the path. He has been told. He has not done it. The gap between knowing and doing is the spiritual problem.

Fakku raqabah: the freeing of a slave. Not opposing slavery in the abstract — freeing actual enslaved people. Throughout Islamic history, freeing slaves was considered one of the highest acts of righteousness specifically because of this verse.

Aw it'amun fi yawmin dhi masghabah: feeding on a day of severe hunger. Not generic charity. Feeding the actually hungry on the actual day of their hunger.

Yatiman dha maqrabah: an orphan of near relation — the responsibility specifically extended to the orphans within your own family network.

Aw miskinan dha matrabah: the destitute — so poor they are in the dust (turab), with nothing.

The aqabah is defined concretely. Free the slave. Feed the hungry on the day of hunger. Care for the orphan in your family. Provide for the destitute. Climbing is doing these things. Standing at the base means not doing them.

Verses 17–20 · The Two Companies

Then to be among those who believed and counseled each other to patience and to mercy. These are the companions of the right. But those who disbelieved in Our signs — they are the companions of the left. Over them will be fire closed in.

Thumma kana mina alladhina amanu...: after the concrete acts, the next step is to be among those who maintain the orientation continuously through community. Three elements: belief, mutual counsel to sabr, mutual counsel to marhamah.

The Al-Asr formulation named sabr. Al-Balad adds marhamah — mercy. The community that climbs the aqabah is a community of mutual mercy. They do not just perform acts of charity. They counsel each other toward continued mercy.

Ashabu al-maymanah: companions of the right — those who receive their record in the right hand on the Day. Ashabu al-mash-amah: companions of the left — those whose records are placed in the left hand.

'Alayhim narun mu-sadah: fire closed in. The same image of total enclosure that closed Al-Humazah closes Al-Balad. The fate of those who did not climb the aqabah is the sealed fire.

Climb the aqabah. Believe. Counsel patience. Counsel mercy. Be of the right. Or do none of these things and be sealed in the fire. The two paths show clearly through Al-Balad.

Structural Summary

Twenty Verses. The Steep Ascent.

Verses 1–4The Oaths · KabadBy the city, the Prophet's residence, the father and child. We created the human in kabad — hardship by design.

Verses 5–10The FacultiesThe proud human exposed. Two eyes, tongue, two lips, the two paths shown. The choice is yours.

Verses 11–16Al-AqabahThe steep ascent he has not climbed. Defined concretely: free the slave, feed the hungry, care for the orphan, provide for the destitute.

Verse 17The CommunityThen to be among those who believed and counseled each other to patience and to mercy.

Verses 18–20The Two CompaniesCompanions of the right — saved. Companions of the left — fire sealed over them.

Why This Surah Is For You

Al-Balad is the most ethically demanding surah in Juz Amma. It makes the moral life inescapably concrete. Free the slave. Feed the hungry. Care for the orphan. Provide for the destitute. Abstraction is not available within this surah.

For a man with wealth, platform, and influence, verses 5–7 expose the disease directly: the imagining of independence, the boast about wasted wealth, the assumption of being unseen. The corrective begins in verse 8 — every faculty you use to assert independence is the gift of the One you imagine you do not need.

Verse 4 is a permanent reference for difficulty. Laqad khalaqna al-insana fi kabad. The kabad is structural. The man who understands this verse stops searching for the version of life without struggle, which was never on offer. He focuses on navigating it righteously.

And verse 17 names the substance of community: tawasaw bis-sabri wa tawasaw bil-marhamah. Counseling each other in patience and mercy. Both required. Both sustained through mutual counsel. The men who counsel each other in these are the companions of the right.

The Practice · Daily Integration

Twenty Verses. Climb It.

Four verses per day spoken aloud — installed into salah by day six. Pair it with Al-Asr (103) — both surahs end with the same architecture of believing, counseling patience, and (in Al-Balad) counseling mercy.

Carry verse 4 — fi kabad — as the permanent answer to the question of why life is hard. Stop searching for the version without struggle.

Audit verses 13–16 monthly. Is there a slave (literal or modern) you can help free? An actually hungry person you can feed this week? An orphan in your family network? A destitute person you can provide for? If the answer to all four is no, you are standing at the base.

Use verse 17 as the structural reminder of the community function. Tawasaw bis-sabri wa tawasaw bil-marhamah. Counsel the men in your circle toward patience and mercy. Sustain them in the dispositions that sustain the climb.

The kabad is given. The faculties are given. The two paths are shown. The aqabah waits. Climb it.

آمِين

Prepared with discipline · Ameen

Verse-By-Verse · Test Yourself

The Quiz

Two questions per verse. Translation and a key Arabic word. Walk through it slow. The goal is comprehension, not speed.

Verse 11 / 30

The Verse

لَا أُقْسِمُ بِهَٰذَا الْبَلَدِ

La uqsimu bi-hadha al-balad

What does this opening oath swear by?