Al-Balad 90
The CityHow to read the Hangul
الرَّحْمَٰنِ르r라흐마니 بِسْمِ비스밀
- Bold = the stressed syllable of the word; a little stronger.
- Overline = long vowel (madd): hold it about two beats. Length matters most in recitation.
- Tiny = no vowel in the Arabic here — just the consonant, short.
- Small Latin letter = a sound Korean lacks, on the next syllable: f upper teeth on lower lip · θ/ð tongue tip between the teeth · r rolled tongue tip (a bare ㄹ is l).
How to read the Hangul
beginning the Christ salvation
- Bold, larger (ˈ) = say it strong and a little longer — the stressed syllable.
- Faint = weak and short (a reduced vowel). Don't give every syllable equal weight.
- Tiny 으 · 트 · 스 = barely voiced. English has no vowel there — stop on the consonant.
- Whole word faint (the, of, and, to…) = light and quick in a sentence; stress the content words.
- Small f v θ ð r = sounds Korean doesn't have — f: upper teeth on the lower lip; v: the same, voiced; θ/ð: tongue tip between the teeth; r: tongue curled back, touching nothing.
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Surah
About this surah
Classed as a Meccan sura, it begins with oaths by 'this city', where the one addressed is living, and by a father and what he begot, then states that man was created into toil. It challenges the person who boasts of having squandered heaps of wealth and imagines that no one has power over him or sees him: has he not been given two eyes, a tongue and two lips, and been shown the two ways? Yet he has not attempted the steep path. The sura explains what that path is: freeing a slave, feeding on a day of hunger an orphan who is a relative or a needy person lying in the dust, and joining those who believe and urge one another to patience and compassion. Such people are the companions of the right, while those who reject God's signs are the companions of the left, with a Fire closed in over them.
- A life of toil
- The two ways
- The steep path
- Freeing slaves, feeding the hungry
- Companions of right and left
The name It is named after 'this city' (al-Balad) in the oath of verse 1.
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1
I swear by this city —
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2
and you are a dweller in this city —
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3
and by the father and what he begot!
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4
We have certainly created man into toil.
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5
Does he imagine that nobody has power over him?
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6
He says, "I have squandered heaps of wealth."
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7
Does he think that no one has seen him?
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8
Have We not made for him two eyes,
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9
and a tongue and two lips,
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10
and shown him the two ways?
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11
But he has not attempted the steep path.
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12
And what will make you know what the steep path is?
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13
It is the freeing of a slave,
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14
or feeding on a day of severe hunger
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15
an orphan of near relationship,
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16
or a needy person in misery.
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17
And then being among those who believe and urge one another to patience and urge one another to compassion.
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18
Those are the companions of the right.
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19
But those who disbelieve in Our signs — they are the companions of the left.
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20
Over them will be a Fire closed in.