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
나는 이 도시를 두고 맹세하노라.
I swear by this city —
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2
너는 이 도시에 머물고 있다.
and you are a dweller in this city —
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3
그리고 아버지와 그가 낳은 것을 두고 맹세하노라.
and by the father and what he begot!
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4
우리는 진정 사람을 고생 속에 살도록 창조하였다.
We have certainly created man into toil.
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5
그는 아무도 자기를 어찌할 수 없으리라고 생각하느냐?
Does he imagine that nobody has power over him?
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6
그는 "나는 엄청난 재산을 써 버렸다"라고 말한다.
He says, "I have squandered heaps of wealth."
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7
그는 아무도 자기를 보지 않았다고 생각하느냐?
Does he think that no one has seen him?
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8
우리가 그에게 두 눈을 만들어 주지 않았느냐?
Have We not made for him two eyes,
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9
그리고 혀와 두 입술을 [만들어 주지 않았느냐]?
and a tongue and two lips,
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10
그리고 그에게 두 갈래 길을 보여 주지 않았느냐?
and shown him the two ways?
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11
그러나 그는 가파른 길에 뛰어들지 않았다.
But he has not attempted the steep path.
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12
가파른 길이 무엇인지 무엇이 너에게 알려 주겠느냐?
And what will make you know what the steep path is?
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13
그것은 노예를 풀어 주는 것이며,
It is the freeing of a slave,
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14
또는 몹시 굶주리는 날에 먹을 것을 주는 것이니,
or feeding on a day of severe hunger
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15
가까운 친척인 고아나,
an orphan of near relationship,
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16
흙먼지 속에 뒹구는 가난한 이에게 [먹을 것을 주는 것이다].
or a needy person in misery.
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17
그리고 믿으며 서로 인내를 권하고 서로 자비를 권하는 이들 가운데 하나가 되는 것이다.
And then being among those who believe and urge one another to patience and urge one another to compassion.
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18
그들이 오른편의 사람들이다.
Those are the companions of the right.
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19
그러나 우리의 표징들을 믿지 않는 자들, 그들은 왼편의 사람들이다.
But those who disbelieve in Our signs — they are the companions of the left.
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20
그들 위에는 사방이 막힌 불이 덮일 것이다.
Over them will be a Fire closed in.