Surah Al-Balad: Thematic English Translation (Mustafa Çevik)

O Prophet! By the city in which you live, and by Abraham and his son, who built the Kaaba there: We created the human being with the strength and capacity to endure the difficulties and hardships he will face.

Although We have made known to him where and how he should use the strength and means We have granted him, the ungrateful human being imagines that no one has any rights over him, that no one can overpower him or call him to account, and that what he does is not seen or known; and he keeps boasting of his wealth and property, saying, “I own this much wealth, and I have spent this much.”

Yet We had given him two eyes, a tongue, and two lips, so that he might see what is right and what is wrong, reflect on it, understand it, and explain it.

And We had made known to him that the reason for his creation is to live a life set out by Allah’s verses, and that if he took any other path he would deserve Our punishment.

But many people did not dare to climb the steep ascent before them and pay the price of reaching the goal, in order to live the life We made known and invited them to through prophets and books.

It is Allah who makes known what the steep ascent is. That steep ascent is to free a human being from slavery, to feed the one in need and meet his needs. It is to reach out a hand to the orphan and to a relative in distress, to take them under one’s care, and then, as those who believe, to invite people to be merciful, patient, and striving in Allah’s way.

Such people will succeed in the test and will be rewarded by being given their records of deeds from their right side.

But those who turn away from the system of life to which they are invited will be given their records of deeds from their left side, and they will be cast into the fiery chambers of Hell, surrounded by towering columns, whose gates will be closed over them.