لَآ أُقْسِمُ بِهَٰذَا ٱلْبَلَدِ ١
lā uq'simu bihādhā l-baladi
1. I swear by this city [i.e., Makkah] –
Surah Al-Balad transliteration
سورة البلد
Here is Surah Al-Balad (“The City”) in transliteration: each of its 20 verses in Arabic, then in Latin letters (one Latin word for each Arabic word) and translated into English. Start the recitation: each word lights up as it is pronounced.
Letters with a bar (ā, ī, ū) are long, ʿ marks the letter ʿayn, ḥ, ṣ, ḍ, ṭ, ẓ the emphatic letters. Hover over or tap an Arabic word to see its meaning.
Tajweed rules
- Hamzat al-wasl (silent)
- Silent letter
- Lam shamsiyyah (assimilated)
- Normal madd (2 counts)
- Permissible madd (2, 4 or 6 counts)
- Obligatory madd (4 or 5 counts)
- Necessary madd (6 counts)
- Ghunnah (nasalisation, 2 counts)
- Qalqalah (echo)
- Ikhfa (concealment)
- Ikhfa shafawi (meem)
- Idgham with ghunnah
- Idgham without ghunnah
- Idgham shafawi (meem)
- Idgham mutajanisayn
- Idgham mutaqaribayn
- Iqlab (noon becomes meem)
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
bis'mi l-lahi l-raḥmāni l-raḥīmi
وَأَنتَ حِلٌّۢ بِهَٰذَا ٱلْبَلَدِ ٢
wa-anta ḥillun bihādhā l-baladi
2. And you, [O Muḥammad], are free of restriction in this city –
وَوَالِدٍ وَمَا وَلَدَ ٣
wawālidin wamā walada
3. And [by] the father1924 and that which was born [of him],
Notes
[1924] Said to be Adam (upon him be peace) .
لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ فِى كَبَدٍ ٤
laqad khalaqnā l-insāna fī kabadin
4. We have certainly created man into hardship.
أَيَحْسَبُ أَن لَّن يَقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ أَحَدٌ ٥
ayaḥsabu an lan yaqdira ʿalayhi aḥadun
5. Does he think that never will anyone overcome him?
يَقُولُ أَهْلَكْتُ مَالًا لُّبَدًا ٦
yaqūlu ahlaktu mālan lubadan
6. He says, "I have spent wealth in abundance."
أَيَحْسَبُ أَن لَّمْ يَرَهُۥٓ أَحَدٌ ٧
ayaḥsabu an lam yarahu aḥadun
7. Does he think that no one has seen him?
أَلَمْ نَجْعَل لَّهُۥ عَيْنَيْنِ ٨
alam najʿal lahu ʿaynayni
8. Have We not made for him two eyes?
وَلِسَانًا وَشَفَتَيْنِ ٩
walisānan washafatayni
9. And a tongue and two lips?
وَهَدَيْنَٰهُ ٱلنَّجْدَيْنِ ١٠
wahadaynāhu l-najdayni
10. And have shown him the two ways?1925
Notes
[1925] Of good and evil.
فَلَا ٱقْتَحَمَ ٱلْعَقَبَةَ ١١
falā iq'taḥama l-ʿaqabata
11. But he has not broken through the difficult pass.1926
Notes
[1926] 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.
وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا ٱلْعَقَبَةُ ١٢
wamā adrāka mā l-ʿaqabatu
12. And what can make you know what is [breaking through] the difficult pass?
فَكُّ رَقَبَةٍ ١٣
fakku raqabatin
13. It is the freeing of a slave
أَوْ إِطْعَٰمٌ فِى يَوْمٍ ذِى مَسْغَبَةٍ ١٤
aw iṭ'ʿāmun fī yawmin dhī masghabatin
14. Or feeding on a day of severe hunger
يَتِيمًا ذَا مَقْرَبَةٍ ١٥
yatīman dhā maqrabatin
15. An orphan of near relationship
أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ ١٦
aw mis'kīnan dhā matrabatin
16. Or a needy person in misery
ثُمَّ كَانَ مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلْمَرْحَمَةِ ١٧
thumma kāna mina alladhīna āmanū watawāṣaw bil-ṣabri watawāṣaw bil-marḥamati
17. And then being among those who believed and advised one another to patience and advised one another to compassion.
أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ أَصْحَٰبُ ٱلْمَيْمَنَةِ ١٨
ulāika aṣḥābu l-maymanati
18. Those are the companions of the right.1927
Notes
[1927] Or "the companions of good fortune," i.e., those who receive their records in their right hands and proceed to Paradise.
وَٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ بِـَٔايَٰتِنَا هُمْ أَصْحَٰبُ ٱلْمَشْـَٔمَةِ ١٩
wa-alladhīna kafarū biāyātinā hum aṣḥābu l-mashamati
19. But they who disbelieved in Our signs - those are the companions of the left.1928
Notes
[1928] Or "the companions of ill fortune," i.e., those who receive their records in their left hands and proceed to Hell.
عَلَيْهِمْ نَارٌ مُّؤْصَدَةٌۢ ٢٠
ʿalayhim nārun mu'ṣadatun
20. Over them will be fire closed in.1929
Notes
[1929] The cover over Hell will be sealed and locked, containing its fire and its inhabitants.
Recite what follows from memory. Next verse:
Did you know it?