90. [al-Balad, (the land), Mecca 35 ]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
لَا
أُقْسِمُ بِهَذَا
الْبَلَد ِ ﴿١﴾
90: 1. I do call to witness this City --
C6130. The appeal to the close ties between the holy Prophet and his parent City of Makkah has been explained in the Introduction to this Surah.
It is a symbol of man's own history. Man is born for toil and struggle, and this is the substantive proposition in verse 4 below, which this appeal leads up to.
90:2. And thou art a freeman ...
C6131. Hillun: an inhabitant, a man with lawful rights, a man freed from such obligations as would attach to a stranger to the city, a freeman in a wider sense than the technical sense to which the word is restricted in modern usage.
The Prophet should have been honoured in his native city. He was actually being persecuted. He should have been loved, as a parent loves a child. Actually his life was being sought, and those who believed in him were under a ban. But time was to show that he was to come triumphant to his native city after having made Madinah sacred by his fife and work.
... بِهَذَا الْبَلَد ِ ﴿٢﴾
... of this City --
90:3. And (the mystic ties of) Parent and Child --
C6132. A parent loves a child: ordinarily the father is proud and the mother, in spite of her birth-pains, experiences supreme joy when the child is born. But in abnormal circumstances there may be misunderstanding, even hatred between parent and child. So Makkah cast out her most glorious son, but it was only for a time. Makkah was sound at heart; only her power had been usurped by an ignorant autocracy which passed away, and Makkah was to receive back her glory at the hands of the son whom she had rejected but whom she welcomed back later. And Makkah retains for all time her sacred character as the centre of Islam.
لَقَدْ
خَلَقْنَا
الْإِنسَانَ
فِي كَبَد ٍ ﴿٤﴾
90:4. Verily We have created Man into toil and struggle.
C6133.
Cf. "Man is born unto troubles as the sparks fly upward" (Job, 5:7);
"For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief" (Ecclesiastes, ii. 23).
Man's life is full of sorrow and vexation; but our text has a different shade of meaning: man is born to strive and struggle; and if he suffers from hardships, he must exercise patience, for Allah will make his way smooth for him (65:7; 94:5-6).
On the other hand no man should boast of worldly goods or worldly prosperity (see verses 5-7 below).
أَيَحْسَبُ
أَن لَّن يَقْدِرَ
عَلَيْهِ أَحَدٌ ﴿٥﴾
90:5. Thinketh he, that none hath power over him?
C6134. See the end of last note.
If a man has wealth, influence, or power, he should not behave as if it is to last for ever, or as if he has no responsibility for his acts and can do what he likes. All his gifts and advantages are given to him for trial. Allah, Who bestowed them on him, can take them away, and will do so if man fails in his trial.
يَقُولُ
أَهْلَكْتُ
مَالًا لُّبَدًا ﴿٦﴾
90: 6. He may say (boastfully): "Wealth have I squandered in abundance!"
C6135. The man who feels no responsibility and thinks that he can do what he likes in life forgets his responsibility to Allah. He boasts of his wealth and scatters it about, thinking that he can thus purchase the support of the world. For a time he may. But a rude awakening must come soon, for he bases his hopes on unsubstantial things. Or if he spends his substance on self-indulgence, he is weakening himself and putting himself into snares that must destroy him.
أَيَحْسَبُ
أَن لَّمْ يَرَهُ
أَحَدٌ ﴿٧﴾
90: 7. Thinketh he that none beholdeth him?
C6136. Allah watches him, and sees all his acts and motives, and all the secret springs of his follies. But lest he should think the higher forces too remote for him, let him look within himself and use the faculties which Allah has given him.
See the next verses following.
أَلَمْ
نَجْعَل لَّهُ
عَيْنَيْنِ ﴿٨﴾
90: 8. Have We not made for him a pair of eyes? --
90: 9. And a tongue,
C6137. The eyes give us the faculty of seeing, and may be taken in both the literal and the metaphorical sense. In the same way the tongue gives us the faculty of tasting in both senses. Along with the lips, it also enables us to speak, to ask for information and seek guidance, and to celebrate the praises of Allah.
... وَشَفَتَيْنِ ﴿٩﴾
and a pair of lips? --
وَهَدَيْنَاهُ
النَّجْدَيْنِ ﴿١٠﴾
90: 10. And shown him the two highways?
C6138. The two highways of life are:
1. the steep and difficult path of virtue, which is further described in the verses following, and
2. the easy path of vice, and the rejection of Allah, referred to in verses 19-20 below.
Allah has given us not only the faculties implied in the eyes, the tongue, and the lips, but has also given us the judgment by which we can choose our way; and He has sent us Teachers and Guides, with Revelation, to show us the right and difficult way.
فَلَا
اقْتَحَمَ
الْعَقَبَةَ ﴿١١﴾
90: 11. But he hath made no haste on the path that is steep.
C6139. In spite of the faculties with which Allah has endowed man and the guidance which He has given him, man has been remiss. By no means has he been eager to follow the steep and difficult pathwhich is for his own spiritual good.
Cf. Matt. 7:14: "Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto live, and few there be that find it".
وَمَا
أَدْرَاكَ مَا
الْعَقَبَةُ ﴿١٢﴾
90: 12. And what will explain to thee the path that is steep? --
90: 13. (It is:) freeing the bondman;
C6140. The difficult path of virtue is defined as the path of charity or unselfish love, and three specific instances are given for our understanding: viz.
1. freeing the bondman,
2. feeding the orphan, and
3. feeding the indigent down in the dust.
As regards the bondman, we are to understand not only a reference to legal slavery, but other kinds of slavery which flourish especially in advanced societies.
There is political slavery, industrial slavery, and social slavery.
There is the slavery of conventions, of ignorance, and of superstition.
There is slavery to wealth or passions or power.
The good man tries to liberate men and women from all kinds of slavery, often at great danger to himself. But he begins by first liberating himself. (R).
أَوْ
إِطْعَامٌ فِي
يَوْمٍ ذِي
مَسْغَبَةٍ ﴿١٤﴾
90: 14. Or the giving of food in a day of privation...
C6141. Feed those who need it, both literally and figuratively; but do so especially when there is privation or famine, literal or figurative, i.e., when or where the sources of sustenance, physical, moral, or spiritual, are cut off.
90: 15. To the orphan with claims of relationship,
C6142. All orphans should be fed and helped. But ordinary orphans will come under the indigent in verse 16 below.
The orphans related to us have a special claim on us. They should be near and dear to us, and if charity begins at home, they have the first claim on us.
أَوْ
مِسْكِينًا
ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ ﴿١٦﴾
90: 16. Or to the indigent (down) in the dust.
C6143. Persons down in the dust can only be helped from motives of pure charity, because nothing can be expected of them-neither praise nor advertisement nor any other advantage to the helper. Such help is help indeed. But there may be various degrees, and the help will be suited to the needs.
90: 17. Then will he be...
C6144. Such practical charity and love will be the acid test of Faith and the teaching of all virtues.
The virtues are summed up under the names of Patience (the Arabic word includes constancy and self-restraint) and compassionate kindness. Not only will they be the test by which the sincerity of their Faith will be judged; they will be the fruit which their Faith will constantly produce.
... مِنَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْمَرْحَمَةِ ﴿١٧﴾
... of those who believe, and enjoin patience, (constancy, and self-restraint), and enjoin deeds of kindness and compassion.
أُوْلَئِكَ
أَصْحَابُ
الْمَيْمَنَةِ ﴿١٨﴾
90: 18. Such are the Companions of the Right Hand.
C6145. Cf. 56:27-40, also n. 5223.
They will be those who achieve salvation.
وَالَّذِينَ
كَفَرُوا بِآيَاتِنَا
هُمْ أَصْحَابُ
الْمَشْأَمَةِ ﴿١٩﴾
90:19. But those who reject Our Signs, they are the (unhappy) companions of the Left Hand.
C6146. Cf. 56:41-56, also n. 5223.
They will be the unfortunate ones enveloped in the Fire of lasting Penalty, heaped over them and all round them.
عَلَيْهِمْ
نَارٌ مُّؤْصَدَةٌ ﴿٢٠﴾
90: 20. On them will be Fire Vaulted over (all round).
Others version:
90: 1
Asad Nay! I call to witness this land -
Pickthall Nay, I swear by this city
Transliteration La_ uqsimu biha_zal balad
90: 2
Asad this land in which thou art free to dwell – [note 1]
Pickthall And thou art an indweller of this city
Transliteration Wa antahilun biha_zal balad
90: 3
Asad and [I call to witness] parent and offspring [note 2]:
Pickthall And the begetter and that which he begat,
Transliteration Wa wa_lidi wa ma_ walad
90: 4
Asad Verily, We have created man into [a life of] pain, toil and trial. [note 3]
Pickthall We verily have created man in an atmosphere:
Transliteration Laqad halaqnal insa_na fi kabad
[ Ruby’s note – I agree with Asad’s following explanation of the general meaning. Because this generality is conveyed in the entire sura, especially in verse 4, the entire humankind is mentioned. ]
[ Asad’s notes – 1. Lit., “while thou art dwelling in this land”. The classical commentators give to the term ‘balad’ the connotation of ‘city’, and maintain that the phrase ‘hadha ‘l-balad’ (‘this city’) signifies Mecca, and that the pronoun “thou” in the second verse refers to Muhammad. ………………seems to warrant a wider, more general interpretation. In my opinion, the worlds ‘hadha ‘l-balad’ denote “this land of man”, i.e., the earth (which latter term is, according to all philologists, one of the primary meaning s of balad). Consequently, the “thou” in verse 2 relates to man in general, and that which is metaphorically “called to witness” is his earthly envioronment.
Note 2. Lit., “the begetter and that which he has begotten”. According to Tabari’s convincing explanation, this phrase signifies “every parent and all their offspring” – i.e., the human race from its beginning to its end. (The masculine form al-walid denotes, of course, both male and femle parents.)
Note 3. The term ‘kabad’, comprising the concepts of ‘pain’, ‘hardship’, ‘toil’, ‘trial’, etc., can be rendered only by a compound expression like the one above. ]
[ Ali’s notes - 6130 The appeal to the close ties between the holy Prophet and his parent City of Makkah has been explained in the Introduction to this Sura. It is a symbol of man's own history. Man is born for toil and struggle, and this is the substantive proposition in verse 4 below, which this appeal leads up to. (90.1)
6131 Hillun: an inhabitant, a man with lawful rights, a man freed from such obligations as would attach to a stranger to the city, a freeman in a wider sense than the technical sense to which the word is restricted in modern usage. The Prophet should have been honoured in his native city. He was actually being persecuted. He should have been loved, as a parent loves a child. Actually his life was being sought, and those who believed in him were under a ban. But time was to show that he was to come triumphant to his native city after having made Madinah sacred by his life and work. (90.2)
6132 A parent loves a child: ordinarily the father is proud and the mother, in spite of her birth-pains, experiences supreme joy when the child is born. But in abnormal circumstances there may be misunderstanding, even hatred between parent and child. So Makkah cast out her most glorious son, but it was only for a time. Makkah was sound at heart; only her power had been usurped by an ignorant autocracy which passed away, and Makkah was to receive back her glory at the hands of the son whom she had rejected but whom she welcomed back later. And Makkah retains for all time her sacred character as the centre of Islam. (90.3)
6133 Cf. "Man is born unto troubles as the sparks fly upward" (Job, v. 7); "For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief" (Ecclesiastes, ii. 23). Man's life is full of sorrow and vexation; but our text has a different shade of meaning: man is born to strive and struggle; and if he suffers from hardships, he must exercise patience, for Allah will make his way smooth for him (lxv. 7; xciv. 5-6). On the other hand no man should boast of worldly goods or worldly prosperity (see verses 5-7 below). (90.4) ]
90: 5
Asad Does he, then, think that no one has power over him?
Pickthall Thinketh he that none hath power over him?
Transliteration Ayahsabu alay yaqdira alaihi ahad
90: 6
Asad He boasts, “I have sepent wealth abundant!” [note 4]
Pickthall And he saith: I have destroyed vast wealth:
Transliteration Yaqu_lu ahlaku ma_lal lubada_
90: 7
Asad Does he, then, think that no one sees him? [note 5]
Pickthall Thinketh he that none beholdeth him?
Transliteration Ayahsabu alam yarahu_ ahad
90: 8
Pickthall Did We not assign unto him two eyes
Transliteration Alam najal lahu_ ainain
90: 9
Pickthall And a tongue and two lips,
Transliteration Wa lisanaw wa syafatain
90: 10
Pickthall And guide him to the parting of the mountain ways?
Transliteration Wa hadaina_hun najdain
Ayah 11 
Pickthall But he hath not attempted the Ascent
Transliteration Falaqtahamal aqabah
Ayah 12
Pickthall Ah, what will convey unto thee what the Ascent is!
Transliteration Wa ma_ adra_ka mal aqabah
Ayah 13
Pickthall (It is) to free a slave,
Transliteration Faku raqabah
Ayah 14
Pickthall And to feed in the day of hunger
Transliteration Au ita_mun fi yaumin zi masgabah
Ayah 15
Pickthall An orphan near of kin,
Transliteration Yatiman za_ maqrabah
Ayah 16
Pickthall Or some poor wretch in misery,
Transliteration Au miskinan za matrabah
Ayah 17
Pickthall And to be of those who believe and exhort one another to perseverance and export one another to pity.
Transliteration Suma ka_na minal lazina a_manu_ wa tawa_sau bisabri wa tawa_sau bil marhamah
Ayah 18
Pickthall Their place will be on the right hand.
Transliteration Ula_ika asha_bul maimanah
Ayah 19
Pickthall But those who disbelieve Our revelations, their place will be on the left hand.
Transliteration Walazina kafaru_ bi a_ya_tinahum asha_bul masamah
Ayah 20
Pickthall Fire will be an awning over them.
Transliteration Alaihim na_rum musadah