Maktab QuranSurah Al-Balad swears by 'this city' — Makkah — with the Prophet ﷺ dwelling in it, and declares the human condition in three words: created in hardship. Man boasts of wealth spent in heaps and thinks none has seen him; but he was given two eyes, a tongue, two lips, and was shown the two highways. Then comes the surah's great image: al-aqabah, the steep ascent — and its definition: freeing a captive, feeding the orphan and the dust-covered poor on a day of hunger, and being among those who counsel patience and compassion.
Surah Al-Balad is the 90th chapter of the Qur'an, a Meccan surah of 20 verses. Its name means “The City”, and it opens with an oath by Makkah. It states that man was created into hardship, lists the faculties given to him, and defines the “steep path” he has not climbed as freeing a slave and feeding the hungry.
Surah Al-Balad at a glance
| Surah number | 90 of 114 |
|---|---|
| Arabic name | سُورَةُ البَلَدِ |
| Name in English | Al-Balad — “The City” |
| Verses (ayahs) | 20 |
| Revealed in | Makkah |
| Juz | 30 |
| Length in the Mushaf | about 1 page |
An oath by the city
The surah swears by Makkah, notes that the Prophet ﷺ is free of restriction in that city, and swears by a father and what was born of him — then states its thesis: man was created into hardship.
What man was given
It challenges the man who boasts of spending wealth in abundance and thinks no one has seen him: has He not made for him two eyes, a tongue and two lips, and shown him the two ways? The faculties are listed as evidence against the claim.
The steep path
The surah says he has not broken through the difficult pass, then defines what that pass is: freeing a slave, or feeding on a day of severe hunger an orphan of near relationship or a needy person in misery — and then being among those who believed and counselled one another to patience and to compassion. Those are the companions of the right; those who disbelieved are the companions of the left.
Read Surah Al-Balad in full
The Arabic below is the Uthmani script, with a Roman transliteration to help you sound out each verse and the Sahih International English translation of the meaning. If you are learning to recite it, read the Arabic line first and use the transliteration only to check yourself — leaning on it slows real reading down.
Listen to Surah Al-Balad (Mishary Al-Afasy)
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ لَآ أُقْسِمُ بِهَٰذَا ٱلْبَلَدِ
Laaa uqsimu bihaazal balad
I swear by this city, Makkah -
وَأَنتَ حِلٌّۢ بِهَٰذَا ٱلْبَلَدِ
Wa anta hillum bihaazal balad
And you, [O Muhammad], are free of restriction in this city -
وَوَالِدٍۢ وَمَا وَلَدَ
Wa waalidinw wa maa walad
And [by] the father and that which was born [of him],
لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ فِى كَبَدٍ
Laqad khalaqnal insaana fee kabad
We have certainly created man into hardship.
أَيَحْسَبُ أَن لَّن يَقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ أَحَدٌۭ
Ayahsabu al-lai yaqdira 'alaihi ahad
Does he think that never will anyone overcome him?
يَقُولُ أَهْلَكْتُ مَالًۭا لُّبَدًا
Yaqoolu ahlaktu maalal lubadaa
He says, "I have spent wealth in abundance."
أَيَحْسَبُ أَن لَّمْ يَرَهُۥٓ أَحَدٌ
Ayahsabu al lam yarahooo ahad
Does he think that no one has seen him?
أَلَمْ نَجْعَل لَّهُۥ عَيْنَيْنِ
Alam naj'al lahoo 'aynayn
Have We not made for him two eyes?
وَلِسَانًۭا وَشَفَتَيْنِ
Wa lisaananw wa shafatayn
And a tongue and two lips?
وَهَدَيْنَٰهُ ٱلنَّجْدَيْنِ
Wa hadaynaahun najdayn
And have shown him the two ways?
فَلَا ٱقْتَحَمَ ٱلْعَقَبَةَ
Falaq tahamal-'aqabah
But he has not broken through the difficult pass.
وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا ٱلْعَقَبَةُ
Wa maaa adraaka mal'aqabah
And what can make you know what is [breaking through] the difficult pass?
فَكُّ رَقَبَةٍ
Fakku raqabah
It is the freeing of a slave
أَوْ إِطْعَٰمٌۭ فِى يَوْمٍۢ ذِى مَسْغَبَةٍۢ
Aw it'aamun fee yawmin zee masghabah
Or feeding on a day of severe hunger
يَتِيمًۭا ذَا مَقْرَبَةٍ
Yateeman zaa maqrabah
An orphan of near relationship
أَوْ مِسْكِينًۭا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍۢ
Aw miskeenan zaa matrabah
Or a needy person in misery
ثُمَّ كَانَ مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلْمَرْحَمَةِ
Summa kaana minal lazeena aamanoo wa tawaasaw bissabri wa tawaasaw bilmarhamah
And then being among those who believed and advised one another to patience and advised one another to compassion.
أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ أَصْحَٰبُ ٱلْمَيْمَنَةِ
Ulaaa'ika As-haabul maimanah
Those are the companions of the right.
وَٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ بِـَٔايَٰتِنَا هُمْ أَصْحَٰبُ ٱلْمَشْـَٔمَةِ
Wallazeena kafaroo bi aayaatinaa hum as-haabul Mash'amah
But they who disbelieved in Our signs - those are the companions of the left.
عَلَيْهِمْ نَارٌۭ مُّؤْصَدَةٌۢ
Alaihim naarum mu'sadah
Over them will be fire closed in.
Learning Surah Al-Balad
Al-Balad's definition of the steep path is the passage worth memorising with its meaning in front of you, because the list is concrete and easy to hold once the sense is clear.
Why memorize Surah Al-Balad?
Because it defines righteousness in verbs a child can act on this week — free, feed, believe, counsel patience, counsel mercy. Twenty short ayahs, one unforgettable metaphor, and a complete ethics lesson: many teachers pick it for exactly that combination.
How long does Surah Al-Balad take to memorize?
Honest answer: it depends on your daily portion and whether someone is correcting you. Surah Al-Balad is about 14 lines of mushaf text. Here is what that means at three realistic paces — each assuming you also run the revision cycle (which is what makes it permanent):
| Pace | New memorization per day | Time to finish Surah Al-Balad | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Relaxed | ~3 lines | about 5 days | Busy adults, first-time memorizers |
| Steady | ~5 lines | about 3 days | Most students — the sweet spot |
| Focused | ~10 lines | about 2 days | Experienced memorizers, school holidays |
Add roughly a consolidation week at the end — the point where you can recite the whole surah to a listener without prompts. Our guide to how long the whole Quran takes uses the same arithmetic.
The smart way to memorize Surah Al-Balad
Climb it in three: the oath and the hard-wired struggle of man (1–7), the gifts and the two paths — eyes, tongue, lips, the two highways (8–10), and the steep ascent itself: what it is, who climbs it, and the two companies — of the right, and of the left with fire closed over them (11–20). The aqabah passage uses the Quran's signature question form — 'and what can make you know what the steep ascent is?' — followed by a list; learn the list as deeds you could do this week and the ayahs attach to intentions, the strongest anchor memorization has.
A milestone plan for Surah Al-Balad
At the steady pace (~5 lines a day), Surah Al-Balad breaks into four milestones. Print our free planner PDF and mark them off:
| Portion | New-memorization time | Cumulative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milestone 1 | Ayahs 1–5 | ~1 day | Day 1 |
| Milestone 2 | Ayahs 6–10 | ~1 day | Day 2 |
| Milestone 3 | Ayahs 11–15 | ~1 day | Day 3 |
| Milestone 4 | Ayahs 16–20 | ~1 day | Day 4 |
Sabaq, sabqi, manzil — the three gears
Memorize new lines (sabaq), keep this week's lines warm (sabqi), and cycle everything older (manzil) — three gears that together make memorization permanent instead of temporary. The pattern is centuries old because it works. Get it as a printable system in our free Quran memorization planner, or run it with a teacher on the Hifz course.
Don't memorize your mistakes
The most expensive error in memorization is invisible: reciting to yourself, you cannot catch your own mispronunciations — and repetition welds them in. This is why every serious hifz program pairs students with a listening teacher. Ours work one-to-one on a live synchronized Quran page, correcting letter by letter, with female teachers available for women and girls. The trial lesson is free.