Al-Balad

لَآ أُقْسِمُ بِهَـٰذَا ٱلْبَلَدِ 1

{ لا } زائدة { أقسم بهذا البلد } مكة.

I swear (lā is extra) by this land, of Mecca,

وَأَنتَ حِلٌّۢ بِهَـٰذَا ٱلْبَلَدِ 2

{ وأنت } يا محمد { حل } حلال { بهذا البلد } بأن يحل لك فتقاتل فيه، وقد أنجز الله له هذا الوعد يوم الفتح. فالجملة اعتراض بين المقسم به وما عطف عليه.

and you, O Muhammad (s), have free disposal of, sanction for, this land, in that you will be given permission to fight in it — and indeed God fulfilled this promise to him on the day of the Conquest [of Mecca] (thus this is a parenthetical statement intervening between that by which the oath has been sworn and that which is a supplement thereto).

وَوَالِدٍ وَمَا وَلَدَ 3

{ ووالد } أي آدم { وما ولد } أي ذريته و «ما» بمعنى من.

And [by] the begetter, that is, Adam, and that which he begat, that is, his descendants (mā, ‘that which’, [actually] means man, ‘whom’).

لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ فِى كَبَدٍ 4

{ لقد خلقنا الإنسن } أي الجنس { فى كبد } نصب وشدة يكابد مصائب الدنيا وشدائد الآخرة.

We certainly created man (al-insān: the generic noun) in travail, in [a state of] toil and hardship, struggling with the tribulations of this world and the calamities of the Hereafter.

أَيَحْسَبُ أَن لَّن يَقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ أَحَدٌ 5

{ أيحسب } أيظن الإنسان، قوي قريش، وهو أبو الأشدين [أو:الأشد، اسيد بن كلدة الجمحي، وأمثاله] بقوته { أن } مخففة من الثقيلة واسمها محذوف، أي أنه { لن يقدر عليه أحد } والله قادر عليه.

Does he suppose, does the strong man of Quraysh, namely, Abū’l-Ashadd b. Kalada, presume, on account of his strength, that (an: softened in place of the hardened form, its subject omitted, that is to say, annahu) no one will have power over him? Yet God has power over him.

يَقُولُ أَهْلَكْتُ مَالًا لُّبَدًا 6

{ يقول أهلكت } على عداوة محمد { مالا لبدا } كثيرا بعضه على بعض.

He says, ‘I have exhausted, in enmity of Muhammad (s), vast wealth!’, great [wealth], piles and piles of it.

أَيَحْسَبُ أَن لَّمْ يَرَهُۥٓ أَحَدٌ 7

{ أيحسب أن } أي أنه { لم يره أحد } فيما أنفقه فيعلم قدره؟ والله عالم بقدره وأنه ليس مما يتكثر به ومجازيه على فعله السيىء.

Does he suppose that (an, in other words, annahu) no one has seen him?, with regard to what he has expended to know the quantity thereof; God knows the quantity thereof; but it is not [in reality that much so as] to be considered a great amount, and [in any case] He will requite him for his evil conduct.

أَلَمْ نَجْعَل لَّهُۥ عَيْنَيْنِ 8

{ ألم نجعل } استفهام تقرير، أي جعلنا { له عينين }؟.

Have We not given (an interrogative meant as an affirmative, in other words, ‘We have [certainly] given’) him two eyes,

وَلِسَانًا وَشَفَتَيْنِ 9

{ ولسانا وشفتين }؟.

and a tongue, and two lips,

وَهَدَيْنَـٰهُ ٱلنَّجْدَيْنِ 10

{ وهدينه النجدين }؟ بينا له طريق الخير والشر.

and guided him to the two paths?, [did We not] point out to him the path of good and that of evil?

فَلَا ٱقْتَحَمَ ٱلْعَقَبَةَ 11

{ فلا } فهلا { اقتحم العقبة } جاوزها؟.

Yet why does he not assault the obstacle?, [why] does he [not] surmount it?

وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا ٱلْعَقَبَةُ 12

{ وما أدرك } أعلمك { ما العقبة } التي يقتحمها تعظيما لشأنها، والجملة اعتراض. وبين سبب جوازها بقوله:

And what will show you, [what will] make known to you, what the obstacle is?, that he is to surmount — intended to emphasise its enormity (this statement is a parenthetical one). He explains the way to surmount it by saying: