Al-Balad

For the historical place, see Al-Balad, Jeddah. For the Lebanese daily, see Al-Balad (newspaper).

Surah 90 of the Quran

البلد Al-Balad The City
Qira'ahⓘ English text
Classification	Meccan
Other names	The City
No. of verses	20
No. of words	82
No. of letters	342

Al-Balad (Arabic: البلد, "The City") is the 90th Surah or chapter of the Qur'an. It is composed of 20 ayat (verses).

Summary

• 1-7 Man, though created in misery, yet boasts of his riches
• 8-16 Captives to be freed and the poor and orphan to be fed
• 17-20 Description of the companions of the right and left hand

Sayyid Qutb (d. 1966), who was an Egyptian author, Islamist, and leading intellectual of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, summarised the overall theme of Surat Al-Lail in the introduction to his extensive Quranic commentary, Fi Zilal al-Qur'an (In the shades of the Qur'an) by saying:

This short sūrah touches on a great many facts which are of central importance to human life. Its style is characterized by powerful allusions. Numerous facts of this nature are not easily combined in any form of concise writing except that of the Qur’ān, with its unique ability to hit the right chords with such swift and penetrating strokes.
— Sayid Qutb, Fi Zilal al-Qur'an

External links

• Texts on Wikisource:
  • The City, 1930 translation by Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall
  • 90. The City, 1917 translation by Maulana Muhammad Ali
• Quran 90, 2020 Mustafa Khattab translation