History of surah The City

Name

Surat Al-Balad was given this name because God - the Almighty - began the Surah with the oath in the Holy Land, by which is meant the venerable Mecca.

Period of Revelation

It was reported that Surat Al-Balad is a Meccan surah, i.e. it was revealed in Mecca Al-Mukarramah, and Al-Zamakhshari and Al-Qurtubi agreed with this, as most scholars and commentators restricted themselves to this opinion, but Ibn Attia contradicted them in this opinion and mentioned that it is civil. That is, it was revealed in Medina, and it was mentioned in the book of Al-Itqan that Surat Al-Balad is Meccan, except for the first four verses, which is the thirty-fifth surah in terms of revelation. It was mentioned that it was revealed after Surat Q and before Surat Al-Tariq.
It is noteworthy that the scholars are among those who deal with the reasons for revelation in which they have compiled books in which they do not mention Surat Al-Balad as a reason for revelation in general.

Theme and topics

The purpose of Surat Al-Balad from verse 1 to 10: God Almighty swore by the land, and the land is Mecca Al-Mukarrama, then He swore by Adam and all his progeny that He created man in toil and hardship, so the created thinks of toil and hardship that he is victorious and no one will defeat him, so he is haughty about what he spent from His money and he thinks it is great. All this is small compared to the creation of God Almighty, for He has made him eyes, a tongue and two lips, and has also shown him the way of good and evil. The goals of Surat Al-Balad from verses 11 to 20 are striving with oneself to do good, spending for God Almighty to free slaves and bondwomen, and feeding the poor and orphans in times of hunger and need.