Al-Balad
This sūrah was revealed in Mecca and consists of 20 verses. It reminds the audience that the creation of humankind is based on hardship and toil. One cannot find any aspect of life that is not coupled with the bitterness of striving and hardship, beginning from when the spirit is blown into the body until one’s death. There is no pure comfort and happiness—free from adversity, trouble, misery and misfortune—except with God in the hereafter.
Accordingly, one must shoulder the burden of divine obligations, patiently persevere with obedience, and refrain from disobedience. One should also strive hard to spread out compassion to those who are afflicted by the calamities of life, such as orphanage, impoverishment, illness and so on. This way, one will be among the people of good fortune. Otherwise, one’s next life will be like their first life, as they will be among the people of misfortune, doomed to a closed fire.
The theme of the verses in this chapter resembles the theme of Meccan chapters. Some have claimed a consensus [among the scholars] on the chapter being Meccan. Some have claimed that it is Medinan, but the theme of the verses does not support this. Some have claimed that its verses were revealed in Medina except for the first four verses. We shall discuss this under our upcoming examination of narrations, by God’s will.
This is the ʿAllāmah's introduction to the sūrah, from the opening of the commentary.