Al-Balad (البلد)
Chapter 90 · The City · Juz 30
وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا ٱلْعَقَبَةُ
Wa maaa adraaka mal'aqabah
And what can make you know what is [breaking through] the difficult pass?
Quran 90:12 — Surah Al-Balad
This is verse 12 of 20 in Surah Al-Balad (البلد), meaning “The City”. It is a Meccan surah — revealed in Makkah before the Hijrah. This verse is located in Juz 30 (Part 30) of the Quran.
Surah Al-Balad is the 90th chapter of the Holy Quran and contains 20 verses (ayat). You can listen to this surah with audio recitation and follow along with transliteration on QuranMakkah.com.
To pronounce this verse, follow the transliteration below. Each syllable represents the Arabic sounds written in Latin letters:
Wa maaa adraaka mal'aqabah
وَهَدَيْنَٰهُ ٱلنَّجْدَيْنِ
And have shown him the two ways?
فَلَا ٱقْتَحَمَ ٱلْعَقَبَةَ
But he has not broken through the difficult pass.
وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا ٱلْعَقَبَةُ
And what can make you know what is [breaking through] the difficult pass?
فَكُّ رَقَبَةٍ
It is the freeing of a slave
أَوْ إِطْعَٰمٌۭ فِى يَوْمٍۢ ذِى مَسْغَبَةٍۢ
Or feeding on a day of severe hunger