Swears by "this city" — understood as Mecca itself, where Muhammad's own struggle was unfolding — and describes the "steep path" of true virtue: freeing captives, feeding the hungry, showing compassion, contrasted with those who see their wealth as something they can spend without ever being questioned about it. It also lists specific acts that constitute the steep path in concrete terms — freeing a slave, feeding an orphaned relative or a poor person on a day of hunger — turning an abstract idea of virtue into a short, actionable checklist. The surah briefly describes a person boasting of having spent great wealth, asking rhetorically whether they think no one observed them — challenging the assumption that visible generosity alone, without sincerity or genuine sacrifice, is sufficient to satisfy the "steep path" described earlier in the same surah.
Describes the "steep path" of real virtue — freeing captives, feeding the hungry — over wealth spent carelessly. A practical definition of goodness. Turning "virtue" into a concrete checklist (freeing captives, feeding specific categories of the hungry) is often cited as characteristic of the Quran's tendency to make ethical ideals practically actionable rather than purely abstract. That challenge to performative spending is often cited alongside the surah's earlier concrete list of virtuous acts, together forming a fuller picture distinguishing outwardly impressive generosity from the genuinely sacrificial kind the surah is actually calling for.