The suras

17 verses Guide Us on the Straight Path The Opening is the request that the whole Book answers: a reader acknowledges the Guardian of all beings, commits to obey Him alone, and asks to be… Read → 2286 verses Guidance for Those Who Guard Themselves Al-Baqara presents the Scripture as guidance for those who guard themselves, then tests each community by its response. It gives orientation an… Read → 3200 verses The Rope of God The family of Imran raises the question of reading, then that of faithfulness. The Scripture has a firm foundation and a part subject to resemblance… Read → 4176 verses Reduced to Weakness The sura of Women protects those who have no hold on their fate: orphans, women, heirs, men and children reduced to weakness. It founds everything on… Read → 5120 verses Keep Your Contracts The sura of the Table is built on contract and judgment: keeping one's engagements, judging by what God has sent down, not letting hatred lead to… Read → 6165 verses The Guardian of Every Thing The sura is a plea for the oneness of the Creator against those who give Him equals. It sets the signs of creation against clear-sighted refusal… Read → 7206 verses Am I Not Your Guardian? The sura of the Heights unfolds human history as a sequence of engagements: the refusal of the Despairing One, Adam's fault and his return, five… Read → 875 verses What Gives You Life After the encounter at Badr, the question of the surpluses becomes a lesson: victory comes from God, and the believer responds to what gives him… Read → 9129 verses God Suffices Me The sura opens without the Basmala, on an exoneration from obligation toward those who broke their pacts. Fighting in it is framed by its cause and… Read → 10109 verses The Abode of Peace God calls to the Abode of Peace; the human being calls upon Him only in hardship. Faith declared in the face of punishment is refused, to Fir'awn as… Read → 11123 verses Stand Straight Seven accounts follow the same template: an envoy calls his people to obey God alone, presents his proof, refuses any wage, then the people are saved… Read → 12111 verses The Finest of Accounts A single account, from beginning to end: a child's vision, his brothers' jealousy, the well, the seduction, the prison, power, then reconciliation.… Read → 1343 verses What Is in Themselves Heavens without pillars, an earth watered by the same water, thunder that glorifies: everything is a sign. God does not change what is in a people… Read → 1452 verses A Good Word The Scripture brings out of the darknesses into the light. A good word is a good tree, rooted and giving its fruit at every moment; a bad word, an… Read → 1599 verses Until Certainty Comes The Reminder has come down and God preserves it; the mockers change nothing. The sura retells the account of the origin, from resonant clay to the… Read → 16128 verses In Which There Is Healing The command of God has come; meanwhile the sura lists His blessings, from cattle to stars, down to the bee from which comes a drink in which there is… Read → 17111 verses To What Is Most Upright A night journey opens the sura; a Recitation that guides to what is most upright runs through it. Between the two, a law of conduct: obey God alone… Read → 18110 verses Unless God Wills Four accounts test faith, wealth, knowledge and power: the young people of the Cave, the man with the two gardens, Moussa and the obedient one taught… Read → 1998 verses A Remembrance of Benevolence The sura is a remembrance of the Guardian's benevolence toward Zakariya and Yahya, Maryam and Issa, Ibrahim, Moussa, Ismail and Idris. It closes on… Read → 20135 verses Not for You to Toil The Recitation was not sent down for the messenger to toil, but as a reminder. Moussa's account fills almost the whole sura: the fire, the call, the… Read → 21112 verses We Answered Him Mankind's reckoning draws near, and they listen to the reminder while playing. Neither creation nor truth is a game. Then the messengers pass by, and… Read → 2278 verses Neither Their Meat nor Their Blood The tremor of the Hour opens the sura; the creation of the human being and the earth that revives answer those who doubt. Ibrahim receives the House… Read → 23118 verses Have Attained Success The sura opens on "the believers have attained success" and closes on "those who disown do not attain success"; between the two, it describes who… Read → 2464 verses Light upon Light A sura made obligatory, whose light is first that of conduct: witnesses required, calumny defeated, gazes lowered, houses respected. At its center… Read → 2577 verses The Obedient Ones of the All-Benevolent The Criterion comes down upon God's obedient one so that he may be a warner to all beings; facing it, deities that create nothing. Those who disown… Read → 26227 verses A Sound Core The same refusal returns from people to people, and the same answer follows it: a sign most do not believe, and the reminder that God is the… Read → 2793 verses Will I Acknowledge, or Disown? Knowledge and kingship given by God are recognized by gratitude, not by exaltation. Sulayman hears the ant and gives thanks; the Queen of Saba… Read → 2888 verses Neither Exaltation nor Corruption God makes the weakened into leaders and heirs. Fir'awn, who raises himself through power, and Qaroon, who raises himself through wealth, are… Read → 2969 verses The Flimsiest of Dwellings Faith is not a word one utters but a trial one goes through; God distinguishes those who speak truly from the liars. To take allies besides Him is to… Read → 3060 verses The Original Nature The command belongs to God, before and after: the victorious Romans will be defeated. The signs of creation, from spouses to tongues and colors, call… Read → 3134 verses Be Grateful to God Wisdom begins with gratitude to God and refuses all association. Luqman teaches it to his son: associate nothing, honor one's parents without obeying… Read → 3230 verses The Rest of the Gaze The Scripture comes from the Guardian of all beings to warn those who had no warner. Hearing, sight and Consciences are given to believe before the… Read → 3373 verses A Single Core The believer has only one core: he follows what is revealed to him and obeys neither those who disown nor the hypocrites. The sura undoes the… Read → 3454 verses Two by Two, or One by One Nothing escapes God, not even the weight of a grain; neither goods nor children bring one nearer to Him. Saba' had two gardens and a good land, and… Read → 3545 verses The Poor Before God God opens and withholds benevolence and none can oppose Him; people are the poor before the One who is Self-Sufficient. Only those who know truly… Read → 3683 verses Who Will Give Life to the Bones? The Recitation full of wisdom warns the living. A man hurries from the farthest end of the city to support the envoys and enters the Garden; his… Read → 37182 verses Peace upon the Messengers Those who mock the Awakening will be gathered with what they used to obey; the purified obedient ones are spared. Then the messengers pass by, each… Read → 3888 verses The One Who Keeps Turning Back The Recitation charged with the Reminder collides with the pride of those who disown. Facing them, tried obedient ones who keep turning back to God… Read → 3975 verses Do Not Lose Heart The pure Law belongs to God alone; whoever takes intermediaries to draw near to Him is like a man owned by quarrelling partners. To those excessive… Read → 4085 verses My Guardian Is God God forgives and accepts repentance, but He is severe in sanction. At the heart of the sura, a believing man from the clan of Fir'awn defends Moussa… Read → 4154 verses Their Skins Will Testify The Recitation is made distinct and flawless; those who turn away stop their own ears. On the day of the gathering, their hearing, their sights and… Read → 4253 verses One Single Law Revelation is one single Law, given to Nuh, Ibrahim, Moussa, Issa and the messenger; people divide over it only out of aggression, after knowledge.… Read → 4389 verses In the Footsteps of the Ancestors Neither the ornaments of the present life nor the legacy of the ancestors prove anything. Ibrahim disavows what his people obey and leaves a lasting… Read → 4459 verses You Will Relapse The warning is a benevolence; those who take it as a game promise to believe when the punishment touches them, then relapse as soon as it is removed.… Read → 4537 verses Emotion Taken as a Deity The signs are everywhere: in creation, the rain, the winds, the subjected sea. Whoever hears them recited and then persists in arrogance has made his… Read → 4635 verses No Novelty Among the Messengers Truth need not be new to be true: the messenger follows what is revealed to him, and the Scripture confirms that of Moussa. Those who reject it… Read → 4738 verses Locks Upon the Cores Everything is played out between following falsehood and following the truth: God renders the deeds of some astray and sets right the condition of… Read → 4829 verses The Hand Above Their Hands Victory comes from God and is received in the core: tranquility descends on those who pledge allegiance, while those who stay behind say with their… Read → 4918 verses Distinguish Clearly A community of believers holds together through restraint, through verifying what is reported, through reconciliation and mutual respect. The most… Read → 5045 verses Closer Than the Jugular Vein They marvel at the return after death. The answer: the earth revived by water shows the coming forth, and the Creator was not exhausted. He is closer… Read → 5160 verses Flee to God The Retribution is as certain as the fact that you speak. The signs are on the earth and within yourselves; the peoples before all said the same… Read → 5249 verses Unanswered Questions The punishment of the Guardian will fall; nothing can repel it. Those who guard themselves remember their past apprehension. Then fifteen questions… Read → 5362 verses Vision and Conjecture The messenger does not speak from emotion: he saw, and his gaze did not swerve. His opponents follow nothing but conjecture and what their Selves… Read → 5455 verses The Recitation Made Easy Five peoples, each in a few verses, and two refrains. One says the warning came true: "So how were My punishment and My warnings?" The other, that it… Read → 5578 verses Which of the Blessings? Thirty-one times, the same question to humans and the Occulted: "Which then of your Guardian's blessings do you both deny?" It follows the… Read → 5696 verses Is It You, or Is It We? The Event sorts human beings into three groups: the foremost, the right, the left. For those who doubt being resurrected, four questions of the same… Read → 5729 verses What You Hold in Trust Wealth does not belong to the one who holds it: he is its trustee, and the inheritance of the heavens and the earth belongs to God. The present life… Read → 5822 verses God Has Heard A woman argues with the messenger and complains to God: God has heard. No word escapes Him, even spoken low: there is no secret talk among three but… Read → 5924 verses The Vain Strongholds They thought their strongholds would protect them from God; God came upon them from where they did not expect. What is restored to the messenger does… Read → 6013 verses The Boundary of Alliance The enemy is not the one who believes otherwise, but the one who fights and expels. Beneficence and equity are never forbidden; only alliance with… Read → 6114 verses Saying Without Doing "Why do you say what you do not do?" Moussa is troubled by a people who know he is a messenger; Issa announces a messenger to come, and is called an… Read → 6211 verses The Donkey Carrying Books A messenger is raised among people without Scripture, to purify and teach them. Those entrusted with the Tawrah who did not carry it are like a… Read → 6311 verses Oaths as a Shield The hypocrites testify that Muhammad is a messenger, and God testifies that they are liars. Their oaths are a shield, their appearance pleases, yet… Read → 6418 verses Who Was Deceived? The Day of Gathering is the Day of Mutual Deception: there it is seen who was deceived. Among spouses and children there may be an enemy; goods and… Read → 6512 verses Whoever Guards Himself The separation of a couple is set out step by step: the waiting period, housing, the recognized manner, two witnesses, taking charge of the child.… Read → 6612 verses Four Women as Examples The Prophet forbids himself what God made lawful for him, and a confided secret is disclosed. Each must guard himself and his own. Four women serve… Read → 6730 verses Return Your Gaze The One in whose hand is the dominion created death and life to test who acts best. The sura asks us to look: heavens without a fissure, a manageable… Read → 6852 verses The Scorched Garden Those who think themselves capable because they have goods and sons: owners swear to harvest everything without exception and keep out the destitute… Read → 6952 verses Read My Record That which establishes the real was denied, and every denial met its seizure. At the single blast, each receives his record: in the right hand, one… Read → 7044 verses Created Anxious, and the Exception A petitioner asks for the punishment; it will come. On that Day no friend asks after his friend, and each would ransom himself with his own kin. The… Read → 7128 verses The More He Calls, the More They Flee Nuh calls his people night and day, openly then in secret, and promises them forgiveness, rain, goods and gardens. The more he calls, the more they… Read → 7228 verses An Amazing Recitation A group of the Occulted hear an amazing recitation once and believe at once. They acknowledge their errors and their divisions. The messenger, for… Read → 7320 verses The Night and the Heavy Word Standing at night to recite the Recitation with care and remember the Guardian's name: a heavy word is about to be cast. Then the lightening: God… Read → 7456 verses Arise and Warn Six commands: arise, warn, proclaim the Guardian's greatness, purify one's garments, avoid defilement, give without seeking more in return. Facing… Read → 7540 verses Clear-Sighted About Himself The human being thinks his bones will not be assembled, and desires to persist in depravity. Yet he is clear-sighted about himself, despite his… Read → 7631 verses Feeding Without Expecting The human being was nothing; created to be tested, he is guided along the way, grateful or disowning. The virtuous feed the destitute, the orphan and… Read → 7750 verses Ten Times the Same Verdict Ten times, the same verdict closes a proof: "Woe, that Day, to the deniers!" The former peoples annihilated, the lowly fluid measured, the earth… Read → 7840 verses The Appointed Time They ask one another about the great Information. The answer: the Day of Separation is an appointed time. To the blessings of the earth, sleep and… Read → 7946 verses The Usurped Title People doubt they will be brought back once they have become bones. Fir'awn, for his part, seizes the title "the Most High", and exemplary punishment… Read → 8042 verses The One Who Comes Striving A reproach: the messenger turned away from the blind man who came striving, to go toward the one who considers himself self-sufficient. The reminder… Read → 8129 verses A Self Will Know Twelve "when"s undo the world, and all lead to a single finding: a Self will know what it has brought forward. The messenger kept nothing for… Read → 8219 verses What Deceived You? When the world comes apart, every Self will know what it has put forward and kept back. A question to the human being: what has deceived you… Read → 8336 verses The Rigged Measure Those who cheat on the measure do not think of the Day when they themselves will be measured. Two records answer each other, and the mockers'… Read → 8425 verses Toiling Toward the Guardian The sky and the earth listen to their Guardian. The human being labors toward his Guardian and will meet Him. The one who was joyful among his people… Read → 8522 verses Their Only Fault: Belief Persecutors seated around a fire, witnesses to what they inflict on the believers. They reproached them for one thing only: having believed. God… Read → 8617 verses Able to Bring Back Every Self has a guardian. The One who created the human being from a gushing fluid is able to bring him back; on that Day, secrets will be tested.… Read → 8719 verses Create, Measure, Guide Glorifying the Guardian, who creates, harmonizes, measures and guides; He will make His messenger read and ease his way. The reminder benefits the… Read → 8826 verses Effort and Its Fruit On that Day, two groups of faces: some exhausted by their toil, others pleased with their effort. All have toiled; only effort rightly directed… Read → 8930 verses The Trial Read Backwards The human being reads the trial backwards: honored, he thinks himself chosen; restricted, he thinks himself humiliated. The text judges him on what… Read → 9020 verses The Steep Path The human being, created in hardship and given the means to discern, has not plunged into the steep path. The text says what it is: freeing, feeding… Read → 9115 verses Purify or Bury Eleven oaths lead to the Self: it has received both ways; to succeed is to purify it, to fail is to bury it. The people of Thamud are the example. Read → 9221 verses Diverging Efforts Two mirrored portraits: the one who gives and the one who withholds. Each is eased along the way he has chosen; and the one who gives seeks nothing… Read → 9311 verses What He Did for You The Guardian has not forsaken His messenger: He sheltered him, guided him, enriched him. What He did for him becomes what he must do for others. Read → 948 verses With Hardship, Ease Three things done for the Prophet ground a promise said twice: with hardship comes ease. Hence two commands: direct your effort, and turn your… Read → 958 verses From the Best to the Lowest Created in the best of stature, the human being is reduced to the lowest of the low; only an exception brings him out, and it is made of deeds. Read → 9619 verses Read and Draw Near The sura begins with "Read" and ends with "draw near". Between the two, the human being who believes himself self-sufficient, and the one who… Read → 975 verses Better Than a Thousand Months A night in which the Recitation came down, more precious than a thousand months, in which the Agents and the Influx descend; and peace until dawn. Read → 988 verses Divided After the Proof Those given the Scripture did not divide for lack of knowledge, but after the Proof came to them. And what they had been commanded was simple. Read → 998 verses A Grain's Weight On the Day the earth quakes, it brings forth what it carries and recounts what it knows, inspired by its Guardian. Each will then see his deeds, down… Read → 10011 verses The Ungrateful, Witness Against Himself An oath on chargers launched at the assault, then a finding about the human being: ungrateful toward his Guardian, witness to his own ingratitude… Read → 10111 verses What Weighs On the Day of the Crash, people are scattered like moths, the mountains like wool, and only the weight of deeds counts: a satisfying life, or the… Read → 1028 verses Distracted Until the Grave Rivalry in accumulation distracts until the grave. Certainty will come, first through knowledge, then through sight, and finally the question about… Read → 1033 verses Out of Loss A single sentence: an oath, a finding about the human being, and an exception made of four deeds, two of which are done only with others. Read → 1049 verses The Illusion of Eternity The one who disparages others and counts his goods believes his goods have already made him eternal. The answer reaches him to the depths of himself. Read → 1055 verses The People Without Reason A question about what the Guardian did to people deprived of reason: their scheme led astray, stones of hardened clay, and they themselves reduced to… Read → 1064 verses Fed and Secured A single sentence: what the Guardian did for the Quraysh, feeding them and making them secure, is the reason to obey Him. Read → 1077 verses Denial in Deeds Who denies the Retribution? The text answers with deeds: repelling the orphan, not urging the feeding of the destitute, making contact without being… Read → 1083 verses The Gift and the Cutting-Off A gift without limit, two commands, and a reversal: the cutting-off falls back on the one who hates. Read → 1096 verses To Each His Law An answer to those who disown: a refusal that holds for the present and the past, an opposing position that does not move, and a conclusion without… Read → 1103 verses The Crowd That Enters The promised help comes: a crowd enters the Law of God, and the victory is received with praise and a plea for forgiveness. Read → 1115 verses The Man Who Perishes A man and his wife oppose the message. The text does not address them: it states. The man's means perish, his goods avail him nothing, and his own… Read → 1124 verses The One Without Equal Four short sentences that say who God is, above all by what He is not: the One, without origin, without offspring, without counterpart. Read → 1135 verses The Evils Without Seeking refuge in the Guardian of the Breakthrough against the evils of the outside world: not against things themselves, but against the moment they… Read → 1146 verses The Evil Within A single sentence seeking refuge in the Guardian, the Sovereign and the Deity of mankind, against an evil that does not come from outside: the one… Read →