Surah Al-Muzzammil

Ta'awwudh · Seeking Refuge

أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ

A'udhu billahi min ash-shaytani ar-rajim. I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the accursed.

The Name · Bismillah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Bismillahi ar-Rahmani ar-Rahim. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

✦

The Surah · Al-Muzzammil

﴾١﴿ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْمُزَّمِّلُ

Ya ayyuha al-muzzammil

O you who are wrapped up.

﴾٢﴿ قُمِ ٱلَّيْلَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًۭا

Qumi al-layla illa qalila

Stand the night, except a little.

﴾٣﴿ نِّصْفَهُۥٓ أَوِ ٱنقُصْ مِنْهُ قَلِيلًا

Nisfahu awi inqus minhu qalila

Half of it, or take a little away from that.

﴾٤﴿ أَوْ زِدْ عَلَيْهِ وَرَتِّلِ ٱلْقُرْءَانَ تَرْتِيلًا

Aw zid 'alayhi wa rattili al-Qur'ana tartila

Or add to it, and recite the Quran with measured recitation.

﴾٥﴿ إِنَّا سَنُلْقِى عَلَيْكَ قَوْلًۭا ثَقِيلًا

Inna sanulqi 'alayka qawlan thaqila

We are about to cast upon you a heavy word.

﴾٦﴿ إِنَّ نَاشِئَةَ ٱلَّيْلِ هِىَ أَشَدُّ وَطْـًۭٔا وَأَقْوَمُ قِيلًا

Inna nashi'ata al-layli hiya ashaddu wat'an wa aqwamu qila

The rising of the night is harder underfoot and more upright in speech.

﴾٧﴿ إِنَّ لَكَ فِى ٱلنَّهَارِ سَبْحًۭا طَوِيلًۭا

Inna laka fi an-nahari sabhan tawila

In the daytime you have prolonged occupation.

﴾٨﴿ وَٱذْكُرِ ٱسْمَ رَبِّكَ وَتَبَتَّلْ إِلَيْهِ تَبْتِيلًۭا

Wadhkuri isma Rabbika wa tabattal ilayhi tabtila

Remember the name of your Lord, and devote yourself to Him with complete devotion.

﴾٩﴿ رَّبُّ ٱلْمَشْرِقِ وَٱلْمَغْرِبِ لَآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ فَٱتَّخِذْهُ وَكِيلًۭا

Rabbu al-mashriqi wal-maghribi la ilaha illa huwa fattakhidhhu wakila

Lord of the east and the west. There is no god but Him, so take Him as your trustee.

﴾١٠﴿ وَٱصْبِرْ عَلَىٰ مَا يَقُولُونَ وَٱهْجُرْهُمْ هَجْرًۭا جَمِيلًۭا

Wasbir 'ala ma yaquluna wahjurhum hajran jamila

Be patient over what they say, and part from them in a beautiful manner.

﴾١١﴿ وَذَرْنِى وَٱلْمُكَذِّبِينَ أُو۟لِى ٱلنَّعْمَةِ وَمَهِّلْهُمْ قَلِيلًا

Wa dharni wal-mukadhdhibina uli an-na'mati wa mahhilhum qalila

Leave Me with the deniers, those who possess ease, and give them a little time.

﴾١٢﴿ إِنَّ لَدَيْنَآ أَنكَالًۭا وَجَحِيمًۭا

Inna ladayna ankalan wa jahima

With Us there are shackles and a blaze,

﴾١٣﴿ وَطَعَامًۭا ذَا غُصَّةٍۢ وَعَذَابًا أَلِيمًۭا

Wa ta'aman dha ghussatin wa 'adhaban alima

and food that chokes in the throat, and a painful punishment.

﴾١٤﴿ يَوْمَ تَرْجُفُ ٱلْأَرْضُ وَٱلْجِبَالُ وَكَانَتِ ٱلْجِبَالُ كَثِيبًۭا مَّهِيلًا

Yawma tarjufu al-ardu wal-jibalu wa kanati al-jibalu kathiban mahila

On the day the earth and the mountains shake, and the mountains become a heap of pouring sand.

﴾١٥﴿ إِنَّآ أَرْسَلْنَآ إِلَيْكُمْ رَسُولًۭا شَٰهِدًا عَلَيْكُمْ كَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَآ إِلَىٰ فِرْعَوْنَ رَسُولًۭا

Inna arsalna ilaykum rasulan shahidan 'alaykum kama arsalna ila Fir'awna rasula

We have sent to you a messenger as a witness over you, just as We sent a messenger to Pharaoh.

﴾١٦﴿ فَعَصَىٰ فِرْعَوْنُ ٱلرَّسُولَ فَأَخَذْنَٰهُ أَخْذًۭا وَبِيلًۭا

Fa'asa Fir'awnu ar-rasula fa-akhadhnahu akhdhan wabila

Pharaoh disobeyed the messenger, so We seized him with a crushing grip.

﴾١٧﴿ فَكَيْفَ تَتَّقُونَ إِن كَفَرْتُمْ يَوْمًۭا يَجْعَلُ ٱلْوِلْدَٰنَ شِيبًا

Fakayfa tattaquna in kafartum yawman yaj'alu al-wildana shiba

How will you guard yourselves, if you disbelieve, against a day that turns children grey?

﴾١٨﴿ ٱلسَّمَآءُ مُنفَطِرٌۢ بِهِۦ ۚ كَانَ وَعْدُهُۥ مَفْعُولًا

As-sama'u munfatirun bihi, kana wa'duhu maf'ula

The sky will split apart with it. His promise is carried out.

﴾١٩﴿ إِنَّ هَٰذِهِۦ تَذْكِرَةٌۭ ۖ فَمَن شَآءَ ٱتَّخَذَ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِۦ سَبِيلًا

Inna hadhihi tadhkiratun, faman sha'a ittakhadha ila Rabbihi sabila

This is a reminder. Whoever wills may take a road to his Lord.

﴾٢٠﴿ ۞ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ يَعْلَمُ أَنَّكَ تَقُومُ أَدْنَىٰ مِن ثُلُثَىِ ٱلَّيْلِ وَنِصْفَهُۥ وَثُلُثَهُۥ وَطَآئِفَةٌۭ مِّنَ ٱلَّذِينَ مَعَكَ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ يُقَدِّرُ ٱلَّيْلَ وَٱلنَّهَارَ ۚ عَلِمَ أَن لَّن تُحْصُوهُ فَتَابَ عَلَيْكُمْ ۖ فَٱقْرَءُوا۟ مَا تَيَسَّرَ مِنَ ٱلْقُرْءَانِ ۚ عَلِمَ أَن سَيَكُونُ مِنكُم مَّرْضَىٰ ۙ وَءَاخَرُونَ يَضْرِبُونَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ يَبْتَغُونَ مِن فَضْلِ ٱللَّهِ ۙ وَءَاخَرُونَ يُقَٰتِلُونَ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ فَٱقْرَءُوا۟ مَا تَيَسَّرَ مِنْهُ ۚ وَأَقِيمُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَءَاتُوا۟ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَأَقْرِضُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًۭا ۚ وَمَا تُقَدِّمُوا۟ لِأَنفُسِكُم مِّنْ خَيْرٍۢ تَجِدُوهُ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ هُوَ خَيْرًۭا وَأَعْظَمَ أَجْرًۭا ۚ وَٱسْتَغْفِرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ ۖ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌۢ

Inna Rabbaka ya'lamu annaka taqumu adna min thuluthayi al-layli wa nisfahu wa thuluthahu wa ta'ifatun mina alladhina ma'ak, wallahu yuqaddiru al-layla wan-nahar, 'alima an lan tuhsuhu fataba 'alaykum, faqra'u ma tayassara mina al-Qur'an, 'alima an sayakunu minkum marda wa akharuna yadribuna fi al-ardi yabtaghuna min fadli Allahi wa akharuna yuqatiluna fi sabili Allah, faqra'u ma tayassara minhu, wa aqimu as-salata wa atu az-zakata wa aqridu Allaha qardan hasana, wa ma tuqaddimu li-anfusikum min khayrin tajiduhu 'inda Allahi huwa khayran wa a'zama ajra, wastaghfiru Allah, inna Allaha ghafurun rahim

Your Lord knows that you stand nearly two thirds of the night, and half of it, and a third of it, and so does a group of those with you. Allah measures the night and the day. He knew you would not be able to keep count of it, so He turned to you in mercy. So recite what is easy of the Quran. He knew that some of you would be sick, and others travelling through the land seeking the bounty of Allah, and others fighting in the cause of Allah. So recite what is easy of it. Establish the prayer, give the zakat, and lend Allah a goodly loan. Whatever good you send ahead for yourselves you will find with Allah, better and greater in reward. And seek the forgiveness of Allah. Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

The Tafsir · The Breakdown

What The Surah Means

Overview

Surah Al-Muzzammil is twenty verses, chapter 73, and among the earliest revelations. The first nineteen verses came in Mecca at the start of the mission. Verse 20, the last and by far the longest, came later, and Ibn Kathir and al-Qurtubi both record that roughly a year separated it from the rest.

The surah is an assignment. A man wrapped in his garment is told to get up at night, and the reason is given four verses later. Something heavy is about to be placed on him, and the night is where the carrying capacity is built. Nothing in this surah is about feeling ready. It is about being trained before the load arrives.

He was wrapped up. He was told to stand at night. Then he was told why, and the why was a weight that had not landed yet.

Verses 1–5 · The Assignment and the Weight

O you who are wrapped up, stand the night except a little, half of it, or less, or more, and recite the Quran with measured recitation.

Ya ayyuha al-muzzammil: he is addressed by his condition, wrapped in his cloak. The Quran does not open with his title. It opens with what he was doing when it arrived.

Qumi al-layla illa qalila: stand the night except a little. The command is quantified and then given tolerance, half or less or more, which is a training range rather than a fixed rep.

Wa rattili al-Qur'ana tartila: recite with tartil, measured and distinct, letter given its right. Speed is explicitly not the objective. Ibn Kathir notes tartil as the deliberate pace that lets the meaning land while the tongue moves.

Inna sanulqi 'alayka qawlan thaqila: We are going to cast upon you a heavy word. The assignment precedes the reason, and the reason is a load. Everything before this verse is preparation for what comes after it.

Stand at night, recite slowly, because something heavy is coming. The training was issued before the weight.

Verses 6–10 · Why Night, and How To Leave

The rising of the night is stronger in tread and more upright in speech.

Inna nashi'ata al-layli hiya ashaddu wat'an wa aqwamu qila: the night rising is harder underfoot and straighter in speech. Wat' is the tread of a foot. The night is described as more difficult and, in the same line, as producing more upright words.

Inna laka fi an-nahari sabhan tawila: in the daytime you have prolonged occupation. The day is not condemned. It is described as full, which is exactly why the night is assigned.

Wa tabattal ilayhi tabtila: devote yourself to Him with complete devotion. Tabattul is severance from everything else for the sake of one thing. The word is intensified by its own verbal noun, which the language reserves for absolute states.

Wasbir 'ala ma yaquluna wahjurhum hajran jamila: be patient over what they say, and part from them in a beautiful manner. Hajran jamila is separation without insult and without a scene. Al-Qurtubi glosses it as withdrawal with no reproach attached.

Night is harder and it produces straighter speech. Leave the people who talk, and leave them well.

Verses 11–19 · Leave Me With Them

Leave Me with the deniers, those of comfort, and give them a little time.

Wa dharni wal-mukadhdhibina uli an-na'mah: leave Me and the deniers who possess ease. Their comfort is named as part of their description. This is the same pattern Al-Qalam and Nuh both file, prosperity attached to refusal.

Inna ladayna ankalan wa jahima, wa ta'aman dha ghussatin wa 'adhaban alima: shackles, a blaze, food that chokes in the throat, and a painful punishment. Four things, and the third one is the strangest and the most physical.

Yawma tarjufu al-ardu wal-jibalu wa kanati al-jibalu kathiban mahila: the day the earth and the mountains shake and the mountains become a heap of pouring sand. The most stable object in the landscape is described as losing cohesion and running.

Inna arsalna ilaykum rasulan shahidan 'alaykum kama arsalna ila Fir'awna rasula: We sent you a messenger as a witness over you, just as We sent a messenger to Pharaoh. The parallel is drawn to the most complete refusal in history, and to what it cost.

Comfort was on their side of the ledger, and the mountains still turned to running sand.

Verse 20 · The Concession

Your Lord knows that you stand nearly two thirds of the night, and half of it, and a third of it, and so does a group of those with you.

The verse opens by counting exactly what he and his companions had been doing. The concession that follows is issued to men who had already been standing, not to men looking for an exemption.

'Alima an lan tuhsuhu fataba 'alaykum: He knew you would not be able to keep count of it, so He turned to you in mercy. Faqra'u ma tayassara mina al-Qur'an: so recite what is easy of it.

Then the reasons are named plainly. Some of you will be sick. Others travel through the land seeking the bounty of Allah. Others fight in His cause. Illness, commerce, and war are placed side by side as legitimate claims on a man's night.

Wa aqimu as-salata wa atu az-zakata wa aqridu Allaha qardan hasana: establish the prayer, give the zakat, and lend Allah a goodly loan. The concession does not end in relaxation. It ends in three obligations, and the third one calls your giving a loan to Allah.

Wa ma tuqaddimu li-anfusikum min khayrin tajiduhu 'inda Allahi huwa khayran wa a'zama ajra: whatever good you send ahead for yourselves you will find with Allah, better and greater in reward.

The load was lightened for men who were already carrying it. What replaced it was prayer, zakat, and a loan.

Structural Summary

Twenty Verses. Trained Before the Weight.

Verses 1–4The CommandStand the night, half or less or more, and recite with measured tartil.

Verse 5The ReasonA heavy word is about to be cast upon you.

Verses 6–10The NightHarder underfoot, straighter in speech. Devote completely, and part from them beautifully.

Verses 11–14The WarningDeniers who possess ease, shackles, food that chokes, and mountains turned to running sand.

Verses 15–19The ParallelA messenger sent to you as one was sent to Pharaoh, and Pharaoh's refusal is the reference.

Verse 20The ConcessionHe counted your nights, lightened the load, and replaced it with prayer, zakat, and a loan to Allah.

Why This Surah Is For You

Verse 5 is the order of operations most men get backwards. The training was assigned before the weight arrived, not after it. Nobody builds night capacity while carrying the heavy thing. You build it in the season when nothing is on you, which is the season that feels least urgent.

Verse 6 is the argument for the hour you keep avoiding. Ashaddu wat'an, harder underfoot. The verse concedes the difficulty as the reason to do it, then names the output, aqwamu qila, straighter speech. Everything you say in public is downstream of what you do at 3am when no one is counting.

Verse 10 is the professional instruction for dealing with critics. Patience over what they say, then hajran jamila, a beautiful parting. No scene, no reply, no last word. Most men can manage the leaving. The jamil is the part that takes discipline.

Verse 20 is the surah's mercy, and it is worth reading as a man who runs businesses. Illness, travel for provision, and fighting are named as legitimate claims on your night. But the concession terminates in three obligations, and the last one calls your giving a loan to Allah. Reduced, not released.

The Practice · Daily Integration

Twenty Verses. Stand the Night.

Take the smallest honest portion of the night and hold it. Verse 20 sets the floor at what is easy, and a floor you keep beats a ceiling you announce.

Recite with tartil, not volume. The instruction in verse 4 is about pace, and pace is what lets meaning reach the man reciting.

Practice hajran jamila once this month. Leave a conversation, a group, or a fight without a parting shot.

Treat every act of giving as the loan verse 20 calls it. A loan has a lender, a schedule, and a return, and none of those three describe charity.

He was wrapped in a cloak and told to stand. The weight came later, and by then he could carry it.

آمِين

Prepared with discipline · Ameen

Verse-By-Verse · Test Yourself

The Quiz

Two questions per verse. Translation and a key Arabic word. Walk through it slow. The goal is comprehension, not speed.

Verse 11 / 40

The Verse

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْمُزَّمِّلُ

Ya ayyuha al-muzzammil

What does this verse say?