سورة المعارج
Here is Surah Al-Ma’arij (“The Ascending Stairways”) in transliteration: each of its 44 verses in Arabic, then in Latin letters (one Latin word for each Arabic word) and translated into English. Start the recitation: each word lights up as it is pronounced.
Letters with a bar (ā, ī, ū) are long, ʿ marks the letter ʿayn, ḥ, ṣ, ḍ, ṭ, ẓ the emphatic letters. Hover over or tap an Arabic word to see its meaning.
Tajweed rules
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
bis'mi l-lahi l-raḥmāni l-raḥīmi
سَأَلَ سَآئِلٌۢ بِعَذَابٍ وَاقِعٍ ١
sa-ala sāilun biʿadhābin wāqiʿin
1. A supplicant asked for a punishment bound to happen1748
[1748] In the Hereafter. Disbelievers had challenged the Prophet (ﷺ) by invoking Allāh to bring on His punishment. See 8:32.
لِّلْكَٰفِرِينَ لَيْسَ لَهُۥ دَافِعٌ ٢
lil'kāfirīna laysa lahu dāfiʿun
2. To the disbelievers; of it there is no preventer.
مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ ذِى ٱلْمَعَارِجِ ٣
mina l-lahi dhī l-maʿāriji
3. [It is] from Allāh, owner of the ways of ascent.
تَعْرُجُ ٱلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةُ وَٱلرُّوحُ إِلَيْهِ فِى يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُۥ خَمْسِينَ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ ٤
taʿruju l-malāikatu wal-rūḥu ilayhi fī yawmin kāna miq'dāruhu khamsīna alfa sanatin
4. The angels and the Spirit [i.e., Gabriel] will ascend to Him during a Day the extent of which is fifty thousand years.
فَٱصْبِرْ صَبْرًا جَمِيلًا ٥
fa-iṣ'bir ṣabran jamīlan
5. So be patient with gracious patience.
إِنَّهُمْ يَرَوْنَهُۥ بَعِيدًا ٦
innahum yarawnahu baʿīdan
6. Indeed, they see it [as] distant,
وَنَرَىٰهُ قَرِيبًا ٧
wanarāhu qarīban
7. But We see it [as] near.
يَوْمَ تَكُونُ ٱلسَّمَآءُ كَٱلْمُهْلِ ٨
yawma takūnu l-samāu kal-muh'li
8. On the Day the sky will be like murky oil,1749
[1749] Or "molten metal."
وَتَكُونُ ٱلْجِبَالُ كَٱلْعِهْنِ ٩
watakūnu l-jibālu kal-ʿih'ni
9. And the mountains will be like wool,1750
[1750] i.e., in the process of disintegration.
وَلَا يَسْـَٔلُ حَمِيمٌ حَمِيمًا ١٠
walā yasalu ḥamīmun ḥamīman
10. And no friend will ask [anything of] a friend,
يُبَصَّرُونَهُمْ يَوَدُّ ٱلْمُجْرِمُ لَوْ يَفْتَدِى مِنْ عَذَابِ يَوْمِئِذٍۭ بِبَنِيهِ ١١
yubaṣṣarūnahum yawaddu l-muj'rimu law yaftadī min ʿadhābi yawmi-idhin bibanīhi
11. They will be shown each other. The criminal will wish that he could be ransomed from the punishment of that Day by his children
وَصَٰحِبَتِهِۦ وَأَخِيهِ ١٢
waṣāḥibatihi wa-akhīhi
12. And his wife and his brother
وَفَصِيلَتِهِ ٱلَّتِى تُـْٔوِيهِ ١٣
wafaṣīlatihi allatī tu'wīhi
13. And his nearest kindred who shelter him
وَمَن فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا ثُمَّ يُنجِيهِ ١٤
waman fī l-arḍi jamīʿan thumma yunjīhi
14. And whoever is on earth entirely [so] then it could save him.
كَلَّآ إِنَّهَا لَظَىٰ ١٥
kallā innahā laẓā
15. No!1751 Indeed, it is the Flame [of Hell],
[1751] An emphatic refusal meaning "It is not to be."
نَزَّاعَةً لِّلشَّوَىٰ ١٦
nazzāʿatan lilshawā
16. A remover of exteriors.1752
[1752] This refers to the skin of the head or of the body or to the body extremities - which will be burned away.
تَدْعُوا۟ مَنْ أَدْبَرَ وَتَوَلَّىٰ ١٧
tadʿū man adbara watawallā
17. It invites he who turned his back [on truth] and went away [from obedience]
وَجَمَعَ فَأَوْعَىٰٓ ١٨
wajamaʿa fa-awʿā
18. And collected [wealth] and hoarded.
إِنَّ ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ خُلِقَ هَلُوعًا ١٩
inna l-insāna khuliqa halūʿan
19. Indeed, mankind was created anxious:
إِذَا مَسَّهُ ٱلشَّرُّ جَزُوعًا ٢٠
idhā massahu l-sharu jazūʿan
20. When evil touches him, impatient,
وَإِذَا مَسَّهُ ٱلْخَيْرُ مَنُوعًا ٢١
wa-idhā massahu l-khayru manūʿan
21. And when good touches him, withholding [of it],
إِلَّا ٱلْمُصَلِّينَ ٢٢
illā l-muṣalīna
22. Except the observers of prayer -
ٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ عَلَىٰ صَلَاتِهِمْ دَآئِمُونَ ٢٣
alladhīna hum ʿalā ṣalātihim dāimūna
23. Those who are constant in their prayer
وَٱلَّذِينَ فِىٓ أَمْوَٰلِهِمْ حَقٌّ مَّعْلُومٌ ٢٤
wa-alladhīna fī amwālihim ḥaqqun maʿlūmun
24. And those within whose wealth is a known right1753
[1753] i.e., a specified share, meaning the obligatory zakāh.
لِّلسَّآئِلِ وَٱلْمَحْرُومِ ٢٥
lilssāili wal-maḥrūmi
25. For the petitioner and the deprived -
وَٱلَّذِينَ يُصَدِّقُونَ بِيَوْمِ ٱلدِّينِ ٢٦
wa-alladhīna yuṣaddiqūna biyawmi l-dīni
26. And those who believe in the Day of Recompense
وَٱلَّذِينَ هُم مِّنْ عَذَابِ رَبِّهِم مُّشْفِقُونَ ٢٧
wa-alladhīna hum min ʿadhābi rabbihim mush'fiqūna
27. And those who are fearful of the punishment of their Lord -
إِنَّ عَذَابَ رَبِّهِمْ غَيْرُ مَأْمُونٍ ٢٨
inna ʿadhāba rabbihim ghayru mamūnin
28. Indeed, the punishment of their Lord is not that from which one is safe -
وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ لِفُرُوجِهِمْ حَٰفِظُونَ ٢٩
wa-alladhīna hum lifurūjihim ḥāfiẓūna
29. And those who guard their private parts
إِلَّا عَلَىٰٓ أَزْوَٰجِهِمْ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَٰنُهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ غَيْرُ مَلُومِينَ ٣٠
illā ʿalā azwājihim aw mā malakat aymānuhum fa-innahum ghayru malūmīna
30. Except from their wives or those their right hands possess,1754 for indeed, they are not to be blamed -
[1754] i.e., female slaves.
فَمَنِ ٱبْتَغَىٰ وَرَآءَ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْعَادُونَ ٣١
famani ib'taghā warāa dhālika fa-ulāika humu l-ʿādūna
31. But whoever seeks beyond that, then they are the transgressors -
وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ لِأَمَٰنَٰتِهِمْ وَعَهْدِهِمْ رَٰعُونَ ٣٢
wa-alladhīna hum li-amānātihim waʿahdihim rāʿūna
32. And those who are to their trusts and promises attentive
وَٱلَّذِينَ هُم بِشَهَٰدَٰتِهِمْ قَآئِمُونَ ٣٣
wa-alladhīna hum bishahādātihim qāimūna
33. And those who are in their testimonies upright
وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ عَلَىٰ صَلَاتِهِمْ يُحَافِظُونَ ٣٤
wa-alladhīna hum ʿalā ṣalātihim yuḥāfiẓūna
34. And those who [carefully] maintain their prayer:
أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ فِى جَنَّٰتٍ مُّكْرَمُونَ ٣٥
ulāika fī jannātin muk'ramūna
35. They will be in gardens,1755 honored.
[1755] In Paradise.
فَمَالِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ قِبَلَكَ مُهْطِعِينَ ٣٦
famāli alladhīna kafarū qibalaka muh'ṭiʿīna
36. So what is [the matter] with those who disbelieve, hastening [from] before you, [O Muḥammad],
عَنِ ٱلْيَمِينِ وَعَنِ ٱلشِّمَالِ عِزِينَ ٣٧
ʿani l-yamīni waʿani l-shimāli ʿizīna
37. [To sit] on [your] right and [your] left in separate groups?1756
[1756] They sat at a distance in order to oppose and mock the Prophet (ﷺ), claiming that they would enter Paradise before the believers.
أَيَطْمَعُ كُلُّ ٱمْرِئٍ مِّنْهُمْ أَن يُدْخَلَ جَنَّةَ نَعِيمٍ ٣٨
ayaṭmaʿu kullu im'ri-in min'hum an yud'khala jannata naʿīmin
38. Does every person among them aspire to enter a garden of pleasure?
كَلَّآ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَٰهُم مِّمَّا يَعْلَمُونَ ٣٩
kallā innā khalaqnāhum mimmā yaʿlamūna
39. No! Indeed, We have created them from that which they know.1757
[1757] i.e., a liquid disdained. So how can they expect to enter Paradise except by the will of their Creator?
فَلَآ أُقْسِمُ بِرَبِّ ٱلْمَشَٰرِقِ وَٱلْمَغَٰرِبِ إِنَّا لَقَٰدِرُونَ ٤٠
falā uq'simu birabbi l-mashāriqi wal-maghāribi innā laqādirūna
40. So I swear by the Lord of [all] risings and settings1758 that indeed We are able
[1758] i.e., Allāh (subḥānahu wa taʿālā), who determines the point at which the sun, moon and stars rise and set according to season and every position of observation.
عَلَىٰٓ أَن نُّبَدِّلَ خَيْرًا مِّنْهُمْ وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمَسْبُوقِينَ ٤١
ʿalā an nubaddila khayran min'hum wamā naḥnu bimasbūqīna
41. To replace them with better than them; and We are not to be outdone.
فَذَرْهُمْ يَخُوضُوا۟ وَيَلْعَبُوا۟ حَتَّىٰ يُلَٰقُوا۟ يَوْمَهُمُ ٱلَّذِى يُوعَدُونَ ٤٢
fadharhum yakhūḍū wayalʿabū ḥattā yulāqū yawmahumu alladhī yūʿadūna
42. So leave them to converse vainly and amuse themselves until they meet their Day which they are promised -
يَوْمَ يَخْرُجُونَ مِنَ ٱلْأَجْدَاثِ سِرَاعًا كَأَنَّهُمْ إِلَىٰ نُصُبٍ يُوفِضُونَ ٤٣
yawma yakhrujūna mina l-ajdāthi sirāʿan ka-annahum ilā nuṣubin yūfiḍūna
43. The Day they will emerge from the graves rapidly as if they were, toward an erected idol, hastening.1759
[1759] i.e., just as they used to race, whenever an idol was newly appointed, to be the first of its worshippers.
خَٰشِعَةً أَبْصَٰرُهُمْ تَرْهَقُهُمْ ذِلَّةٌ ذَٰلِكَ ٱلْيَوْمُ ٱلَّذِى كَانُوا۟ يُوعَدُونَ ٤٤
khāshiʿatan abṣāruhum tarhaquhum dhillatun dhālika l-yawmu alladhī kānū yūʿadūna
44. Their eyes humbled, humiliation will cover them. That is the Day which they had been promised.
Recite what follows from memory. Next verse:
