Surah Quraish (Surah Quraysh): Arabic, meaning and learning

What is Surah Quraish in English, with the Arabic and transliteration?

Al-Quraish is surah 106, with four verses. To copy the Arabic, use the button under the scroll. The Tanzil copy prints the Bismillah at the start of verse 1, and the verses are counted as four, as the Tanzil metadata counts them.

What does Surah Quraish mean, verse by verse?

Each verse has its Arabic, its transliteration, its English and a plain note on the wording.

1. 1

   لِإِيلَـٰفِ قُرَيْشٍ

   Li-īlāfi Quraysh

   For the taming of Quraysh.

   The translation begins "For the taming of Quraysh". It renders the word ilaf as "taming". Ibn Kathir reads it as gathering (see the context section).

2. 2

   إِۦلَـٰفِهِمْ رِحْلَةَ ٱلشِّتَآءِ وَٱلصَّيْفِ

   Īlāfihim riḥlata sh-shitāʾi wa-ṣ-ṣayf

   For their taming (We cause) the caravans to set forth in winter and summer.

   The translation has the caravans setting forth in winter and summer.

3. 3

   فَلْيَعْبُدُوا۟ رَبَّ هَـٰذَا ٱلْبَيْتِ

   Fal-yaʿbudū rabba hādhā l-bayt

   So let them worship the Lord of this House.

   A command, "let them worship", followed by the Lord of this House. The translation keeps that order.

4. 4

   ٱلَّذِىٓ أَطْعَمَهُم مِّن جُوعٍ وَءَامَنَهُم مِّنْ خَوْفٍۭ

   Alladhī aṭʿamahum min jūʿin wa-āmanahum min khawf

   Who has fed them against hunger and has made them safe from fear.

   The translation gives two gifts, food against hunger and safety from fear, in the order of the Arabic.

Verse 1 has two words after the Bismillah:

What are the themes and passage structure of Surah Quraish?

The four verses fall into three parts. This describes the wording only. The readings of the commentators are in the next sections.

Verses 1 and 2 are about the Quraysh and their journeys. Verse 3 is the command, and verse 4 describes the Lord the command names.

What is the context of Surah Quraish: the caravans and Al-Fil?

The Tanzil metadata classes Surah Quraish as Meccan (from the Makkan period, before the move to Madinah), with four verses. It gives the transliterated name as Quraish and the English name as Quraysh. M

Ibn Kathir (d. 774 AH, in years of the Islamic calendar counted from the Hijrah), in his Tafsir al-Qur'an al-'Azim, vol. 8 p. 491, explains the opening word, ilaf, as the uniting and gathering of the Quraysh in their city, living in safety. 1

He reports that Ibn Ishaq and Abd al-Rahman ibn Zayd ibn Aslam took the sense to be that God held the elephant back from Makkah and destroyed its people, which links the surah with Al-Fil, the surah before it. 1

Ibn Kathir also notes that the Mushaf (the written copy of the Quran) separates the two surahs with a Bismillah line, although the surah is connected with what comes before it. 1

He gives a second view, introduced with "it has been said": the journeys the Quraysh made in winter to Yemen and in summer to Sham (Syria) for trade and other things. On these journeys they came home in safety, because of their standing among people as residents of God's sanctuary: whoever knew them respected them. 2

Neither reading is chosen over the other here. Both are attributed to the commentary, with its volume and page.

What does the command to worship the Lord of this House mean?

Ibn Kathir reads "so let them worship the Lord of this House" as meaning that they should single Him out in worship, just as He made a safe sanctuary and a sacred House for them (vol. 8 p. 492). 3

On the words "who fed them", he says that the one described is the Lord of this House. 3

Are there Surah Quraish benefits, such as a reward for reciting it?

No reward, benefit or virtue for reciting or memorising Surah Quraish is given here, and no report that gives one is cited.

Is there audio for Surah Quraish?

Audio is not yet provided. No reciter is named or embedded here. The transliteration above is a guide to the words, not a recording; it follows the Tanzil Arabic letter by letter. Listen to a qualified reciter for the sound itself.