Madinan, by agreement
Madinah — after Uḥud in the third year, with its opening tied to the delegation of Najrān
Al-Qurṭubī records agreement that it is Madinan. It was not sent down on one occasion. The commentators relate that its opening, to some eighty ayat, came down about the delegation of Najrān — sixty riders, led by the two men called al-ʿĀqib and al-Sayyid, who disputed with the Prophet ﷺ about ʿĪsā; Ibn Kathīr dates their coming to the ninth year. Its long central passage is about the battle of Uḥud, fought in Shawwāl of the third year. The traditional order places it eighty-ninth, after al-Baqarah and al-Anfāl.
ذَكَرَ أهْلُ التَّفْسِيرِ أنَّها مَدَنِيَّةٌ، وأنَّ صَدْرًا مِن أوَّلِها نَزَلَ في وفْدِ نَجْرانَ، قَدِمُوا النَّبِيَّ ﷺ في سِتِّينَ راكِبًا، فِيهِمُ العاقِبُ، والسَّيِّدُ، فَخاصَمُوهُ في عِيسىهِيَ مَدَنِيَّةٌ؛ لِأَنَّ صَدْرَهَا إِلَى ثَلَاثٍ وَثَمَانِينَ آيَةً مِنْهَا نَزَلَتْ فِي وَفْدِ نَجْرَانَهَذِهِ السُّورَةُ مَدَنِيَّةٌ بِإِجْمَاعٍThe same, in other works
- al-BaghawīMaʿālim al-tanzīlAhl al-Sunnah in creedShāfiʿī in fiqh→
Madinan.
سُورَةِ آلِ عِمْرَانَ -مَدَنِيَّةٌ
- al-Suyūṭīal-Durr al-manthūrAshʿarī in creedShāfiʿī in fiqh→
Ibn ʿAbbās: it came down in Madinah. Recorded by Ibn al-Ḍurays, al-Naḥḥās and al-Bayhaqī, through several chains.
أخْرَجَ ابْنُ الضُّرَيْسِ في فَضائِلِهِ، والنَّحّاسُ في ناسِخِهِ، والبَيْهَقِيُّ في الدَّلائِلِ، مِن طُرُقٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَبّاسٍ قالَ: نَزَلَتْ سُورَةُ آلِ عِمْرانَ بِالمَدِينَةِ
A report he gathers; its chain is not graded here.
- al-ShawkānīFatḥ al-qadīr→
Madinan, by agreement, citing al-Qurṭubī.
هي مَدَنِيَّةٌ، قالَ القُرْطُبِيُّ: بِالإجْماعِ
- Abū al-SuʿūdIrshād al-ʿaql al-salīmMāturīdī in creedḤanafī in fiqh→
Madinan.
سُورَةُ آلِ عِمْرانَ مَدَنِيَّةٌ وهي مِائَتا آيَةٍ
Each line of English says what the Arabic beneath it says.
What was happening
The Christians of Najrān sent their leading men to Madinah. They came, the commentators relate, sixty riders strong, and pressed one question: if ʿĪsā is not the son of God, then who was his father?◇ The surah does not begin its reply with ʿĪsā. It begins a generation earlier, with a woman — the wife of ʿImrān — vowing the child she carried to the service of Allah, and her dismay at the birth: “My Lord, I have delivered a female.” The girl is Maryam. She grows up in the sanctuary under Zakariyyā’s care, and he finds provision with her that no one has brought. Then the angels come to her with the news of a son. By the time the surah states its conclusion, the listener has watched the whole family grow: “The likeness of ʿĪsā with Allah is as the likeness of Ādam. He created him from dust, then said to him ‘Be’, and he was.”
When the argument was finished and they still held back, an ayah came down proposing something beyond argument: let each side bring its sons and its women and itself, and pray together that the curse of Allah fall on whoever is lying. Ḥudhayfah relates that the two leaders had come meaning to do exactly that, and that one said to the other: do not — by Allah, if he is a prophet and we do this, neither we nor our descendants will ever prosper. They asked for terms instead, and for a trustworthy man to be sent back with them. He ﷺ sent Abū ʿUbaydah.
The second event was Uḥud. The Muslims had the battle won; then the archers posted on the hill left their place for the spoils, the Makkan cavalry came round behind, and it became a slaughter. Seventy were killed, Ḥamzah among them. The Prophet’s face was cut and a tooth broken, and a voice cried that Muḥammad had been killed. Some sat down where they were. Nearly sixty ayat (3:121–179) go over that day — without softening it. “Among you were those who wanted this world, and among you were those who wanted the next.”
And at its centre: “Muḥammad is only a messenger; messengers have passed away before him. If he dies or is killed, will you turn back on your heels?” Seven years later, on the morning he ﷺ did die, with ʿUmar refusing to believe it, Abū Bakr stood up and recited that ayah. ʿĀʾishah said: it was as though the people had not known that Allah had sent it down until Abū Bakr recited it.
The surah closes on the night sky. “In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day, are signs for people of understanding” — the ayat the Prophet ﷺ used to recite when he woke for the night prayer, looking up. Its last line gathers everything before it into four commands: be patient; outlast in patience; stand guard; and be mindful of Allah.
- Related, not gradedRelated by the commentators without a graded chain; not established as authentic.
What came down about what
The mutual invocation
Al-ʿĀqib and al-Sayyid, the two chiefs of Najrān, came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ intending to invoke a curse with him. One said to the other: “Do not do it. By Allah, if he is a prophet and we invoke the curse, we shall not prosper, nor our descendants after us.” They said: “We will give you what you ask of us; send with us a trustworthy man.” He said: “I will send with you a trustworthy man, truly trustworthy.” Then he said: “Stand up, Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrāḥ.” And when he stood: “This is the trustworthy one of this community.”
Ḥudhayfah: al-Bukhārī (4380). Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ adds that when the ayah came down he ﷺ called ʿAlī, Fāṭimah, Ḥasan and Ḥusayn and said, “O Allah, these are my family”: Muslim (2404).
Ṣaḥīḥ
Abū Ṭalḥah’s garden
Abū Ṭalḥah had more date-palms than any of the Helpers in Madinah, and the dearest of his property to him was Bayruḥāʾ, facing the mosque; the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to go into it and drink its sweet water. When “You will never attain righteousness until you spend of what you love” came down, Abū Ṭalḥah stood and said: “Messenger of Allah, the dearest of my wealth to me is Bayruḥāʾ, and it is charity for Allah.” He said: “Well done! That is a wealth that profits.”
Anas ibn Mālik: al-Bukhārī (4554) and Muslim (998).
Ṣaḥīḥ
“You have no say in the matter”
On the day of Uḥud the Prophet’s tooth was broken and his head was gashed. Wiping the blood away, he said: “How can a people prosper who have wounded their Prophet and broken his tooth, while he calls them to Allah?” Then Allah sent down: “You have no say in the matter — whether He turns to them or punishes them.”
Anas ibn Mālik: Muslim (1791). Ibn ʿUmar relates it of his praying against certain men by name in the dawn prayer: al-Bukhārī (4069).
Ṣaḥīḥ
“Allah is enough for us”
“‘Allah is sufficient for us, and He is the best to rely on’ — Ibrāhīm said it when he was thrown into the fire, and Muḥammad ﷺ said it when they said: ‘The people have gathered against you, so fear them’ — and it only increased them in faith.”
Ibn ʿAbbās: al-Bukhārī (4563).
Ṣaḥīḥ
Praised for what they did not do
Some men of the hypocrites, in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, would stay behind when he went out on an expedition, and be glad of their staying. When he returned they made excuses to him and swore oaths, and wished to be praised for what they had not done. So there came down: “Do not think that those who rejoice in what they have done, and love to be praised for what they have not done…”
Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī: al-Bukhārī (4567) and Muslim (2777).
Ṣaḥīḥ
الثبات على الإسلام بعد كماله وبيانه، وردّ شبهات أهل الكتاب وخاصة النصارى.
Steadfastness upon Islam once it has been completed and made clear, and the answering of the doubts raised by the People of the Book — the Christians in particular.
The surah’s aim, as al-Mukhtaṣar fī al-Tafsīr states it
- The clear and the ambiguous in the Book
- The family of ʿImrān
- ʿĪsā, a servant and messenger
- A common word with the People of the Book
- Holding fast to the rope of Allah
- The day of Uḥud and its lessons
- Consultation and gentleness
- Reflection on creation
Its aims, as Ibn ʿĀshūr sets them out
واشتملت هذه السورة، من الأغراض: على الابتداء بالتنويه بالقرآن، ومحمد صلى الله عليه وسلم، وتقسيم آيات القرآن، ومراتب الأفهام في تلقيها، والتنويه بفضيلة الإسلام وأنه لا يعدله دين، وأنه لا يقبل دين عند الله، بعد ظهور الإسلام، غير الإسلام، والتنويه بالتوراة والإنجيل، والإيماء إلى أنهما أنزلا قبل القرآن، تمهيدا لهذا الدين فلا يحق للناس، أن يكفروا به، وعلى التعريف بدلائل إلاهية الله تعالى، وانفراده، وإبطال ضلالة الذين اتخذوا آلهة من دون الله:
From its first ayah to its last
- 1–99 ayat · 4% of the surahRead from ayah 1 →
The Book, clear and ambiguous
Alif Lām Mīm. Allah — there is no god but He, the Living, the Sustainer. He sent down upon you the Book with the truth, confirming what was before it; and He sent down the Torah and the Gospel. In it are ayat that are precise — they are the mother of the Book — and others that are ambiguous. Those in whose hearts is deviation follow the ambiguous. Those firm in knowledge say: “We believe in it; all is from our Lord. Our Lord, do not let our hearts deviate after You have guided us” (3:8).
- 10–3223 ayat · 12% of the surahRead from ayah 10 →
The religion with Allah is Islam
There was a sign for you in the two armies that met. Made attractive to people is the love of desires: women, sons, heaped-up treasure. Allah bears witness that there is no god but He, and so do the angels and those of knowledge. The religion with Allah is Islam. Say: “O Allah, Owner of sovereignty, You give sovereignty to whom You will and take it from whom You will.” Say: “If you love Allah, then follow me; Allah will love you.”
- 33–6331 ayat · 14% of the surahRead from ayah 33 →
The family of ʿImrān
Allah chose Ādam, Nūḥ, the family of Ibrāhīm and the family of ʿImrān above the worlds. The wife of ʿImrān said: “My Lord, I have vowed to You what is in my womb.” Whenever Zakariyyā entered the sanctuary he found provision with Maryam. There Zakariyyā called on his Lord, and was given Yaḥyā. “Maryam, Allah gives you good news of a word from Him, whose name is the Messiah, ʿĪsā son of Maryam.” The likeness of ʿĪsā with Allah is as the likeness of Ādam. Whoever disputes with you about him: “Come, let us call our sons and your sons…”
- 64–10138 ayat · 19% of the surahRead from ayah 64 →
A common word
Say: “People of the Book, come to a word common between us and you: that we worship none but Allah.” Ibrāhīm was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but upright, a Muslim. Allah took the covenant of the prophets: when a messenger comes confirming what is with you, you shall believe in him. Whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted from him. You will never attain righteousness until you spend of what you love. The first House set up for mankind was that at Bakkah; pilgrimage to it is a duty people owe to Allah.
- 102–12019 ayat · 10% of the surahRead from ayah 102 →
Hold fast, all together
O you who believe, be mindful of Allah as He should be minded, and do not die except as Muslims. Hold fast to the rope of Allah, all together, and do not divide. Remember His favour: you were enemies, and He joined your hearts. Let there be among you a community that calls to good. You are the best community brought forth for mankind. They are not all alike: among the People of the Book is an upright community. Do not take as intimates those outside your own.
- 121–14828 ayat · 11% of the surahRead from ayah 121 →
Uḥud: the morning, and the rumour
When you left your household in the morning to post the believers at their stations for battle. Allah had already helped you at Badr, when you were weak. Hasten to forgiveness from your Lord, and a Garden as wide as the heavens and the earth. Do not weaken and do not grieve: you are the uppermost, if you are believers. If a wound has touched you, a like wound has touched them; such days We alternate among people. Muḥammad is only a messenger; messengers have passed away before him (3:144). How many a prophet fought, and with him many devoted men.
- 149–18032 ayat · 19% of the surahRead from ayah 149 →
Uḥud: what went wrong, and what was gained
Allah made good His promise to you when you were cutting them down by His leave — until you lost heart, disputed the order and disobeyed. Then He sent down upon you, after the distress, security: a slumber. It was by mercy from Allah that you were gentle with them; had you been harsh, they would have scattered from around you. Pardon them, consult them, and when you have resolved, rely on Allah. Do not think of those killed in the way of Allah as dead: they are alive with their Lord, provided for. Those to whom people said, “The people have gathered against you” — it increased them in faith.
- 181–20020 ayat · 10% of the surahRead from ayah 181 →
The signs, and the last command
Every soul will taste death, and you will be paid your wages in full only on the Day of Resurrection. You will surely be tested in your wealth and yourselves. In the creation of the heavens and the earth are signs for people of understanding — those who remember Allah standing, sitting and on their sides: “Our Lord, You did not create this in vain.” Their Lord answered them: “I do not let the work of any worker among you be lost, male or female.” O you who believe: be patient, outlast in patience, stand firm, and be mindful of Allah, that you may succeed.
The division into passages is a reading aid, written for this page; it is not part of the muṣḥaf. Each passage is drawn as long as its words are.
The sound each ayah closes on
Read aloud, every ayah closes on a sound — its fāṣilah — and the closes answer one another for a stretch, then turn. Each sound this surah closes on is a line of the staff below, and the surah is the gold line stepping along them, an ayah at a time: where it steps to another line, the rhyme turns. The dotted lines are where its passages begin.
Its commonest close carries 75% of its ayat, and the rhyme turns 60 times. 3 of those turns come just where a new passage begins, as this page divides the surah.
Move along the staff to see what each ayah closes on.
All 61 runs, ayah by ayah
- 1–2ـيم
- 3ـيل
- 4ـام
- 5ـاء
- 6ـيم
- 7–8ـاب
- 9ـاد
- 10ـار
- 11ـاب
- 12ـاد
- 13ـار
- 14ـاب
- 15ـاد
- 16–17ـار
- 18ـيم
- 19ـاب
- 20ـاد
- 21–25ـيم
- 26ـير
- 27ـاب
- 28–29ـير
- 30ـاد
- 31–36ـيم
- 37ـاب
- 38ـاء
- 39ـين
- 40ـاء
- 41ـار
- 42–47ـين
- 48ـيل
- 49–108ـين
- 109ـور
- 110–118ـون
- 119ـور
- 120ـيط
- 121–153ـيم
- 154ـور
- 155ـيم
- 156ـير
- 157–161ـون
- 162ـير
- 163–164ـون
- 165ـير
- 166–172ـين
- 173ـيل
- 174–179ـيم
- 180ـير
- 181ـيق
- 182ـيد
- 183ـين
- 184–186ـير
- 187–188ـون
- 189ـير
- 190ـاب
- 191–193ـار
- 194ـاد
- 195ـاب
- 196–197ـاد
- 198ـار
- 199ـاب
- 200ـون
Computed from the text, each ayah as it is said when the reciter stops on it: the last vowel falls away, tanwīn on alif is said as a long ā, and tāʾ marbūṭah as h. Closes the ear hears as one rhyme share a line — -ūn, -īn and -īm; -ān and -ām — and an ayah that is only the opening letters closes on the name of its last letter.
From the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions
اقْرَءُوا الزَّهْرَاوَيْنِ الْبَقَرَةَ وَسُورَةَ آلِ عِمْرَانَ
“Recite the Qurʾan, for it will come on the Day of Resurrection as an intercessor for its companions. Recite the two radiant ones, al-Baqarah and Sūrat Āl ʿImrān: they will come on the Day of Resurrection as though they were two clouds, or two canopies, or two flocks of birds in ranks, pleading for their companions.”“The Qurʾan will be brought on the Day of Resurrection with its people, those who used to act by it; at its head will be Sūrat al-Baqarah and Āl ʿImrān.”Ibn ʿAbbās said: I spent a night at the house of my aunt Maymūnah. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ talked with his family for a while, then slept. When the last third of the night came he sat up, looked at the sky, and recited: “In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day, are signs for people of understanding.” Then he rose, made ablution, cleaned his teeth, and prayed.Abū Bakr came out while ʿUmar was speaking to the people, and said: “Whoever among you worshipped Muḥammad — Muḥammad has died. And whoever worshipped Allah — Allah is living and does not die. Allah has said: ‘Muḥammad is only a messenger; messengers have passed away before him…’” By Allah, it was as though the people had not known that Allah had sent down this ayah until Abū Bakr recited it; and everyone took it up from him.The names it is known by
After the household it tells of (3:33–37): ʿImrān’s wife, who vowed the child in her womb to Allah; her daughter Maryam; and Maryam’s son.
With al-Baqarah it is one of al-Zahrāwān, “the two radiant ones” — the Prophet’s own name for the pair.
Its place in the muṣḥaf
Ayat you will hear named
- 3:7–8The precise and the ambiguous
- 3:18–19Allah’s own testimony, and the religion with Him
- 3:26–27“O Allah, Owner of sovereignty”
- 3:31“If you love Allah, follow me”
- 3:35–37The vow of ʿImrān’s wife
- 3:59ʿĪsā is as Ādam
- 3:64A common word
- 3:103Hold fast to the rope of Allah
- 3:133–134A Garden as wide as the heavens and the earth
- 3:144“Muḥammad is only a messenger”
- 3:159Gentleness, pardon and consultation
- 3:169–170The martyrs are alive
- 3:190–194The signs for people of understanding
Where this comes from
The figures at the head of the page are counted from the text. The Arabic quotations are taken letter for letter from the copies of the classical works held on this site, and each links to the passage it stands in. The rest was written for Mishkāt from the works below. It is an introduction, not a tafsir: where it matters, read the scholars themselves.
Works quoted on this page
- تفسير البغويMaʿālim al-tanzīlal-Ḥusayn al-Baghawī (d. 516 AH)
- تفسير ابن الجوزيZād al-masīrAbū al-Faraj ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597 AH)
- تفسير القرطبيal-Jāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-QurʾānShams al-Dīn al-Qurṭubī (d. 671 AH)
- تفسير ابن كثيرTafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿaẓīmIsmāʿīl ibn Kathīr (d. 774 AH)
- الدر المنثورal-Durr al-manthūrJalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī (d. 911 AH)
- فتح القدير للشوكانيFatḥ al-qadīrMuḥammad al-Shawkānī (d. 1250 AH)
- تفسير أبي السعودIrshād al-ʿaql al-salīmAbū al-Suʿūd al-ʿImādī (d. 982 AH)
- التحرير والتنويرal-Taḥrīr wa-l-tanwīrMuḥammad al-Ṭāhir ibn ʿĀshūr (d. 1393 AH)
- المختصر في التفسيرal-Mukhtaṣar fī al-tafsīrMarkaz Tafsīr, a committee of scholars
Beside each scholar quoted stand his creed and his school of fiqh, so that he can be read with discernment. The site’s library holds other commentaries as well; the introductions do not draw on them.
al-Qurṭubī is quoted on these pages only for what he transmits: who said a surah is Makkan or Madinan, and what it has been called. On the attributes of Allah his commentary interprets, in places, in the way of the Ashʿarīs rather than the way of the Salaf, and nothing of that is taken from him here.
al-Rāzī and Abū al-Suʿūd are quoted on these pages only for where a surah came down, and Ibn ʿĀshūr only for the aims of the surah. Nothing on the attributes of Allah is taken from them, and no report comes by way of them. Ibn ʿĀshūr’s statement of the aims is not in the site’s copy of his book: it is read from the Shamela typing as OpenITI holds it, with reports and al-Zamakhsharī’s words left out, and it links to its page there.
Every hadith here says where it is recorded and how it is graded. What is in al-Bukhārī or Muslim is marked ṣaḥīḥ. Outside the two, the grading followed is al-Albānī’s; where none of his was found, the scholar who graded it is named. A report known to be weak or fabricated is not given here at all. A report that is ḥasan, or a Companion’s own saying, or related by the commentators without a graded chain, says so beside it. In the account of what was happening, a small sign after a sentence says the same of the report that sentence tells, and a question mark stands where a date or a figure is not certain, or beside a grading — underlined — that has something to say about its own source: rest on it, or touch it, and it gives the reason. What is drawn from the sīrah — the campaigns, the dates, who was present — is history as its scholars transmit it, and is not graded here.
Also drawn on
- Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim
The order of revelation is the one printed at the head of each surah in the Egyptian muṣḥaf, which rests on lists transmitted from Ibn ʿAbbās and Jābir ibn Zayd. It places a surah by where it began. Many surahs came down in parts, over years, and the scholars treat the list as a guide, not a certainty.