Surah Al-Alaq: Meaning, Translation and the First Revelation

Surah Al-Alaq holds the first words of the Quran ever revealed: Iqraʾ, "Read" or "Recite". They came to the Prophet ﷺ in the cave of Hira, when he was forty years old, and they began twenty-three years of revelation.

The rest of the surah came a little later, about a man who tried to stop the Prophet ﷺ from praying. So the surah begins with the start of revelation and ends with a command every Muslim still follows: wasjud waqtarib, "prostrate and draw near".

This article gives the full surah in Arabic, a transliteration and the English translation, then explains it section by section.

The full surah

ٱقۡرَأۡ بِٱسۡمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلَّذِي خَلَقَ خَلَقَ ٱلۡإِنسَٰنَ مِنۡ عَلَقٍ ٱقۡرَأۡ وَرَبُّكَ ٱلۡأَكۡرَمُ ٱلَّذِي عَلَّمَ بِٱلۡقَلَمِ عَلَّمَ ٱلۡإِنسَٰنَ مَا لَمۡ يَعۡلَمۡ كـَلَّآ إِنَّ ٱلۡإِنسَٰنَ لَيَطۡغَىٰٓ أَن رَّءَاهُ ٱسۡتَغۡنَىٰٓ إِنَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ ٱلرُّجۡعَىٰٓ أَرَءَيۡتَ ٱلَّذِي يَنۡهَىٰ عَبۡدًا إِذَا صَلَّىٰٓ أَرَءَيۡتَ إِن كَانَ عَلَى ٱلۡهُدَىٰٓ أَوۡ أَمَرَ بِٱلتَّقۡوَىٰٓ أَرَءَيۡتَ إِن كَذَّبَ وَتَوَلَّىٰٓ أَلَمۡ يَعۡلَم بِأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَرَىٰ كـَلَّا لَئِن لَّمۡ يَنتَهِ لَنَسۡفَعَۢا بِٱلنَّاصِيَةِ نَاصِيَةٖ كَٰذِبَةٍ خَاطِئَةٖ فَلۡيَدۡعُ نَادِيَهُۥ سَنَدۡعُ ٱلزَّبَانِيَةَ كـَلَّا لَا تُطِعۡهُ وَٱسۡجُدۡۤ وَٱقۡتَرِب۩

Transliteration

1. Iqraʾ bismi rabbikal-ladhī khalaq
2. Khalaqal-insāna min ʿalaq
3. Iqraʾ wa rabbukal-akram
4. Alladhī ʿallama bil-qalam
5. ʿAllamal-insāna mā lam yaʿlam
6. Kallā innal-insāna layaṭghā
7. Ar raʾāhus-taghnā
8. Inna ilā rabbikar-rujʿā
9. Araʾaytal-ladhī yanhā
10. ʿAbdan idhā ṣallā
11. Araʾayta in kāna ʿalal-hudā
12. Aw amara bit-taqwā
13. Araʾayta in kadhdhaba wa tawallā
14. Alam yaʿlam bi-annallāha yarā
15. Kallā laʾil lam yantahi lanasfaʿam bin-nāṣiyah
16. Nāṣiyatin kādhibatin khāṭiʾah
17. Falyadʿu nādiyah
18. Sanadʿuz-zabāniyah
19. Kallā, lā tuṭiʿhu wasjud waqtarib

English translation (Saheeh International)

Recite in the name of your Lord who created created man from a clinging substance. Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous - who taught by the pen taught man that which he knew not. No! [But] indeed, man transgresses because he sees himself self-sufficient. Indeed, to your Lord is the return. Have you seen the one who forbids a servant when he prays? Have you seen if he is upon guidance or enjoins righteousness? Have you seen if he denies and turns away - does he not know that Allāh sees? No! If he does not desist, We will surely drag him by the forelock a lying, sinning forelock. Then let him call his associates; We will call the angels of Hell. No! Do not obey him. But prostrate and draw near [to Allāh]. (96:1-19)

If you learned to read the Quran in the IndoPak script, here is the same surah as it appears in a South Asian mushaf:

اِقۡرَاۡ بِاسۡمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِىۡ خَلَقَۚ خَلَقَ الۡاِنۡسَانَ مِنۡ عَلَقٍۚ اِقۡرَاۡ وَرَبُّكَ الۡاَكۡرَمُۙ الَّذِىۡ عَلَّمَ بِالۡقَلَمِۙ عَلَّمَ الۡاِنۡسَانَ مَا لَمۡ يَعۡلَمۡؕ كَلَّاۤ اِنَّ الۡاِنۡسَانَ لَيَطۡغٰٓىۙ اَنۡ رَّاٰهُ اسۡتَغۡنٰىؕ اِنَّ اِلٰى رَبِّكَ الرُّجۡعٰىؕ اَرَءَيۡتَ الَّذِىۡ يَنۡهٰىؕ عَبۡدًا اِذَا صَلّٰىؕ اَرَءَيۡتَ اِنۡ كَانَ عَلَى الۡهُدٰٓىۙ اَوۡ اَمَرَ بِالتَّقۡوٰىۙ اَرَءَيۡتَ اِنۡ كَذَّبَ وَتَوَلّٰىؕ اَلَمۡ يَعۡلَمۡ بِاَنَّ اللّٰهَ يَرٰىؕ كَلَّا لَٮِٕنۡ لَّمۡ يَنۡتَهِ ۙ لَنَسۡفَعًۢا بِالنَّاصِيَةِۙ نَاصِيَةٍ كَاذِبَةٍ خَاطِئَةٍ ۚ فَلۡيَدۡعُ نَادِيَهٗ ۙ سَنَدۡعُ الزَّبَانِيَةَ ۙ كَلَّا ؕ لَا تُطِعۡهُ وَاسۡجُدۡ وَاقۡتَرِبْ۩

You can read and listen to Surah Al-Alaq with its translation, or read it with the Urdu translation.

About the surah

Al-Alaq is the 96th surah of the Quran, with 19 verses, in the 30th juz. Its name comes from verse 2: ʿalaq, "a clinging substance", the early embryo that clings to the womb. It is also called Iqraʾ after its first word. It is Meccan, and its first five verses are, by the agreement of most scholars, the first revelation.

It contains a verse of prostration: at the end of verse 19 it is sunnah to prostrate. Abu Hurayrah said: "We prostrated with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in Idhas-samāʾun-shaqqat and Iqraʾ bismi rabbik" (Sahih Muslim 578).

Verses 1-5: Read, in the name of your Lord

ٱقۡرَأۡ بِٱسۡمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلَّذِي خَلَقَ خَلَقَ ٱلۡإِنسَٰنَ مِنۡ عَلَقٍ ٱقۡرَأۡ وَرَبُّكَ ٱلۡأَكۡرَمُ ٱلَّذِي عَلَّمَ بِٱلۡقَلَمِ عَلَّمَ ٱلۡإِنسَٰنَ مَا لَمۡ يَعۡلَمۡ

Recite in the name of your Lord who created created man from a clinging substance. Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous - who taught by the pen taught man that which he knew not. (96:1-5)

ʿAʾishah described how it happened. Before revelation, the Prophet ﷺ loved to be alone, and he would spend nights worshipping in the cave of Hira, on a mountain outside Makkah. The angel came to him there and said, "Read!" He answered, "I am not a reader." The angel pressed him hard, then let him go and said again, "Read!" This happened three times. Then the angel said: Iqraʾ bismi rabbikal-ladhī khalaq… to mā lam yaʿlam. The Prophet ﷺ went home trembling to Khadijah and said, "Cover me, cover me!" She comforted him: "Allah will never disgrace you. You keep ties with your relatives, you carry the burdens of the weak, you help the poor, you honour guests and you help people in hardship" (Sahih al-Bukhari 3).

What these five verses teach:

• Knowledge starts with Allah's name. Not "read" on its own, but "read in the name of your Lord".
• Remember where you came from. Man was created from a clinging clot; whatever he becomes, he started as that.
• Allah is al-Akram, the Most Generous, and one of His greatest gifts is knowledge.
• The pen. The first revelation mentions writing. Knowledge is preserved and passed on through the pen.
• Everything we know, He taught. "He taught man that which he knew not."

Verses 6-8: Man oversteps when he feels self-sufficient

كـَلَّآ إِنَّ ٱلۡإِنسَٰنَ لَيَطۡغَىٰٓ أَن رَّءَاهُ ٱسۡتَغۡنَىٰٓ إِنَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ ٱلرُّجۡعَىٰٓ

No! [But] indeed, man transgresses because he sees himself self-sufficient. Indeed, to your Lord is the return. (96:6-8)

Kallā is a strong "No!" Man, honoured with knowledge, still transgresses, and the cause is named: when he sees himself as not needing anyone. Wealth, health and status can all give that illusion. The answer is one line: to your Lord is the return.

Verses 9-18: The man who forbids a servant from praying

أَرَءَيۡتَ ٱلَّذِي يَنۡهَىٰ عَبۡدًا إِذَا صَلَّىٰٓ أَرَءَيۡتَ إِن كَانَ عَلَى ٱلۡهُدَىٰٓ أَوۡ أَمَرَ بِٱلتَّقۡوَىٰٓ أَرَءَيۡتَ إِن كَذَّبَ وَتَوَلَّىٰٓ أَلَمۡ يَعۡلَم بِأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَرَىٰ

Have you seen the one who forbids a servant when he prays? Have you seen if he is upon guidance or enjoins righteousness? Have you seen if he denies and turns away - does he not know that Allāh sees? (96:9-14)

These verses were revealed about Abu Jahl. He swore by his idols that if he saw Muhammad ﷺ prostrating at the Kaʿbah he would trample his neck. When he went to do it, he suddenly stepped back, shielding himself with his hands. Asked what happened, he said: "Between me and him there was a trench of fire, terror and wings." The Prophet ﷺ said: "If he had come near me, the angels would have torn him limb from limb" (Sahih Muslim 2797).

The questions build: what if the one praying is rightly guided and calls to righteousness? What if the one forbidding denies and turns away? "Does he not know that Allah sees?" That one sentence is enough to keep a person from wrongdoing.

كـَلَّا لَئِن لَّمۡ يَنتَهِ لَنَسۡفَعَۢا بِٱلنَّاصِيَةِ نَاصِيَةٖ كَٰذِبَةٍ خَاطِئَةٖ فَلۡيَدۡعُ نَادِيَهُۥ سَنَدۡعُ ٱلزَّبَانِيَةَ

No! If he does not desist, We will surely drag him by the forelock a lying, sinning forelock. Then let him call his associates; We will call the angels of Hell. (96:15-18)

The nāṣiyah is the front of the head, the seat of a person's pride, and it will be seized. Abu Jahl had boasted that no one in Makkah had a bigger council (nādī) to call on than him. So the verse answers: let him call his council; We will call the zabāniyah, the angels who guard Hell. Ibn ʿAbbas said: "By Allah, if he had called his council, the guards of Hell would have seized him" (Jami' al-Tirmidhi 3349).

Verse 19: Prostrate and draw near

كـَلَّا لَا تُطِعۡهُ وَٱسۡجُدۡۤ وَٱقۡتَرِب۩

No! Do not obey him. But prostrate and draw near [to Allāh]. (96:19)

The surah ends with the answer to everyone who tries to stop worship: don't obey him; keep praying. And the prostration is not just obedience, it is closeness. The Prophet ﷺ said: "The closest a servant is to his Lord is when he is prostrating, so make plenty of dua then" (Sahih Muslim 482).

Living by Surah Al-Alaq

• Seek knowledge in Allah's name. Begin learning, and reading the Quran, with Bismillāh.
• Value the pen. Write down what you learn; teach with it.
• Watch for self-sufficiency. When you feel you need no one, remember: to your Lord is the return.
• Remember He sees. "Does he not know that Allah sees?" is a check before any sin.
• Don't let anyone stop your prayer. Not mockery, not pressure, not busyness.
• Make dua in sujud. It is where you are closest. Prostrate at the end of this surah when you recite it.

Open Surah Al-Alaq to read and listen to it with its translation.