Surah Al-Qadr: Meaning, Translation and Transliteration

Surah Al-Qadr, "The Night of Decree", is five short verses about one night: the night the Quran was sent down. It says that night is better than a thousand months, that the angels and Jibril come down in it, and that it is peace until dawn.

That night, Laylat al-Qadr, comes every year in the last ten nights of Ramadan. This surah is the reason Muslims around the world stay up in those nights, praying and making dua.

This article gives the full surah in Arabic, a transliteration and the English translation, then goes through its meaning verse by verse, and ends with what the Prophet ﷺ taught about seeking the night.

The full surah

إِنَّآ أَنزَلۡنَٰهُ فِي لَيۡلَةِ ٱلۡقَدۡرِ وَمَآ أَدۡرَىٰكَ مَا لَيۡلَةُ ٱلۡقَدۡرِ لَيۡلَةُ ٱلۡقَدۡرِ خَيۡرٞ مِّنۡ أَلۡفِ شَهۡرٖ تَنَزَّلُ ٱلۡمَلَٰٓئِكَةُ وَٱلرُّوحُ فِيهَا بِإِذۡنِ رَبِّهِم مِّن كُلِّ أَمۡرٖ سَلَٰمٌ هِيَ حَتَّىٰ مَطۡلَعِ ٱلۡفَجۡرِ

Transliteration

1. Innā anzalnāhu fī laylatil-qadr
2. Wa mā adrāka mā laylatul-qadr
3. Laylatul-qadri khayrun min alfi shahr
4. Tanazzalul-malāʾikatu war-rūḥu fīhā bi-idhni rabbihim min kulli amr
5. Salāmun hiya ḥattā maṭlaʿil-fajr

English translation (Saheeh International)

Indeed, We sent it [i.e., the Quran] down during the Night of Decree. And what can make you know what is the Night of Decree? The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months. The angels and the Spirit [i.e., Gabriel] descend therein by permission of their Lord for every matter. Peace it is until the emergence of dawn. (97:1-5)

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

اِنَّاۤ اَنۡزَلۡنٰهُ فِىۡ لَيۡلَةِ الۡقَدۡرِۖۚ وَمَاۤ اَدۡرٰٮكَ مَا لَيۡلَةُ الۡقَدۡرِؕ لَيۡلَةُ الۡقَدۡرِۙ خَيۡرٌ مِّنۡ اَلۡفِ شَهۡرٍؕ تَنَزَّلُ الۡمَلٰٓٮِٕكَةُ وَالرُّوۡحُ فِيۡهَا بِاِذۡنِ رَبِّهِمۡۚ مِّنۡ كُلِّ اَمۡرٍۛۙ سَلٰمٌۛ هِىَ حَتّٰى مَطۡلَعِ الۡفَجۡرِ

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

About the surah

Al-Qadr is the 97th surah of the Quran, with 5 verses, in the 30th juz. Most scholars say it is Meccan; some say it is Medinan. Its name comes from laylat al-qadr, which appears three times in it. You'll also see it written as Surah Qadr or Surah Al-Qadar, or called by its opening words, Innā anzalnāhu.

The word qadr has several meanings, and scholars have applied each of them to the night:

• Decree. It is the night in which the matters of the coming year are set out. Surah Ad-Dukhan says of the night the Quran was sent down: "Therein is made distinct every precise matter."
• Honour and rank. It is a night of great status, and worship in it has great value.
• Narrowness. Some said the earth becomes crowded that night with the number of angels who come down.

Verse 1: We sent it down on the Night of Decree

إِنَّآ أَنزَلۡنَٰهُ فِي لَيۡلَةِ ٱلۡقَدۡرِ

Indeed, We sent it [i.e., the Quran] down during the Night of Decree. (97:1)

"It" is the Quran, which isn't named, because there is no doubt what is meant. Other verses confirm this night is in Ramadan: "The month of Ramadan [is that] in which was revealed the Quran" (2:185), and "We sent it down during a blessed night" (44:3).

The Quran was revealed to the Prophet ﷺ over about twenty-three years, so how was it sent down in one night? Scholars give two answers. Ibn ʿAbbas is reported to have said the whole Quran was sent down on that night to the lowest heaven, and from there it came down in stages. Others say the first revelation came on that night, in the cave of Hira, so the sending-down began then.

Verse 2: What can make you know?

وَمَآ أَدۡرَىٰكَ مَا لَيۡلَةُ ٱلۡقَدۡرِ

And what can make you know what is the Night of Decree? (97:2)

The Quran uses this question, wa mā adrāka, for things too great to grasp easily, like the Day of Judgement in 82:17. Here it builds anticipation, and the next three verses answer it.

Verse 3: Better than a thousand months

لَيۡلَةُ ٱلۡقَدۡرِ خَيۡرٞ مِّنۡ أَلۡفِ شَهۡرٖ

The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months. (97:3)

A thousand months is about 83 years, longer than most people live. Worship on this one night is better than worship over a lifetime of nights without it. The verse says "better than", not "equal to", so there is no limit set on how much better.

The Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever stands in prayer on Laylat al-Qadr out of faith and hoping for reward will have his past sins forgiven" (Sahih al-Bukhari 1901; Sahih Muslim 760).

Verse 4: The angels and the Spirit descend

تَنَزَّلُ ٱلۡمَلَٰٓئِكَةُ وَٱلرُّوحُ فِيهَا بِإِذۡنِ رَبِّهِم مِّن كُلِّ أَمۡرٖ

The angels and the Spirit [i.e., Gabriel] descend therein by permission of their Lord for every matter. (97:4)

Tanazzalu describes a coming down that keeps happening, group after group. Most commentators say ar-rūḥ, "the Spirit", is Jibril (Gabriel), mentioned on his own after the angels because of his rank. He is called ar-rūḥul-amīn, "the trustworthy Spirit", in 26:193.

They come down "for every matter": with what Allah has decreed for the year ahead, and with mercy and blessing for those who are worshipping.

Verse 5: Peace until dawn

سَلَٰمٌ هِيَ حَتَّىٰ مَطۡلَعِ ٱلۡفَجۡرِ

Peace it is until the emergence of dawn. (97:5)

The night is peace from start to finish: safety from harm, the angels' greetings to the believers, and calm in the heart. It lasts the whole night, until Fajr, so it is never too late in the night to start.

When is Laylat al-Qadr?

The Prophet ﷺ didn't give one fixed date. He said: "Look for Laylat al-Qadr in the odd nights of the last ten of Ramadan" (Sahih al-Bukhari 2017), that is, the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th and 29th nights. (In the Islamic calendar the night comes before its day, so the 21st night is the evening before the 21st fast.)

ʿUbadah ibn al-Samit reported that the Prophet ﷺ came out to tell them the date, but two men were quarrelling, and the knowledge of it was taken away. He said: "Perhaps that is better for you," and told them to look for it on the 25th, 27th and 29th (Sahih al-Bukhari 2023). Hiding it means people strive on every one of those nights, not only one.

Many Muslims especially hope for the 27th night. Ubayy ibn Kaʿb swore that it was the 27th, and said its sign is that the sun rises the next morning bright but without strong rays (Sahih Muslim 762). Other scholars held that it moves between the odd nights from year to year, so the safest course is to strive in all ten.

What to do on the night

• Pray at night. The Prophet ﷺ promised forgiveness to whoever stands in prayer on it with faith and hope (Sahih al-Bukhari 1901). Even a few rakʿahs of tahajjud count.
• Strive in the whole last ten. ʿAʾishah said that when the last ten nights began, the Prophet ﷺ would tighten his waist-wrapper, stay up the night and wake his family (Sahih al-Bukhari 2024), and that he strove in them more than at any other time (Sahih Muslim 1175).
• Say this dua. ʿAʾishah asked what she should say if she knew which night it was. He told her to say: Allāhumma innaka ʿafuwwun tuḥibbul-ʿafwa faʿfu ʿannī, "O Allah, You are Pardoning and You love to pardon, so pardon me" (Jamiʿ al-Tirmidhi 3513).
• Read and reflect on the Quran. It is the night the Quran came down. The Rabbana duas from the Quran are good ones to make that night.

Word by word

Arabic	Transliteration	Meaning
إِنَّآ	innā	indeed, We
أَنزَلۡنَٰهُ	anzalnāhu	sent it down
فِي لَيۡلَةِ	fī laylati	on the night
ٱلۡقَدۡرِ	al-qadr	of Decree
وَمَآ أَدۡرَىٰكَ	wa mā adrāka	and what can make you know
خَيۡرٞ	khayrun	better
مِّنۡ أَلۡفِ	min alfi	than a thousand
شَهۡرٖ	shahr	months
تَنَزَّلُ	tanazzalu	descend
ٱلۡمَلَٰٓئِكَةُ	al-malāʾikah	the angels
وَٱلرُّوحُ	war-rūḥ	and the Spirit
بِإِذۡنِ رَبِّهِم	bi-idhni rabbihim	by permission of their Lord
مِّن كُلِّ أَمۡرٖ	min kulli amr	for every matter
سَلَٰمٌ هِيَ	salāmun hiya	peace it is
حَتَّىٰ مَطۡلَعِ	ḥattā maṭlaʿi	until the rising
ٱلۡفَجۡرِ	al-fajr	of dawn

Living by Surah Al-Qadr

• Plan the last ten before Ramadan starts. Clear your evenings, take leave if you can, and decide what you'll do each night.
• Don't bet everything on one night. Strive in all the odd nights, and the even ones too if you can.
• Memorise the dua. Allāhumma innaka ʿafuwwun tuḥibbul-ʿafwa faʿfu ʿannī.
• Wake your family, as the Prophet ﷺ did.
• Value the Quran itself. A night became better than a thousand months because the Quran came down in it. Make time for it all year.

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