Surah Quraysh: Meaning, Translation and Transliteration

Surah Quraysh is four verses addressed to the Prophet's ﷺ own tribe. It reminds them of the two things they took for granted, food and safety, and tells them who gave them: the Lord of the Kaʿbah. So worship Him.

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

The full surah

لِإِيلَٰفِ قُرَيۡشٍ إِۦلَٰفِهِمۡ رِحۡلَةَ ٱلشِّتَآءِ وَٱلصَّيۡفِ فَلۡيَعۡبُدُواْ رَبَّ هَٰذَا ٱلۡبَيۡتِ ٱلَّذِيٓ أَطۡعَمَهُم مِّن جُوعٖ وَءَامَنَهُم مِّنۡ خَوۡفِۭ

Transliteration

1. Li-īlāfi Quraysh
2. Īlāfihim riḥlatash-shitāʾi waṣ-ṣayf
3. Falyaʿbudū rabba hādhal-bayt
4. Alladhī aṭʿamahum min jūʿiw-wa āmanahum min khawf

English translation (Saheeh International)

For the accustomed security of the Quraysh - their accustomed security [in] the caravan of winter and summer - let them worship the Lord of this House, who has fed them, [saving them] from hunger and made them safe, [saving them] from fear. (106:1-4)

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

لِاِيۡلٰفِ قُرَيۡشٍۙ اٖلٰفِهِمۡ رِحۡلَةَ الشِّتَآءِ وَالصَّيۡفِۚ فَلۡيَـعۡبُدُوۡا رَبَّ هٰذَا الۡبَيۡتِۙ الَّذِىۡۤ اَطۡعَمَهُمۡ مِّنۡ جُوۡعٍ ۙ وَّاٰمَنَهُمۡ مِّنۡ خَوۡفٍ

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

About the surah

Quraysh is the 106th surah of the Quran, with 4 verses, in the 30th juz. It is Meccan, and it is named after the tribe it addresses. You will also see it spelled Quraish, and many people know it by its first words, Li-īlāfi Quraysh.

Quraysh were the tribe that lived around the Kaʿbah and looked after it and its pilgrims. The Prophet ﷺ was from them, from the clan of Hashim. He said: "Allah chose Kinanah from the children of Ismaʿil, chose Quraysh from Kinanah, chose Banu Hashim from Quraysh, and chose me from Banu Hashim" (Sahih Muslim 2276).

The link with Al-Fil. The surah follows straight on from Surah Al-Fil. Many commentators read the first verse as continuing it: Allah destroyed the army of the elephant for the security of Quraysh. Some early copies of the Quran, such as Ubayy ibn Kaʿb's, are reported to have had no Bismillah between the two, and ʿUmar is reported to have recited them together in one rakʿah. In the agreed mushaf they are separate surahs, with the Bismillah between them.

Verses 1-2: The winter and summer journeys

لِإِيلَٰفِ قُرَيۡشٍ إِۦلَٰفِهِمۡ رِحۡلَةَ ٱلشِّتَآءِ وَٱلصَّيۡفِ

For the accustomed security of the Quraysh - their accustomed security [in] the caravan of winter and summer - (106:1-2)

Īlāf means something you are used to and can rely on: the familiar, settled security of a routine. Makkah is in a dry valley where little grows, so Quraysh lived by trade. Every winter their caravans went south to Yemen, and every summer north to Syria (al-Sham).

Elsewhere in Arabia, caravans were raided all the time. But no one touched the caravans of Quraysh, because they were the people of the House, and Allah had just shown, in the Year of the Elephant, that He protected it.

Verses 3-4: So let them worship the Lord of this House

فَلۡيَعۡبُدُواْ رَبَّ هَٰذَا ٱلۡبَيۡتِ ٱلَّذِيٓ أَطۡعَمَهُم مِّن جُوعٖ وَءَامَنَهُم مِّنۡ خَوۡفِۭ

Let them worship the Lord of this House, who has fed them, [saving them] from hunger and made them safe, [saving them] from fear. (106:3-4)

The conclusion is simple. You owe your living and your safety to this House; so worship its Lord, not the idols you have placed around it.

Two blessings are named: food instead of hunger, and safety instead of fear. They are the answer to the prayer of Ibrahim when he left his family in that valley:

And [mention] when Abraham said, "My Lord, make this a secure city and provide its people with fruits - whoever of them believes in Allāh and the Last Day." [Allāh] said, "And whoever disbelieves - I will grant him enjoyment for a little; then I will force him to the punishment of the Fire, and wretched is the destination." (2:126)

Food and safety are the base of every other blessing. Another verse uses the same two to describe what happens when a town denies Allah's favours: He makes it "taste the envelopment of hunger and fear" (16:112).

Word by word

Arabic	Transliteration	Meaning
لِإِيلَٰفِ	liīlāfi	For (the) familiarity
قُرَيۡشٍ	qurayshin	(of the) Quraish
إِۦلَٰفِهِمۡ	īlāfihim	Their familiarity
رِحۡلَةَ	riḥ'lata	(with the) journey
ٱلشِّتَآءِ	l-shitāi	(of) winter
وَٱلصَّيۡفِ	wal-ṣayfi	and summer
فَلۡيَعۡبُدُواْ	falyaʿbudū	So let them worship
رَبَّ	rabba	(the) Lord
هَٰذَا	hādhā	(of) this
ٱلۡبَيۡتِ	l-bayti	House
ٱلَّذِيٓ	alladhī	The One Who
أَطۡعَمَهُم	aṭʿamahum	feeds them
مِّن	min	[from]
جُوعٖ	jūʿin	(against) hunger
وَءَامَنَهُم	waāmanahum	and gives them security
مِّنۡ	min	from
خَوۡفِۭ	khawfin	fear

Living by Surah Quraysh

• Notice your routine blessings. Regular meals and a safe home are easy to forget until they are gone.
• Connect blessings to worship. The surah's logic: He fed you, He kept you safe, so worship Him.
• Pray for your city. Ibrahim's dua for Makkah, for safety and provision, is a dua for any place you live.
• Earn your living honestly. Trade was Quraysh's livelihood, and the Prophet ﷺ was a trader before prophethood.
• Read it with Al-Fil. Together they tell one story: protection, then the reason for it.

Open Surah Quraysh to read and listen to it with its translation.