Al-Alaq
سُورَةُ العَلَقِ
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
About Surah Al-Alaq
Meccan · 19 verses
Main Themes
The first revelation, knowledge and the pen, human arrogance versus divine sovereignty, perseverance in worship
Significance
Al-Alaq contains the first five verses ever revealed to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ — "Read in the name of your Lord who created..." — making it the surah that inaugurated the entire Quranic revelation. These verses established two foundations of Islamic civilisation: the centrality of knowledge ('ilm) and the centrality of divine name (bismillah). The surah then shifts to rebuke those who obstruct worship, making it a complete arc from revelation to resistance.
Key Verse Explained
Ayah 1–5 ("Read in the name of your Lord who created, created man from a clinging substance. Read, and your Lord is the Most Generous, who taught by the pen, taught man that which he knew not") establish that knowledge in Islam begins with divine name, moves through the acknowledgment of human origins, and culminates in recognition that all knowledge is ultimately a divine gift. The pen (qalam) as instrument of knowledge connects to Al-Qalam (68) and establishes writing as divinely sanctioned.
Related Practices
The word "Iqra'" (Read/Recite) — the first word of divine revelation — is the foundation of the Islamic educational tradition. Every major Islamic institution, from the earliest Dar al-Arqam in Mecca to modern Islamic universities, grounds its mission in this command. Al-Alaq contains a verse of prostration (96:19) — "But prostrate and draw near to Allah" — one of the fifteen sajdat al-tilawa in the Quran.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ 1
Recite in the name of your Lord who created -
خَلَقَ الْإِنْسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ 2
Created man from a clinging substance.
اقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ الْأَكْرَمُ 3
Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous -
الَّذِي عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِ 4
Who taught by the pen -
عَلَّمَ الْإِنْسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ 5
Taught man that which he knew not.
كَلَّا إِنَّ الْإِنْسَانَ لَيَطْغَىٰ 6
No! [But] indeed, man transgresses
أَنْ رَآهُ اسْتَغْنَىٰ 7
Because he sees himself self-sufficient.
إِنَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ الرُّجْعَىٰ 8
Indeed, to your Lord is the return.
أَرَأَيْتَ الَّذِي يَنْهَىٰ 9
Have you seen the one who forbids
عَبْدًا إِذَا صَلَّىٰ 10
A servant when he prays?
أَرَأَيْتَ إِنْ كَانَ عَلَى الْهُدَىٰ 11
Have you seen if he is upon guidance
أَوْ أَمَرَ بِالتَّقْوَىٰ 12
Or enjoins righteousness?
أَرَأَيْتَ إِنْ كَذَّبَ وَتَوَلَّىٰ 13
Have you seen if he denies and turns away -
أَلَمْ يَعْلَمْ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ يَرَىٰ 14
Does he not know that Allah sees?
كَلَّا لَئِنْ لَمْ يَنْتَهِ لَنَسْفَعًا بِالنَّاصِيَةِ 15
No! If he does not desist, We will surely drag him by the forelock -
نَاصِيَةٍ كَاذِبَةٍ خَاطِئَةٍ 16
A lying, sinning forelock.
فَلْيَدْعُ نَادِيَهُ 17
Then let him call his associates;
سَنَدْعُ الزَّبَانِيَةَ 18
We will call the angels of Hell.
كَلَّا لَا تُطِعْهُ وَاسْجُدْ وَاقْتَرِبْ ۩ 19
No! Do not obey him. But prostrate and draw near [to Allah].