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{{Short description|Chapter of the Quran}}
{{Other uses|Surah (disambiguation)|Sura (disambiguation)}}
{{Quran|all}}
{{Italic title}}

A '''''surah''''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ʊər|ə}};<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/surah "Surah"]. ''[[Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary]]''.</ref> {{langx|ar|سُورَة|translit=sūrah}}; {{plural form}} {{langx|ar|سُوَر|suwar|label=none}}) is an [[Arabic]] word meaning "[[Chapter (books)|chapter]]" in the [[Quran]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=ص462 - كتاب المعجم الوسيط - باب السين - المكتبة الشاملة |url=https://shamela.ws/book/7028/462 |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=shamela.ws}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Nelson |first=Kristina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=faS0GZ6wPCMC&dq=%22suwar%22&pg=PA25 |title=The Art of Reciting the Qur'an |date=2001 |publisher=American Univ in Cairo Press |isbn=978-977-424-594-7 |pages=25 |language=en}}</ref> There are 114 ''surah'' in the Quran, each divided into [[ayah|verses]] ({{Langx|ar|آيات|lit=signs|translit=āyāt}}). The ''surah'' are of unequal length; the shortest ''surah'' ("[[al-Kawthar]]") has only three verses, while the longest ([[al-Baqara|al-Baqarah]]) contains 286 verses.<ref name="Al-A'zami1">[[Muhammad Mustafa Al-A'zami]] (2003), ''The History of The Qur'anic Text: From Revelation to Compilation: A Comparative Study with the Old and New Testaments'', p.70. UK Islamic Academy. {{ISBN|978-1872531656}}.</ref> The Quran consists of one short introductory [[chapter (Q1)]], eight very long chapters, making up one-third of the Quran ([[Al-Baqara|Q2]]‒[[At-Tawbah|9]]); 19 mid-length chapters, making up another one-third (Q10‒28); and 86 short and very short ones of the last one-third (Q29‒114).<ref>[[Andreas Kaplony]] ''Comparing Qurānic Suras with Pre-800 Documents''</ref>

Of the 114 ''surah'' in the Quran, 86 are classified as [[Meccan surah|Meccan]] ({{Langx|ar|مكي|translit=makkī}}), as according to Islamic tradition they were [[Waḥy|revealed]] before [[Muhammad]]'s migration to [[Medina]] (''[[hijrah]]''), while 28 are [[Medinan surah|Medinan]] ({{Langx|ar|مدني|translit=madanī}}), as they were revealed after. This classification is only approximate in regard to the location of revelation; any ''surah'' revealed after the migration is termed Medinan and any revealed before it is termed Meccan, regardless of where the ''surah'' was revealed. However, some Meccan ''surah'' contain Medinan verses (verses revealed after the migration) and vice versa. Whether a ''surah'' is Medinan or Meccan depends on if the beginning of the ''surah'' was revealed before or after the migration. 

The Meccan ''surah'' generally deal with faith and scenes of the [[Afterlife|Hereafter]] while the Medinan ''surah'' are more concerned with organizing the social life of the nascent [[Ummah|Muslim community]] and leading Muslims to the ultimate goal of attaining ''[[Divisions of the world in Islam#Dar al-Islam|dar al-Islam]]'' by showing strength towards the unbelievers. Except for ''surah'' "[[At-Tawbah]]", all ''surah'' commence with "In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful" ({{Langx|ar|بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ|translit=bi-smi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm}}). This formula is known as the ''[[basmala|basmalah]]'' ({{Langx|ar|بَسْمَلَة}}) and denotes the boundaries between ''surah. ''The ''surah'' are arranged roughly in order of descending size; therefore the arrangement of the Quran is neither chronological nor thematic. ''Surah'' are recited during the standing portions ({{Langx|ar|قيام|translit=qiyām}}) of  [[salat|Muslim prayers]]. "[[Al-Fatiha]]", the first ''surah'' of the Quran, is recited in every unit of prayer, and some units of prayer also involve recitation of all or part of any other ''surah''.

==Etymology==
The word ''surah'' was used at the time of [[Muhammad]] as a term with the meaning of a ''portion'' or a set of verses of the Quran. This is evidenced by the appearance of the word ''surah'' in multiple locations in the Quran such as verse {{qref|24|1|pl=y}}: "a ''sûrah'' which We have revealed and made ˹its rulings˺ obligatory, and revealed in it clear commandments so that you may be mindful." (see also verses {{qref|2|23|pl=y}}, {{qref|9|64|pl=y}}, {{qref|9|86|pl=y}}, {{qref|9|124|pl=y}}, {{qref|9|127|pl=y}}, {{qref|10|38|pl=y}}, and {{qref|47|20|pl=y}}). It is also mentioned in plural form in the Quran: "Or do they say, “He has fabricated this ˹Quran˺!”? Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Produce ten fabricated ''sûrahs'' like it and seek help from whoever you can—other than Allah—if what you say is true!”"{{qref|11|13|s=y|b=y}}

In 1938, [[Arthur Jeffery]] suggested that the name derived from the [[Syriac language|Syriac]] word ''surṭā'' meaning 'writing'.<ref name=Jeff>{{cite book|last=Jeffery|first=Arthur|title=The foreign vocabulary of the Qur'ān|year=1938|publisher=Oriental Institute|location=Baroda, India|page=[https://archive.org/details/foreignvocabular030753mbp/page/n199 182]|url=https://archive.org/details/foreignvocabular030753mbp|access-date=July 11, 2019}}</ref>

== Chronological order of chapters ==
{{Further|History of the Quran}}

Chapters in the Quran are not arranged in the [[List of chapters in the Quran|chronological order of revelation]], and the precise order has eluded scholars. According to [[hadith]], Muhammad told his [[sahaba|companions]] the traditional placement of every [[wahy]] ({{Langx|ar|وَحْي|translit=waħj|lit=revelation}}) as was revealed to him,<ref>[[Israr Ahmed]] – Bayan-ul-Qur'an – Introduction</ref> and [[Wm Theodore de Bary]], an [[East Asian]] studies expert, describes that "The final process of collection and codification of the Qur'an text was guided by one over-arching principle: God's words must not in any way be distorted or sullied by human intervention. For this reason, no attempt was made to edit the numerous revelations, organize them into thematic units, or present them in chronological order...".<ref>{{cite book|editor-first1=William Theodore|editor-last1=de Bary|editor-first2=Irene|editor-link1=Wm Theodore de Bary|editor-last2=Bloom|title=Eastern Canons: Approaches to the Asian Classics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8cXp43fuVa8C|year=1990|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-07005-8}}</ref>

A common view is that ''surah'' of the Meccan period (i.e. pre-''[[hijrah]]'') are more related to themes such as resurrection, judgment, and stories from Judaism and Christianity. ''Suwar'' of the Medinian period (i.e. post-''[[hijrah]]'') focus more on laws for personal affairs, society, and the state.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Nasr|first1=Hossein|last2=al-Tayyib|first2=Ahmad Muhammad|title=''The Study Quran''|date=2015|publisher=HarperOne|isbn=978-0062227621|chapter=The Quran as Source of Islamic Law|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GVSzBgAAQBAJ }}</ref>
=== Early attempts ===
A number of medieval Islamic writers attempted to compile a chronologically ordered list of the chapters, with differing results. As no transmitted reports dating back to the time of Muhammad or his companions exists, their works necessarily represent the opinions of scholars, and none originates before the first quarter of the 8th century. One version is given in a 15th-century work by Abd al-Kafi, and is included in the chronological order given by the standard Egyptian edition of the Quran (1924).<ref name=nrobinson/> Another list is mentioned by [[Abu Salih as-Samman|Abu Salih]], while a significantly different version of Abu Salih's is preserved in the book 'Kitab Mabani'. Yet another, from the 10th century, is given by [[Ibn al-Nadim|Ibn Nadim]].<ref name=nrobinson>{{cite book|last=Robinson|first=Neal|title=Discovering the Qurʼan : a contemporary approach to a veiled text|year=2003|publisher=Georgetown Univ. Press|isbn=1589010248|pages=25–97|edition=2.}}</ref>

A number of verses are associated with particular events which helps date them. Muhammad's first revelation was [[Al-Alaq|Chapter 96]] and in the year 609. Verses [[An-Nahl|16:41]] and [[Muhammad (surah)|47:13]] refer to [[Hijra (Islam)|migration of Muslims]] which took place in the year 622. Verses [[Al-Anfal|8]]:1–7 and [[Al Imran|3]]:120–175 refer to battles of [[Battle of Badr|Badr]] (624) and [[Battle of Uhud|Uhud]] (625) respectively. Muhammad's [[Farewell Pilgrimage|last pilgrimage]] ({{Langx|ar|حِجَّة ٱلْوَدَاع|translit=Ḥijjat al-Wadāʿ}}) is mentioned in 5:3 which occurred in 632, a few months before he died. This method is of limited usefulness because the Quran narrates the life of Muhammad or the early history of the Muslim community only incidentally and not in detail. In fact, very few chapters contain clear references to events which took place in Muhammad's life.<ref name=nrobinson/>

===Modern work ===
{{See also|Geschichte des Qorāns|Bazargan chronology}}
[[Theodor Nöldeke]]'s chronology is based on the assumption that the style of the Quran changes in one direction without reversals.<ref name=bsadeghi>{{cite journal|last=Sadeghi|first=Behnam|title=The Chronology of the Qurʾān: A Stylometric Research Program|journal=Arabica|year=2011|volume=58|issue=3–4 |pages=210–299|doi=10.1163/157005810x529692}}</ref>  Nöldeke studied the style and content of the chapters and assumed that first, later (Medinan) chapters and verses and are generally longer than earlier (Meccan) ones, and second, that earlier Meccan verses have a distinct rhyming style while later verses are more [[Prose|prosaic]] (prose-like). According to Nöldeke, earlier chapters have common features: many of them open with oaths in which God swears by cosmic phenomena, they have common themes (including [[eschatology]], creation, piety, authentication of Muhammad's mission and refutation of the charges against Muhammad), and some Meccan chapters have a clear 'tripartite' structure (for example chapters 45, 37, 26, 15, 21). Tripartite chapters open with a short warning, followed by one or more narratives about unbelievers, and finally address contemporaries of Muhammad and invite them to Islam. On the other hand, Madinan verses are longer and have a distinct style of rhyming and concern to provide legislation and guidance for the Muslim community.<ref name=nrobinson/>

[[Richard Bell (Arabist)|Richard Bell]] took Nöldeke's chronology as a starting point for his research, however, Bell did not believe that Nöldeke's criteria of style were important. He saw a progressive change in Muhammad's mission from a man who preached monotheism into an independent leader of a paramount religion. For Bell this transformation in Muhammad's mission was more decisive compared with Nöldeke's criteria of style. Bell argued that passages which mentioned Islam and Muslim or implied that Muhammad's followers were a distinct community were revealed later. He classified the Quran into three main periods: the early period, the Quranic period, and the book period.<ref name=nrobinson/> Bell worked on the chronology of verses instead of chapters. Underlying Bell's method for dating revelations is the assumption that the normal unit of revelation is the short passage and the passages have been extensively edited and rearranged.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Montgomery Watt|first=William|title=The Dating of the Qur'ān: A Review of Richard Bell's Theories|journal=The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland|year=1957|volume=1-2|pages=46–56}}</ref>

[[Mehdi Bazargan]] divided the Quran into 194 independent passages preserving some chapters intact as single blocks while dividing others into two or more blocks. He then rearranged these blocks approximately in order of increasing average verse length. This order he proposes is the chronological order. Bazargan assumed that verse length tended to increase over time and he used this assumption to rearrange the passages.<ref name=bsadeghi />

Neal Robinson, a scholar of Islamic studies, is of the opinion that there is no evidence that the style of Quran has changed in a consistent way and therefore style may not always be a reliable indicator of when and where a chapter was revealed. According to Robinson, the problem of the chronology of authorship is still far from solved.<ref name=nrobinson/>

== Names of chapters in the Quran ==
{{further|List of chapters in the Quran}}

The verses and chapters in the Quran did not originally have a title attached to them. Muhammad, as we find in some reports in ''[[hadith]]'', used to refer to shorter chapters not by name, rather by their first verse. For example: [[Abu Hurairah]] quoted Muhammad as saying, "''Al-Hamdu Lillahi Rabb il-`Aalameen'' ({{Langx|ar|الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ|lit=Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds}}) is the Mother of the Qur'an, the Mother of the Book, and the [[Al-Fatiha|seven oft-repeated verses]] of the Glorious Qur'an."<ref>[[Tirmidhi]]</ref>{{full citation needed|date=November 2024}} We also find reports in which Muhammad used to refer to them by their name. For example, Abdullah bin Buraydah narrated from his father, "I was sitting with the Prophet and I heard him say, 'Learn [[Al-Baqara|Surat ul-Baqarah]], because in learning it there is blessing, in ignoring it there is sorrow, and the sorceresses cannot memorize it.{{"'}}<ref>[[Ahmad ibn Hanbal]]</ref>

Arab tradition, similar to other tribal cultures of that time, was to name things according to their unique characteristics. They used this same method to name Quranic chapters. Most chapter names are found in the ahadith. Some were named according to their central theme, such as ''[[Al-Fatiha]]'' (The Opening) and ''[[Yusuf (surah)|Yusuf]]'' (Joseph), and some were named for the first word at the beginning of the chapter, such as ''[[Qaf (surah)|Qaf]]'', ''[[Ya-Sin]]'', and ''[[ar-Rahman]]''. Some ''surahs'' were also named according to a unique word that occurs in the chapter, such as ''[[Al-Baqara|al-Baqarah]]'' (The Cow), ''[[An-Nur]]'' (The Light), [[An-Nahl|al-Nahl]] (The Bee), ''[[Az-Zukhruf]]'' (The Ornaments of Gold), ''[[Al-Hadid]]'' (The Iron), and ''[[Al-Ma'un]]'' (The Small Kindness).

Most chapter names are still used to this day. Several are known by multiple names: [[Al-Masad|''Surah'' ''Al-Masadd'']] (The Palm Fibre) is also known as [[Al-Masad|''Surah al-Lahab'']] (The Flame). [[Fussilat|''Surah'' ''Fussilat'']] (Explained in Detail) is also known as ''[[Fussilat|Ha-Meem Sajda]]'' ("...it is a chapter that begins with ''Ha Mim'' ({{Langx|ar|حم}}) and in which a verse requiring the performance of prostration ({{Langx|ar|سجدة|translit=sajdah}}) has occurred.")<ref>{{Cite web |title=Surah Fussilat - 1-54 |url=https://quran.com/surah/fussilat/info |access-date=2024-03-04 |website=Quran.com |language=en}}</ref>

== Coherence in the Quran ==
The idea of textual relation between the verses of a chapter has been discussed under various titles such as ''[[nazm]]'' ({{Langx|ar|ﻧَﻈﻢ}}) and ''[[munasabah]]'' ({{Langx|ar|مناسبة}}) in literature of the Islamic sphere and 'Coherence', 'text relations', 'intertextuality', and 'unity' in English literature. There are two points of view regarding the coherence of the verses of the Quran. In the first viewpoint, each chapter of the Quran has a central theme and its verses are related. The second viewpoint considers some chapters of the Quran as collections of passages which are not thematically related. Chapters deal with various subjects, for instance, [[Al-Zalzalah|chapter 99]], which comprises only eight verses, is devoted exclusively to [[eschatology]] and [[Yusuf (surah)|chapter 12]] narrates a story, while other chapters, in the same breath, speak of theological, historical, and ethico-legal matters. Chapters are known to consist of passages, not only verses. The borders between passages are arbitrary but are possible to determine. 

For example, [[chapter 54]]<ref>{{qref|54|c=y}}</ref> may be divided into six passages:<ref name=farrahi/>
* The Hour has drawn near...({{qref|54|1-8|pl=y}})
* Before them, the people of Noah denied...({{qref|54|9-17|pl=y}})
* [[ʿĀd|’Ȃd]] ˹also˺ rejected ˹the truth˺. Then how ˹dreadful˺ were My punishment and warnings!... ({{qref|54|18-22|pl=y}})
* Thamûd rejected the warnings ˹as well˺... ({{qref|54|23-32|pl=y}})
* The people of Lot ˹also˺ rejected the warnings... ({{qref|54|33-40|pl=y}})
* And indeed, the warnings ˹also˺ came to the people of Pharaoh.... ({{qref|54|41-55|pl=y}})

The study of text relations in the Quran dates back to a relatively early stage in the history of Quranic studies. The earliest Quranic interpreter ({{Langx|ar|مُفَسِّر|translit=mufassir}}) known to have paid attention to this aspect of the Quran is [[Fakhr al-Din al-Razi|Fakhruddin al-Razi]] (d.1209 ). Al-Razi believed that text relation is a meaning that links verses together or mentally associates them like cause-effect or reason-consequence. He linked to verse 1 of a chapter to verse 2, verse 2 to verse 3 and so on, and rejected traditionist interpretations if they contradicted interrelations between verses. [[Zarkashi|Az-Zarkashi]] (d.1392), another medieval Quranic exegete, admitted that relationships of some verses to other verses in a chapter is sometimes hard to explain, in those cases he assigned stylistic and rhetorical functions to them such as parenthesis, parable, or intentional subject shift. Az-Zarkashi aimed at showing how important understanding the inter-verse relations is to understanding the Quran, however, he did not attempt to deal with one complete chapter to show its relations.<ref name=awa>{{cite book|last=El-Awa|first=Salwa|title=Textual Relations in Qur'an: Relevance, Coherence and Structure|year=2005|publisher=Routledge|isbn=1134227477}}</ref><ref name=mmir>{{cite book|last=Mir|first=Mustansir|title=Coherence in the Qur'an : a study of Islahi's concept of nazm in Tadabbur-i Qur'an|year=1986|publisher=American Trust Publications|isbn=0892590653}}</ref>

Contemporary scholars have studied the idea of coherence in the Quran more vigorously and are of widely divergent opinions. For example, [[Hamiduddin Farahi|Hamid Farrahi]] (d. 1930) and [[Richard Bell (Arabist)|Richard Bell]] (d. 1952) have different opinions regarding coherence within chapters. Farrahi believed that the whole structure of the Quran is thematically coherent, which is to say, all verses of a chapter of the Quran are integrally related to each other to give rise to the major theme of the chapter and again all of the chapters are interconnected with each other to constitute the major theme of the Quran. According to Farrahi, each chapter has a central theme (''umud'' or pillar) around which the verses revolve:
{{quote|Each chapter of the Quran is a well-structured unit. It is only a lack of consideration and analysis on our part that they seem disjointed and incoherent... Each chapter imparts a specific message as its central theme. The completion of this theme marks the end of the chapter. If there were no such specific conclusion intended to be dealt with in each chapter there would be no need to divide the Quran into chapters. Rather the whole Quran would be a single chapter... We see that a set of verses has been placed together and named 'surah' the way a city is built with a wall erected round it. A single wall must contain a single city in it. What is the use of a wall encompassing different cities?....<ref name=farrahi>{{cite book|last=Hamid al-Din Farahi|first=translated by Tariq Mahmood Hashmi|title=Exordium to coherence in the Qur'an: an English translation of Fātiḥah Niẓām al-Qurʼān|year=2008|publisher=al-Mawrid|location=Lahore|isbn=978-9698799571|edition=1st}}</ref>}}

In contrast, Richard Bell describes the Quranic style as disjointed:
{{quote|Only seldom do we find in it evidence of sustained unified composition at any great length...some of the narratives especially accounts of Moses and of Abraham run to considerable length, but they tend to fall into separate incidents instead of being recounted straightforwardly...the distinctness of the separate pieces however is more obvious than their unity.}}

[[Arthur John Arberry|Arthur J. Arberry]] states that the chapters in many instances, as Muslims have been recognized from the earliest times, are of a 'composite' character, holding embedded in them fragments received by Muhammad at widely differing dates. However he disregards this 'fact' and views each chapter as an artistic whole. He believed that a repertory of familiar themes runs through the whole Quran and each chapter elaborates one of more, often many of, them.<ref>{{cite book|last=Arberry|first=Arthur J.|title=The Koran interpreted : a translation|year=1996|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=New York|isbn=0684825074|edition=1st Touchstone|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/koraninterpreted00ajar}}</ref>

Angelika Neuwirth is of the idea that verses in their chronological order are interrelated in a way that later verses explain earlier ones. She believes that Meccan chapters are coherent units.<ref>{{cite book|last=McAuliffe|first=Jane Dammen|title=The Cambridge companion to the Qur'ān|year=2008|publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press|isbn=978-0-521-53934-0|pages=97–115 (by Angelika Neuwirth)|edition=Reprinted with corrections.}}</ref>

[[Salwa El-Awa]] aims in her work to discuss the problem of textual relations in the Quran from a linguistic point of view and the way in which the verses of one chapter relate to each other and to the wider context of the total message of the Quran. El-Awa provides a detailed analysis in terms of [[Cohesion (linguistics)|coherence theory]] on chapters [[Al-Aḥzāb|33]] and [[Al-Qiyama|75]] and shows that these two chapters cohere and have a main contextual relationship.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Saleh|first=Wahid|title=Review: Textual Relations in the Quran: Relevance, Coherence and Structure. Routledge Studies in the Quran by Salwa M. S. El-Awa|journal=Islamic Studies|year=2007|volume=46|issue=2|pages=285–87}}</ref>

Gheitury and Golfam believe that the permanent change of subject within a passage in the Quran, or what they call non-linearity, is a major linguistic feature of the Quran, a feature that puts the Quran beyond any specific 'context' and 'temporality'. According to Gheitury and Golfam for the Quran there is no preface, no introduction, no beginning, no end, a reader can start reading from anywhere in the text.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Amer Gheitury, Arsalan Golfam|title=The Qur'an as a non-linear text:rethinking coherence|journal=International Journal of Humanities|year=2008|volume=15|issue=1|pages=119–133|url=http://humanities.journals.modares.ac.ir/?_action=articleInfo&article=57&vol=10|access-date=2013-08-07|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130807193720/http://humanities.journals.modares.ac.ir/?_action=articleInfo&article=57&vol=10|archive-date=2013-08-07|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==See also==
* {{annotated link|Chapters and verses of the Bible}}
* {{annotated link|Parashah}}
* [[List of chapters in the Quran]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Surahs}}

{{Sura}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Chapters in the Quran| ]]
[[Category:Components of the Quran|*]]
[[Category:Islamic terminology]]