Surah Al-Waqi’ah is the 56th surah, with 96 ayat across a little over three pages of the Madani mushaf (pages 534 to 537), right after Ar-Rahman. Its ayat are short and strongly rhythmic, and it has a very clear structure, which makes it one of the more satisfying surahs to memorize.
Surah Al-Waqi'ah at a glance
- Surah
- 56
- Juz
- 27
- Mushaf
- Pages 534 to 537
- Ayat
- 96
- Length
- About 3.1 pages
- Recited in
- about 12 minutes
How many days will it take?
| New lines a day | Days |
|---|---|
| 3 (a few lines) | 16 days |
| 5 (a third of a page) | 10 days |
| 7 (half a page) | 7 days |
| 10 (two thirds of a page) | 5 days |
| 15 (a full page) | 4 days |
Counts days of new memorization on the 47 lines of Surah Al-Waqi'ah. Add revision on top. Make a day-by-day plan.
Test yourself
Memorized Surah Al-Waqi'ah? Find the ayat you’re not sure of.
Quran Memorizer asks you what comes next, which ayah is missing and which look-alike ayah goes where, on the same Madani mushaf pages you learned from. With Premium, Daily Review brings your weakest ayat back first, so you can revise Surah Al-Waqi'ah a little every day.
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More on Surah Al-Waqi'ah: How long it takes to memorize · All surah guides
About its virtue
Many people recite Al-Waqi’ah every night because of a narration saying it protects from poverty. Hadith scholars have graded that narration weak, so it isn’t something to rely on.
There is, though, an authentic narration that shows how seriously the Prophet ﷺ took this surah. When Abu Bakr remarked that the Prophet ﷺ had gone grey, he said that Hud, Al-Waqi’ah, Al-Mursalat, An-Naba and At-Takwir had turned his hair grey (Jami’ at-Tirmidhi 3297, graded sahih by Darussalam). Al-Waqi’ah describes the Day of Judgment and what follows it so vividly that it’s easy to see why scholars point to its weight. That’s a good reason to memorize it, and to recite it with attention.
The structure
Al-Waqi’ah is built around three groups of people:
| Ayat | Section |
|---|---|
| 1 to 6 | The Event: when it happens, the earth is shaken and the mountains crumble |
| 7 to 12 | You will be three groups |
| 13 to 26 | The foremost (as-sabiqun) and their reward |
| 27 to 40 | The companions of the right and their reward |
| 41 to 56 | The companions of the left and their punishment |
| 57 to 74 | Four “have you considered” questions about creation |
| 75 to 87 | An oath by the positions of the stars, the noble Quran, and the moment of death |
| 88 to 96 | The three groups again, at the moment of death |
The three groups, in three orders
This is the key to memorizing Al-Waqi’ah. The three groups come up three times, and the order is different each time:
- The introduction, ayat 8 to 10: the right (ashab al-maymanah), the left (ashab al-mash’amah), then the foremost (as-sabiqun).
- The detailed sections, ayat 10 to 56: the foremost first, then the right (ashab al-yamin, ayah 27), then the left (ashab ash-shimal, ayah 41).
- At death, ayat 88 to 94: the ones brought near (al-muqarrabin), then the right, then the deniers who went astray.
Notice that the names change too. In the introduction it’s al-maymanah and al-mash’amah. In the detailed sections it’s al-yamin and ash-shimal. Write these down before you start, and you’ll avoid the most common mix-ups in the surah.
The four questions
Four ayat begin with afara’aytum, “have you considered”:
The order follows a natural line: your own creation, then your food, then your water, then your fire. Each question is followed by “is it you who… or are We the ones who…?” and the middle two add what Allah could do to it if He willed.
The repeated tasbih
The command fasabbih bismi rabbikal-‘azim, “So exalt the name of your Lord, the Most Great” in the Saheeh International translation, appears twice, word for word: at 56:74, closing the four questions, and at 56:96, closing the surah. When you reach it at ayah 74, the next section begins with the oath, fala uqsimu.
A ten-day plan
| Days | New ayat |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 to 16 |
| 2 | 17 to 38 |
| 3 | 39 to 56 |
| 4 | 57 to 67 |
| 5 | 68 to 74 |
| 6 | 75 to 87 |
| 7 | 88 to 96 |
| 8 to 9 | Recite the whole surah twice a day |
| 10 | Recite the whole surah to a listener |
The ayat in the first half are very short, so the early days cover more ayat than the later ones.
Revising it
Recite Al-Waqi’ah in your night prayer or as part of your regular revision. Pay special attention to the three-group passages when you check it against the mushaf.
