To finish the Quran in taraweeh by the 29th night, recite 21 pages a night. To finish by the 27th night, recite 23. That’s a little more than a juz each night from the 604-page Madani mushaf.
How that splits depends on how many rak’ahs your masjid prays. With 20 rak’ahs it’s about two pages for each pair. With 8, it’s about five.
At a glance
- Finish by night 29: 21 pages a night.
- Finish by night 27: 23 pages a night.
- 20 rak’ahs: about 2 pages per pair, 1 per rak’ah.
- 8 rak’ahs: about 5 to 6 pages per pair.
- Recitation time: about 40 to 90 minutes a night.
Pages per night for every plan
Pages of the 15-line Madani mushaf, rounded up so the khatm lands on the night you choose.
| Finish on | Pages a night | Per pair (20 rak’ahs) | Per pair (8 rak’ahs) | Recitation time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Night 27 | 23 | about 2⅓ | about 5¾ | 45 to 90 min |
| Night 29 | 21 | about 2 | about 5¼ | 40 to 85 min |
| Night 30 | 20 (21 on four nights) | 2 | 5 | 40 to 85 min |
| Half a khatm by night 29 | 11 | about 1 | about 2¾ | 20 to 45 min |
The recitation time is for the Quran alone, at two to four minutes a page. Ruku’, sujud and the rest between each set of four add to it. Measured times for a page and a juz are in our guide to how long it takes to read each surah.
Free tool
Get every night’s pages split across each pair of rak’ahs, for a khatm by night 27 or 29, with a preparation plan for the weeks before Ramadan. Open the taraweeh planner →
Which juz is recited each night?
Here’s every night’s portion for both khatm plans, split the same way our taraweeh planner splits them. “21 pages a night” is the top figure: for a khatm on night 29, five nights are 20 pages and the rest are 21, so the last night isn’t a short one. For night 27 it’s a mix of 22 and 23. Every page of the Madani mushaf ends at the end of an ayah, so each night stops at a clean break.
Khatm on night 29
| Night | Pages | Juz |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 to 20 | Most of 1 |
| 2 | 21 to 41 | End of 1, all of 2 |
| 3 | 42 to 62 | All of 3, start of 4 |
| 4 | 63 to 83 | Most of 4, start of 5 |
| 5 | 84 to 104 | Most of 5, start of 6 |
| 6 | 105 to 124 | Most of 6, start of 7 |
| 7 | 125 to 145 | Most of 7, start of 8 |
| 8 | 146 to 166 | Most of 8, start of 9 |
| 9 | 167 to 187 | Most of 9, start of 10 |
| 10 | 188 to 208 | Most of 10, start of 11 |
| 11 | 209 to 229 | End of 11, start of 12 |
| 12 | 230 to 249 | End of 12, start of 13 |
| 13 | 250 to 270 | End of 13, start of 14 |
| 14 | 271 to 291 | End of 14, start of 15 |
| 15 | 292 to 312 | End of 15, start of 16 |
| 16 | 313 to 333 | End of 16, start of 17 |
| 17 | 334 to 354 | End of 17, start of 18 |
| 18 | 355 to 374 | End of 18, start of 19 |
| 19 | 375 to 395 | End of 19, most of 20 |
| 20 | 396 to 416 | End of 20, most of 21 |
| 21 | 417 to 437 | End of 21, most of 22 |
| 22 | 438 to 458 | End of 22, most of 23 |
| 23 | 459 to 479 | End of 23, most of 24 |
| 24 | 480 to 499 | End of 24, most of 25 |
| 25 | 500 to 520 | End of 25, most of 26 |
| 26 | 521 to 541 | End of 26, all of 27 |
| 27 | 542 to 562 | All of 28, start of 29 |
| 28 | 563 to 583 | Most of 29, start of 30 |
| 29 | 584 to 604 | Most of 30 |
Khatm on night 27
| Night | Pages | Juz |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 to 22 | All of 1, start of 2 |
| 2 | 23 to 44 | Most of 2, start of 3 |
| 3 | 45 to 67 | Most of 3, start of 4 |
| 4 | 68 to 89 | Most of 4, start of 5 |
| 5 | 90 to 111 | End of 5, start of 6 |
| 6 | 112 to 134 | End of 6, most of 7 |
| 7 | 135 to 156 | End of 7, most of 8 |
| 8 | 157 to 178 | End of 8, most of 9 |
| 9 | 179 to 201 | End of 9, all of 10, start of 11 |
| 10 | 202 to 223 | Most of 11, start of 12 |
| 11 | 224 to 246 | Most of 12, start of 13 |
| 12 | 247 to 268 | Most of 13, start of 14 |
| 13 | 269 to 290 | End of 14, start of 15 |
| 14 | 291 to 313 | End of 15, start of 16 |
| 15 | 314 to 335 | End of 16, most of 17 |
| 16 | 336 to 357 | End of 17, most of 18 |
| 17 | 358 to 380 | End of 18, most of 19 |
| 18 | 381 to 402 | End of 19, all of 20, start of 21 |
| 19 | 403 to 425 | Most of 21, start of 22 |
| 20 | 426 to 447 | Most of 22, start of 23 |
| 21 | 448 to 469 | Most of 23, start of 24 |
| 22 | 470 to 492 | End of 24, start of 25 |
| 23 | 493 to 514 | End of 25, start of 26 |
| 24 | 515 to 536 | End of 26, most of 27 |
| 25 | 537 to 559 | End of 27, most of 28 |
| 26 | 560 to 581 | End of 28, all of 29 |
| 27 | 582 to 604 | All of 30 |
Both plans run ahead of one juz a night. On a night-29 khatm you’re reciting juz 28 on night 27. On a night-27 khatm you reach juz 20 on night 18. If your masjid would rather begin each night at the start of a juz, juz 2 begins on page 22 and each one after that about 20 pages later; the full list of start points is in our guide to the 30 juz of the Quran.
Night 27 or night 29?
Both are common. Finishing on the 27th means the khatm falls on a night many people hope is Laylat al-Qadr, and the masjid is usually at its fullest. Finishing on the 29th spreads the load more evenly and leaves no nights without new recitation at the end of the month. Whichever you choose, decide before Ramadan, because it changes the page count from the first night.
20 rak’ahs or 8?
Masjids pray either, and both have long been practised. The Prophet ﷺ led the night prayer in the masjid for a few nights and then prayed at home, out of concern that it would be made obligatory (Sahih al-Bukhari 2012). Later, ‘Umar gathered the people behind one reciter, Ubayy ibn Ka’b (Sahih al-Bukhari 2010).
For the khatm, the count only changes how the pages are divided. Fewer rak’ahs means longer recitation in each one, so with 8 rak’ahs it’s worth choosing break points carefully: end each rak’ah at a natural pause in the passage, not in the middle of a story.
Preparing as the imam
Leading a khatm is a month of revision done in public. The imams who do it calmly almost always started weeks before:
- Six to eight weeks out: revise the whole Quran once at your normal pace and mark every page that feels shaky.
- The month before: work through the shaky pages first, then revise in the same nightly portions you’ll lead, so each night’s recitation has been done at least once in full.
- During Ramadan: recite the next night’s portion during the day, ideally to someone, and once more after Asr.
- Have a corrector behind you: a hafiz in the first row who knows to prompt you quietly if you stop or slip. It takes the pressure off everyone.
Similar passages are where imams most often slip under pressure. Our guide to memorizing similar verses covers how to separate them, and the revision routine for all 30 juz shows how to build Ramadan into your year.
If you fall behind
Nights get cut short: a late moon sighting, a power cut, an imam who’s ill. Spread the missed pages over the remaining nights rather than doubling one night. Five pages behind with ten nights left is half a page extra a night, which nobody behind you will notice.
Not leading, but want to finish the Quran yourself this Ramadan? See how many pages a day to finish the Quran in Ramadan.
Questions people ask
How many pages per night to finish the Quran in taraweeh?
21 pages a night finishes the 604-page mushaf by night 29. To finish by night 27, recite 23 pages a night.
How many pages per rak’ah in taraweeh?
For a khatm by night 29, about one page per rak’ah if you pray 20 rak’ahs, or about two and a half pages per rak’ah if you pray 8.
Is it one juz per night in taraweeh?
Roughly. A juz is about 20 pages, and 30 juz over a 30-night month is one a night. Because Ramadan can be 29 days, most imams recite a little more than a juz each night, or double up on one or two nights, so they finish in time.
How long does a juz take in taraweeh?
The recitation itself takes about 40 to 80 minutes at two to four minutes a page, plus the time for ruku’, sujud and the breaks between sets.
What if we can’t do a full khatm?
Half a khatm, 15 juz, is about 11 pages a night over 29 nights. Many masjids do this, or recite from a set of surahs the imam knows well, and finish the rest in later years.
Which juz is recited on each night of taraweeh?
It depends on the plan. With one juz a night, night 1 is juz 1, night 27 is juz 27 and the khatm falls on night 30. A khatm by night 29 runs slightly ahead: night 10 covers the end of juz 10 and the start of juz 11, and night 27 is juz 28. A khatm by night 27 runs further ahead and recites all of juz 30 on night 27. The two tables above give every night’s pages.
