ءَايَةٌ an ayah (singular)
ءَايَاتٌ ayaat (plural – several ayah)
“Ayah” = The common translated word for “Ayah” is “Verse”. This is one way translators translated the word “Ayah” using a single English word. But it’s not a verse! A verse is a line in a Poem or a Song, but the Qur’an reiterate itself as not a poem. If you say “Verses” in the Qur’an, people in their minds will associate them with Poems. Poems are written by Poets. The Qur’an makes it clear that it was not written by a Poet. You are not to see the Qur’an as poems and songs.
“Ayah” is also not a sentence. You can find several sentences in one single ayah (like the ayatul-Kursiy).
One way of understanding what is an “Ayah” is = a sign from God eg. the mountain ranges, the stars, the ocean etc. These are all signs from God.
Your emotion(happiness, sadness, anger) is an ayah. Your life experience is an ayah. Talking, listening, reading, writing = ayah. The languages of human, animals and plants = ayah. Health and sickness = ayah. We grow older and die = ayah. Time is an ayah. You breathing the air = ayah. Etc.
Therefore an ayah in the Qur’an that you are reciting is a “sign” from God. Allah uses “ayah” to describe all of “realities”. The ancient Arabs, used the word “ayah” for everything that is valuable. Eg. when a caravan stopped for the night in the desert and left the next morning, the next caravan that reached the campsite will notice that the previous caravan had taken all “ayaat” with them, meaning they had taken all things valuable and left only bits and pieces of useless items at the campsite.
Hence the Qur’an described all realities as valuable. All of your life experience, your problems, your health or sickness, your joy and sadness, your days and nights, etc. are all valuables!
When an ayah is talking about the wind, the best tafseer of that ayah is when you experience the wind blowing around you. When you read an ayah about the flying bird, the best tafseer is watching a bird flying and knowing that was an ayah of Allah. Therefore, we are surrounded by ayaat of Allah everyday but unfortunately we take no notice of them as ayaat of Allah. The ayaat of Allah are in the MuShaf and outside of the MuShaf. The ayaat are to convince you of the existence of God. The skies and the earth contain enough ayaat for a person to be convinced.
– any reality
– a sign from Allah
– something valuable
– something that is meaningful, having purpose.
– something that triggers curiosity
– something that points to a direction (towards Allah)
– something that amazed you. (Eg. Subhanallah! What a beautiful sunrise!)
– something that grabs your attention (calling you)
– something that you say “yes” to, giving you absolute certainty.
All of the above is the meaning of the word = ayah.
Look at this parable:
Several divers dived into an ocean. One diver found large pearls in that ocean and he claimed that the pearls are the treasures of this ocean. Another diver found a sunken ship with lots of ancient artifact and he claimed that these are the treasures of the ocean. Another diver found rare species of bottom dwellers that cannot be found elsewhere in other parts of the world, and he claimed these animals are the treasures of this ocean. What we are saying is that no individual diver can claim that what he found is the only treasure that the ocean can offer because the ocean can offer a lot more. There are lots of other treasures that are yet to be discovered or may never be discovered in the lifetime of the divers.
The same goes for ayaat in the Quran. If a person found something so amazing in an ayah, you cannot claim that was the only treasure of that ayah. He may find it amazing in the literary aspects but others may find it amazing in the scientific aspects etc. If he claims that his findings are the only treasure of that ayah, then if you disagree with him, it is the same as you disagree with the ayah. This is wrong. What he found was not the only treasure of the ayah! Therefore if you disagree with him, then you are only disagreeing with his findings, you are not disagreeing with the ayah.
The entire history of “Tafseer” was based on different findings of the same ayah that scholars were pondering. “Tafseer” of the Qur’an started with the Sahabahs. For the same ayah, one Sahabah might not see the same way as another Sahabah. Each ayah is like an ocean that you can dive and search for treasures.
The Qur’an triggers people to think and ponder. The Qur’an is not just for your information. Knowing and thinking are two different things. The parrot knows how to repeat words but the parrot does not think. Information is something that you know and you are not compelled to act upon it. The act of thinking is to struggle to find a conclusion or solution. The Qur’an wants you to put an effort to think deeply. Exhaust your mind and reflect. A parrot can repeat words of knowledge but without thinking or pondering about them. We are not designed to be just a parrot.
Whatever knowledge the scholars derived from the ayaat, will not be comparable with the knowledge of Allah when He said those ayaat. Human effort and pondering still may contain errors and that was why scholars have different opinions on certain issues. Only Allah has the complete knowledge. We cannot limit the miracle of the Qur’an based on what we know because it is more than what we are able to know.
Mere English translations of the Qur’an does not do justice to the divine speeches because of the eloquent of the Classical Arabic language. The Tafseer books are to help us to coming closer to understanding the original messages. These are living Divine messages directly addressed to us. It is a flowing communication from God to you. Listening audibly to the recitations while understanding the meanings is powerful enough to bring a man to tears.
In the Quranic Mushaf, each “Ayah” has an Ayah number.
(1) A single ayah, may contain several sentences.
Eg. Ayah 255 of Surah Al-Baqarah (Ayatul-Kursiy).
Before each "stopping signs" (below) is a sentence. This single Ayah has 9 sentences.
ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلْحَىُّ ٱلْقَيُّومُ ۚ لَا تَأْخُذُهُۥ سِنَةٌۭ وَلَا نَوْمٌۭ ۚ
لَّهُۥ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۗ مَن ذَا ٱلَّذِى يَشْفَعُ عِندَهُۥٓ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِۦ ۚ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ ۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَىْءٍۢ مِّنْ عِلْمِهِۦٓ إِلَّا بِمَا شَآءَ ۚ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ ۖ وَلَا يَـُٔودُهُۥ حِفْظُهُمَا
وَهُوَ ٱلْعَلِىُّ ٱلْعَظِيمُ ٢٥٥ ۚ
1. Allah - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of [all] existence. 2. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. 3. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. 4. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? 5. He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them. 6. and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills. 7. His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth, 8. and their preservation tires Him not. 9. And He is the Most High, the Most Great.
(2) A single sentence, may stretched into several ayaat.
Eg. in Surah Al-Fatihah: 3 Ayaat of 1 Sentence.
ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ ٢ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ٣ مَـٰلِكِ يَوْمِ ٱلدِّينِ ٤
All praise is for Allah—Lord of all worlds, the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful, Master of the Day of Judgment .
In the English translation, there are commas in between and the sentence ends with a full stop.
"the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful" & "Master of the Day of Judgment" are describing the attributes of Allah within the sentence.
(3) An ayah may equal to 1 sentence.
Eg. Al-Baqarah ayah 6 :
إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ سَوَآءٌ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَأَنذَرْتَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تُنذِرْهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ
"As for those who persist in disbelief, it is the same whether you warn them or not they will never believe."
The order and arrangement of ayaat in the Quran was not according to the sequence based on timeline of revelations. Instead the Prophet s.a.w will dictate which ayah go after or before which ayah regardless of when the ayah was revealed. The order was written down by his scribes and memorised by the rest. Take note that in those days each ayah was not numbered as of the Mushaf of today.
Just an illustration to get an idea: Example: In the same Surah (with ayah numbers) :
Ayah 107 revealed today. Three months later, ayah 106 revealed and put before Ayah 107. Next year, ayah 108 revealed and put after Ayah 107.
An ayah that was revealed right after a previously revealed ayah may be put into a totally different Surah.
Example: The days in between the revelation of ayaat 106, 107, 108 , there might have some ayaat revealed for the next Surah, then back to the previous Surah.
Hence revelations were not according to the completion of Surah by Surah but was put according to the instruction by the Prophet s.a.w, not based upon ayah timeline or by the sequence of Surah.
Each Ramadhan, the Prophet s.a.w will recite the Quran in front of Jibril a.s. Since the revelations were still ongoing, therefore there will be more ayaat added on the next recitation in Ramadhan. The last recitation by the Prophet s.a.w in the presence of Jibril a.s was during his last Ramadhan before he passed away. He recited the Quran twice in that month.
Zaid bin Thabit was the scribe who witnessed the Prophet s.a.w recite the whole Quran in that Ramadhan. After Ramadhan, there were still Syawwal, Zulkaidah, Zulhjijjah, Muharram, Safar before the Prophet s.a.w passed away in Rabiul Awwal. There were still several ayaat more revealed during those times which the scribes recorded. By the time the Prophet s.a.w passed away, the whole Quran has been memorised and written not as a book but in many separate writing materials by the companions.
Since the original Quran had no ayah numbering, the Sahabah had to figure out the start and end of each ayah. Example, the Prophet s.a.w said that Surah Al-Fatihah has 7 ayaat and Surah Al-Mulk has 30 ayaat. The Prophet s.a.w just recite the verses without dictating to the Companions where each ayah was. That's why you can see that the ayah numbering of Surah Al-Fatihah and some other Surah will have slight offset in numbering. Example:
Surah Al-Fatihah: 7 ayaat. However the ayah numbering is not the same.
One Mushaf indicates "Bismillah.." as ayah 1 while another indicates "Alhamdulillah" is ayah 1.
Ayah 7 starts from "Siratallazii.. " while another Mushaf has Ayah 7 starts from "Ghayril .."
The total number of ayaat may not be the same from one Mushaf to the other:
Surah Al-Baqarah: Our Mushaf has 286 ayaat under the Riwaya of HafS of Qiraat 'ASim but another Mushaf from a different Qiraat has 285 ayaat. There was no addition or subtraction of ayaat. It was only the ayah numbering was slightly offset whether merging 2 ayaat or dividing a very long ayah into two.
For most printed Mushaf (i.e. Riwayat HafS), the total number of ayaat is = 6236
1 | al-Fatihah | 7 |
2 | al-Baqarah | 286 |
3 | al-Imran | 200 |
4 | an-Nisa' | 176 |
5 | al-Ma'idah | 120 |
6 | al-An`am |165 |
7 | al-A`raf | 206 |
8 | al-Anfal |75 |
9 | at-Taubah | 129 |
10 | Yunus | 109 |
11 | Hud |123 |
12 | Yusuf |111 |
13 | ar-Ra`d |43 |
14 | Ibrahim |52 |
15 | al-Hijr | 99 |
16 | an-Nahl | 128 |
17 | al-Isra' | 111 |
18 | al-Kahf | 110 |
19 | Maryam | 98 |
20 | Ta Ha | 135 |
21 | al-Anbiya' |112 |
22 | al-Hajj |78 |
23 | al-Mu'minun | 118 |
24 | an-Nur | 64 |
25 | al-Furqan | 77 |
26 | ash-Shu`ara' |227 |
27 | an-Naml | 93 |
28 | al-Qasas |88 |
29 | al-`Ankabut | 69 |
30 | ar-Rum | 60 |
31 | Luqman |34 |
32 | as-Sajdah | 30 |
33 | al-Ahzab |73 |
34 | Saba' |54 |
35 | Fatir | 45 |
36 | Ya Sin | 83 |
37 | as-Saffat | 182 |
38 | Sad | 88 |
39 | az-Zumar | 75 |
40 | Ghafir | 85 |
41 | Fussilat | 54 |
42 | ash-Shura | 53 |
43 | az-Zukhruf | 89 |
44 | ad-Dukhan | 59 |
45 | al-Jathiyah | 37 |
46 | al-Ahqaf | 35 |
47 | Muhammad | 38 |
48 | al-Fath | 29 |
49 | al-Hujurat | 18 |
50 | Qaf | 45 |
51 | adh-Dhariyat | 60 |
52 | at-Tur | 49 |
53 | an-Najm | 62 |
54 | al-Qamar | 55 |
55 | ar-Rahman | 78 |
56 | al-Waqi`ah | 96 |
57 | al-Hadid | 29 |
58 | al-Mujadilah | 22 |
59 | al-Hashr | 24 |
60 | al-Mumtahinah | 13 |
61 | as-Saff | 14 |
62 | al-Jumu`ah | 11 |
63 | al-Munafiqun | 11 |
64 | at-Taghabun | 18 |
65 | at-Talaq 12 |
66 | at-Tahrim | 12 |
67 | al-Mulk | 30 |
68 | al-Qalam | 52 |
69 | al-Haqqah | 52 |
70 | al-Ma`arij | 44 |
71 | Nuh | 28 |
72 | al-Jinn | 28 |
73 | al-Muzammil | 20 |
74 | al-Mudathir | 56 |
75 | al-Qiyamah |40 |
76 | al-Insan | 31 |
77 | al-Mursalat | 50 |
78 | an-Naba' | 40 |
79 | an-Nazi'at | 46 |
80 | `Abasa | 42 |
81 | at-Takwir |29 |
82 | al-Infitar | 19 |
83 | al-Mutaffifin | 36 |
84 | al-Inshiqaq | 25 |
85 | al-Buruj | 22 |
86 | at-Tariq | 17 |
87 | al-A`la | 19 |
88 | al-Ghashiyah | 26 |
89 | al-Fajr | 30 |
90 | al-Balad | 20 |
91 | ash-Shams | 15 |
92 | al-Layl | 21 |
93 | ad-Dhuha | 11 |
94 | al-Inshirah | 8 |
95 | at-Tin | 8 |
96 | al-`Alaq | 19 |
97 | al-Qadr | 5 |
98 | al-Baiyinah | 8 |
99 | az-Zalzalah | 8 |
100 | al-`Adiyat | 11 |
101 | al-Qari`ah | 11 |
102 | at-Takathur | 8 |
103 | al-`Asr | 3 |
104 | al-Humazah | 9 |
105 | al-Fil | 5 |
106 | Quraysh | 4 |
107 | al-Ma'un | 7 |
108 | al-Kauthar | 3 |
109 | al-Kafirun | 6 |
110 | an-Nasr | 3 |
111 | al-Masad | 5 |
112 | al-Ikhlas | 4 |
113 | al-Falaq | 5 |
114 | an-Nas | 6 |
|Total ayaat = 6236 |
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إِنَّ فِى خَلۡقِ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَٱخۡتِلَـٰفِ ٱلَّيۡلِ وَٱلنَّهَارِ وَٱلۡفُلۡكِ ٱلَّتِى تَجۡرِى فِى ٱلۡبَحۡرِ بِمَا يَنفَعُ ٱلنَّاسَ وَمَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مِن مَّآءٍ فَأَحۡيَا بِهِ ٱلۡأَرۡضَ بَعۡدَ مَوۡتِہَا وَبَثَّ فِيہَا مِن ڪُلِّ دَآبَّةٍ وَتَصۡرِيفِ ٱلرِّيَـٰحِ وَٱلسَّحَابِ ٱلۡمُسَخَّرِ بَيۡنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ لَأَيَـٰتٍ لِّقَوۡمٍ يَعۡقِلُونَ
Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and earth, and the alternation of the night and the day, and the [great] ships which sail through the sea with that which benefits people, and what Allah has sent down from the heavens of rain, giving life thereby to the earth after its lifelessness and dispersing therein every [kind of] moving creature, and [His] directing (drifting) of the winds and the clouds controlled (floating) between the heaven and the earth are signs for a people who use reason
(Surah Al-Baqorah – 2:164)