Al-Asr

About Surah Al-Asr

Surah Al-Asr is the 103rd surah (chapter) of The Glorious Quran. Name of the surah means The Time. It has 3 ayaat (verses) and was revealed in the holy city of Makkah i.e., before Prophet ﷺ migrated to the city of Medina. This surah can be found in juz / paara 30.

Quick summary

Surah #
103
Meaning
The Time
No. of ayaat
3
Revelation place
makkah Makkah
Revelation order
13
Rukūʿ
1 (Ayaah 3)
Hizb break(s)
0
Juz / paara
Juz 30 (Ayaat 1-3)
Manzil (⅐ of Quran)
7
Pages ^
^ Qur'an printed at King Fahd Glorious Quran Printing Complex in Al Madinah Al Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia.

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In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Introduction

This Meccan sûrah emphasizes that, unlike the evildoers mentioned in the next sûrah, only those who take advantage of this fleeting life by doing good will be successful in the eternal life to come.

Details from Tafheem-ul-Qurʾān

Name

The Surah takes its name from the word al-asr occurring in the first verse.

Period of Revelation

Although Mujahid, Qatadah and Muqatil regard it as a Madani Surah, yet a great majority of the commentators opine that it is Makki; its subject matter also testifies that it must have been sent down in the earliest stage at Makkah, when the message of Islam was being presented in brief but highly impressive sentences so that the listeners who heard them once could not forget them even if they wanted to, for they were automatically committed to memory.

Theme and Subject Matter

This Surah is a matchless specimen of comprehensiveness and brevity. A whole world of meaning has been compressed into its few brief words, which is too vast in content to be fully expressed even in a book. In it, in a clear and plain way it has been stated what is the way to true success for man and what is the way to ruin and destruction for him. Imam Shafe has very rightly said that if the people only considered this Surah well, it alone would suffice them for their guidance. How important this Surah was in the sight of the Companions can be judged from the tradition cited from Hadrat Abdullah bin Hisn ad-Darimi Abu Madinah, according to which whenever any two of them met they would not part company until they had recited Surah Al-Asr to each other. (Tabarani)