A surah is one of the main sections of the Quran made up of ayahs. There are 114 surahs in the Quran. Surahs are not merely long pieces of text; each is a coherent section with its own thematic structure, mode of address, and historical context.
Quran Glossary
Surah: The name given to each of the sections of the Quran that carry their own internal unity, formed by multiple ayahs coming together. The Quran consists of 114 surahs; the shortest are Al-Kawthar, Al-Asr, and An-Nasr with 3 verses each, the longest is Al-Baqarah with 286 verses.
See all terms in the glossary →What is a surah?
A surah is the name given to each of the sections of the Quran that carry their own internal unity, formed by multiple ayahs coming together. The Quran consists of 114 surahs; the shortest are Al-Kawthar, Al-Asr, and An-Nasr, each with 3 verses, while the longest is Al-Baqarah with 286 verses.
Source: TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, entry "Sûre" (in Turkish)
The meaning of the word "surah"
There are explanations that associate the word "surah" with meanings of elevated rank, an enclosed section, or a structure. As a technical term, it refers to sections of the Quran whose beginning and end were determined through the tradition of revelation. It begins with Al-Fatihah and ends with An-Nas.
How did surah names come about?
Many surahs are named after a distinctive person, event, object, or word that appears within them: Al-Baqarah ("The Cow"), Yusuf, Maryam, Al-Kahf, and so on. Some surahs have more than one name. Names do not always summarize the surah's entire content; they serve as a distinguishing title.
Mushaf order and the order of revelation
Today's mushaf order runs from Al-Fatihah to An-Nas. The order in which the revelations descended is different. It is widely accepted that the first revealed verses are the opening of Surah Al-Alaq; even so, Al-Alaq is the 96th surah in the mushaf. The order of revelation is used for historical study, while the mushaf order is used for recitation and completeness.
Meccan and Medinan surahs
The common measure is the migration (hijrah): revelations sent down before the migration are counted as Meccan, and those after as Medinan. In Meccan surahs, God's oneness and the afterlife tend to be more prominent; in Medinan surahs, social matters and law tend to be more prominent. This is not a division of subject matter without exception.
Reading a surah within its context
Rather than reading only a single well-known verse of a surah, the introduction, section transitions, and conclusion should be examined together. The thematic summary, verse text, translation, tafsir, and audio recording on a surah page complement one another. Long surahs can be read section by section.
A strategy for reading a surah
A short surah can be read in a single sitting, while a long surah can be divided into thematic sections. The thematic summary at the start of the surah can be read first, followed by the verses and translation, then selected tafsir notes. Progressing by ayah number while listening makes it easier to return to the same place later. A surah's single "virtue" sentence should not be substituted for its entire message.
The spelling of surah names
Surah Names can appear with different spellings in Turkish: Nâs/Nas, Yâsîn/Yasin, or Âl-i İmrân/Ali İmran, for example. These spelling variants refer to the same surahs. Showing the original Arabic name alongside a common Latin-script spelling helps readers recognize that different transliterations can point to the same surah.
The 114 Surahs in Numbers
The answer to how many surahs the Quran has is 114, and together they contain 6,236 verses. Their lengths vary widely. By number of verses they fall into these bands:
| Verses | Surahs | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 3–10 | 19 | Al-Kawthar, Al-Asr, An-Nasr (3 verses) |
| 11–20 | 18 | Al-Alaq (19 verses) |
| 21–50 | 30 | Al-Mulk (30 verses) |
| 51–100 | 29 | Ya-Sin (83 verses) |
| 101–200 | 15 | Al-Kahf (110 verses) |
| More than 200 | 3 | Al-Baqarah (286), Ash-Shu'ara (227), Al-A'raf (206) |
The median surah is about 40 verses long, so half the surahs are shorter and half longer. Eighty-six surahs are classed as Meccan and 28 as Medinan. At-Tawbah is the only surah that does not open with the basmalah, while the basmalah also appears inside An-Naml at verse 30. Twenty-nine surahs open with disjointed letters such as Alif Lam Mim, Ya-Sin or Qaf. You can see every surah's verse count and Meccan/Medinan classification in the 114 Surahs list.
How Were the Surahs Revealed? The First and the Last
Most surahs were not revealed in a single sitting but in parts, over a span of years. According to most scholars, the place of each verse within its surah and the boundaries of the surahs were set by the Prophet's instruction, so a surah is read as one coherent chapter even when its verses came at different times.
The first verses revealed, according to Aisha's report in al-Bukhari, are the first five verses of Surah Al-Alaq, beginning with the command "Read in the name of your Lord who created." That Al-Alaq stands 96th in the mushaf is the best-known example of the mushaf order not following the order of revelation.
There is no single answer about the last. In a report in Sahih Muslim, Ibn Abbas said the last surah revealed in full was An-Nasr. For the last verse the reports differ: al-Bukhari relates from Ibn Abbas that it was the verse on usury, and from al-Bara ibn Azib that it was the final verse of An-Nisa (4:176); other reports name Al-Baqarah 2:281. Scholars explain the difference by each narrator reporting the last revelation he knew of.
Surah, Sura or Sūrah?
English texts spell the word in several ways: surah, sura and sūrah all name the same thing, a chapter of the Quran. The long vowel in the Arabic word is marked with a macron in academic transliteration (sūrah) and usually dropped in everyday writing. The same variation runs through surah names: Ya-Sin and Yasin, Al-Baqarah and Al-Baqara, or Al-Ikhlas and Al-Ikhlaas all refer to the same surah. When searching or comparing translations, it helps to try more than one spelling, or to look the surah up by its number, which never varies.
Practical Plan
You can visit our 114 Surahs page to see, search, and listen to all 114 surahs together with their meanings, verse counts, and Meccan/Medinan information.
You'll find the core answer to what is a surah in the sections above. To see all 114 surahs, visit our Surahs page; for the concept of an ayah, see What Is an Ayah?; and to see the difference between an ayah and a surah, see What Is the Difference Between an Ayah and a Surah?.
Note: This content is for general information; different schools of thought and scholars may hold differing views. Consult a scholar you trust for personal religious decisions.
Sources
- TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, entry "Sûre" (in Turkish)
- Turkey's Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), Kur’an Yolu mukaddimesi (in Turkish)
- Sources on the order of the mushaf and Quranic recitation