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Surah 15 · Makkah · 99 āyāt
Phase 04 · Ṭāʾif, al-Isrāʾ and the final Makkan years(c. 5–1 BH) — view in timelineAl-ḤijrThe Rocky Tract
الحجر
Revealed 54th. A short, hard-edged Makkan surah that answers mockery with three guarantees: We revealed the Reminder and We are its guardian; We will suffice you against the mockers; and the day will come when those who disbelieved will wish they had been Muslims. Between them stand Iblīs's refusal and his open declaration of strategy, the guests of Ibrāhīm, the people of Lūṭ, and the rock-carvers of al-Ḥijr whose fortress homes did not save them.
Why it was revealed
Quraysh had moved from argument to ridicule, calling the Prophet ﷺ possessed and demanding angels be sent down. The believers were few and pressed, and the surah was revealed to fortify the Messenger ﷺ personally.
No single authenticated occasion is transmitted for the surah. Reports mention the mockers of Quraysh — a small group who ridiculed the Prophet ﷺ publicly — as the referent of āyah 95, and Ibn ʿAbbās is reported to explain 'the seven oft-repeated' in āyah 87 as Sūrat al-Fātiḥah, which is confirmed in the ṣaḥīḥ.
Bukhārī 4474 and 4703 (al-sabʿ al-mathānī as al-Fātiḥah); Ibn Kathīr, introduction to Sūrat al-ḤijrIn the Prophet's ﷺ life
Open ridicule of the Prophet ﷺ
A group of Quraysh made a practice of mocking him publicly; he was told plainly that Allah Himself would suffice him against them.
Recalled in āyah 95, 97
إِنَّا كَفَيْنَـٰكَ ٱلْمُسْتَهْزِءِينَ
Indeed, We are sufficient for you against the mockers
Ibn Kathīr on 15:95
We revealed it, and We are its guardian
They call him possessed and demand angels. The reply is not a miracle but a guarantee: indeed We sent down the Reminder, and indeed We will be its guardian. Then the reminder that messengers before him were mocked too, and that mockery is a repeating pattern, not a verdict.
إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا ٱلذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُۥ لَحَـٰفِظُونَ
Indeed, it is We who sent down the message [i.e., the Qur’ān], and indeed, We will be its guardian.
From the tafsīr
Allah guarantees the preservation of the Qurʾān from any addition, omission or alteration — a promise not made for earlier scriptures, whose custody was entrusted to their scholars.
— Ibn Kathīr on 15:9
'We do not send down the angels except with the truth' means their descent would end the period of respite, so their demand was in reality a request for their own destruction.
— Al-Qurṭubī on 15:8
Key takeaways
- The Qurʾān's preservation is a divine undertaking, not a historical accident.
- Demands for spectacle are often demands for judgement.
- Mockery of the message has a long precedent; it is data, not defeat.
Reflect
How does knowing the text you study is divinely guarded change how you read it?
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Why was sending angels not granted, per al-Qurṭubī?
Question 2 of 2
What does Ibn Kathīr say is distinctive about the promise in 15:9?
Iblīs declares his method
Man is created from sounding clay, the angels prostrate, Iblīs refuses. He then states his plan openly: because You misled me, I will make wrong seem beautiful to them on earth and mislead them all — except Your chosen servants among them. The reply names the only firewall: over My servants you have no authority, except those who follow you.
قَالَ رَبِّ بِمَآ أَغْوَيْتَنِى لَأُزَيِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَلَأُغْوِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ
[Iblees] said, "My Lord, because You have put me in error, I will surely make [disobedience] attractive to them [i.e., mankind] on earth, and I will mislead them all
إِنَّ عِبَادِى لَيْسَ لَكَ عَلَيْهِمْ سُلْطَـٰنٌ إِلَّا مَنِ ٱتَّبَعَكَ مِنَ ٱلْغَاوِينَ
Indeed, My servants - no authority will you have over them, except those who follow you of the deviators.
From the tafsīr
Tazyīn — making sin appear beautiful — is named as Iblīs's principal weapon; he cannot compel, only decorate.
— Ibn Kathīr on 15:39
The protection is tied to being a true servant of Allah: sincerity in servitude is what removes Shayṭān's authority over a person.
— Al-Saʿdī on 15:42
Key takeaways
- Shayṭān's power is presentation, not compulsion.
- The stated exemption is sincere servitude — ikhlāṣ is the defence.
- Knowing the enemy's declared method is part of the Qurʾān's training.
Reflect
Which sin currently looks attractive to you? Name the decoration on it.
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Question 1 of 2
What does Ibn Kathīr identify as Iblīs's main weapon in 15:39?
Question 2 of 2
Who is exempt from Shayṭān's authority per 15:42?
Fortresses carved in rock did not help them
The guests of Ibrāhīm bring both glad tidings and the news of Lūṭ's people; the cry seizes them at sunrise. Then the companions of al-Ḥijr — Thamūd — who denied the messengers and used to carve secure homes from the mountains; the cry seized them in the morning and what they earned did not avail them.
From the tafsīr
Their carved fortresses show that engineering and security measures are no protection when the decree comes.
— Ibn Kathīr on 15:82–84
Ibrāhīm's answer — none despairs of the mercy of his Lord except those astray — is placed among the destruction narratives to keep hope and fear balanced.
— Al-Qurṭubī on 15:56
Key takeaways
- Material security is not spiritual security.
- Warnings and glad tidings are always delivered together in the Qurʾān.
- Despair is named as the state of the astray, even in a surah about ruin.
Reflect
What are you relying on for safety that is essentially carved rock?
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What lesson does Ibn Kathīr draw from Thamūd's rock-carved homes?
Question 2 of 2
Why is Ibrāhīm's statement about despair placed among these narratives?
The seven oft-repeated, and 'We suffice you against the mockers'
We have given you seven of the oft-repeated verses and the great Qurʾān — so do not strain your eyes towards the enjoyments We have given others. Proclaim what you are commanded and turn away from the polytheists; indeed We are sufficient for you against the mockers. And when your chest tightens at what they say, the prescription is: glorify your Lord with praise, be of those who prostrate, and worship your Lord until the certainty comes to you.
لَا تَمُدَّنَّ عَيْنَيْكَ إِلَىٰ مَا مَتَّعْنَا بِهِۦٓ أَزْوَٰجًا مِّنْهُمْ وَلَا تَحْزَنْ عَلَيْهِمْ وَٱخْفِضْ جَنَاحَكَ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ
Do not extend your eyes toward that by which We have given enjoyment to [certain] categories of them [i.e., the disbelievers], and do not grieve over them. And lower your wing [i.e., show kindness] to the believers.
إِنَّا كَفَيْنَـٰكَ ٱلْمُسْتَهْزِءِينَ
Indeed, We are sufficient for you against the mockers
فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَكُن مِّنَ ٱلسَّـٰجِدِينَ
So exalt [Allāh] with praise of your Lord and be of those who prostrate [to Him].
وَٱعْبُدْ رَبَّكَ حَتَّىٰ يَأْتِيَكَ ٱلْيَقِينُ
And worship your Lord until there comes to you the certainty [i.e., death].
From the tafsīr
The Prophet ﷺ explained al-sabʿ al-mathānī as Sūrat al-Fātiḥah, the seven repeated āyāt, and 'the great Qurʾān'.
— Bukhārī 4474
The remedy prescribed for a constricted chest is tasbīḥ, prayer and prostration — worship until death, which is 'the certainty'.
— Ibn Kathīr on 15:97–99
'Do not extend your eyes' forbids fixing the gaze on what worldly people have been given, because contentment is destroyed by comparison.
— Al-Saʿdī on 15:88
Key takeaways
- What you already hold of the Qurʾān outweighs what others hold of the world.
- Comparison is treated as a spiritual injury, and looking away is the treatment.
- When anxiety rises, the prescription is prostration, not analysis.
- 'Until the certainty' means worship has no retirement date.
Reflect
What have you been staring at that you need to look away from this week?
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What does the surah prescribe when the chest tightens?
Question 2 of 2
What is al-sabʿ al-mathānī in 15:87?
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Roots from this surah
Learn the three-letter root and you unlock every word built from it — across the whole Qur'an, not just this surah.
ح ف ظ
āyāt 9to guard, preserve, keep intact
- حَـٰفِظُونguardians
- حِفْظpreservation
- مَحْفُوظpreserved
ذ ك ر
āyāt 6, 9to remember, to mention; the Reminder
- ٱلذِّكْرthe Reminder
- ذِكْرَىٰa reminder
- ذَاكِرone who remembers
ز ي ن
āyāt 39to adorn, to make something appear attractive
- زَيَّنَhe adorned
- زِينَةadornment
- مُزَيَّنmade attractive
ك ف ي
āyāt 95to suffice, to be enough
- كَفَىٰHe sufficed
- كَافِىsufficient
- ٱكْتَفَىٰhe was content with
ي ق ن
āyāt 99certainty beyond doubt
- ٱلْيَقِينthe certainty
- مُوقِنone certain
- ٱسْتَيْقَنَhe became certain
س ج د
āyāt 29, 98to prostrate in submission
- سَـٰجِدِينthose prostrating
- سُجُودprostration
- مَسْجِدplace of prostration
Carry this with you
- The text you are studying carries a divine guarantee of preservation.
- Shayṭān decorates; he cannot compel.
- Sincere servitude is the firewall he himself admitted he cannot cross.
- Fortresses of stone did not save Thamūd, and neither will yours.
- What you hold of the Qurʾān is greater than anything the world hands to others.
- Do not stare at what others have been given; comparison eats contentment.
- When your chest tightens, prostrate before you analyse.
- Worship has no retirement date — 'until the certainty comes to you'.
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Al-Ḥijr · The seven oft-repeated, and 'We suffice you against the mockers'
What is al-sabʿ al-mathānī in 15:87?
Arabic (Uthmānī script) and the Ṣaḥīḥ International translation are fetched live from the Quran.com API (v4), sourced from the King Fahd Complex muṣḥaf — api.quran.com API docs · Translation: Ṣaḥīḥ International · Integrity & testing protocol