Revealed in Makkah, Surah Al-A'la (The Most High) is a beautiful glorification of the Creator, who creates, proportions, determines, and guides, bringing forth green pasture and then turning it dry. It comforts the Prophet with a promise that God will make him recite the Quran and never forget it, establishing that true success lies in self-purification and that this message is found in the ancient scriptures of Abraham and Moses.
Transliteration
Sabbihi isma rabbika alaAAla
Translation
Praise the Name of your Lord, the Most High
The opening command: 'Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High.' When this verse descended, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ instructed his companions: 'Place this in your prostration (Sujud),' establishing the timeless prayer phrase recited by Muslims worldwide: 'Subhana Rabbiy al-A'la' (Glory be to my Lord, the Most High).
Transliteration
Allathee khalaqa fasawwa
Translation
He who creates and regulates
Transliteration
Waallathee qaddara fahada
Translation
He who measures and guides
Transliteration
Waallathee akhraja almarAAa
Translation
He who produces the pasture
Transliteration
FajaAAalahu ghuthaan ahwa
Translation
And then turns it into light debris
Describes the biological and geological life cycle of plants: green pastures sprout and flourish, eventually dying and decaying into dark, blackened organic debris ('Ghutha'an Ahwa')—the very geological process that forms peat, coal, and petroleum crude oil beneath the earth.
Transliteration
Sanuqrioka fala tansa
Translation
We will make you read, so do not forget
A personal divine guarantee to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ: 'We will make you recite and you will never forget' ('Sanuqri'uka fala tansa'). God assured His unlettered messenger that every verse, chapter, and legal nuance of the Quran would be permanently and flawlessly etched into his memory without human forgetting.
Transliteration
Illa ma shaa Allahu innahu yaAAlamu aljahra wama yakhfa
Translation
Except what God wills. He knows what is declared, and what is hidden
Transliteration
Wanuyassiruka lilyusra
Translation
We will ease you into the Easy Way
Transliteration
Fathakkir in nafaAAati alththikra
Translation
So remind, if reminding helps
Transliteration
Sayaththakkaru man yakhsha
Translation
The reverent will remember
Transliteration
Wayatajannabuha alashqa
Translation
But the wretched will avoid it
Transliteration
Allathee yasla alnnara alkubra
Translation
He who will enter the Gigantic Fire
Transliteration
Thumma la yamootu feeha wala yahya
Translation
Where he will neither die, nor live
Transliteration
Qad aflaha man tazakka
Translation
Successful is he who purifies himself
Highlights spiritual purification: 'Successful is the one who purifies himself and remembers the name of his Lord and prays.' Classical commentators historically connected this sequence directly to giving the mandatory charity at the end of Ramadan (Zakat al-Fitr) immediately before stepping out to perform the festive Eid morning prayer.
Transliteration
Wathakara isma rabbihi fasalla
Translation
And mentions the name of his Lord, and prays
Transliteration
Bal tuthiroona alhayata alddunya
Translation
But you prefer the present life
Diagnoses the chronic trap of short-term thinking: humanity obsessively prioritizes transient, immediate worldly luxuries, ignoring the undeniable reality that the Hereafter is infinitely superior in quality and eternal in duration.
Transliteration
Waalakhiratu khayrun waabqa
Translation
Though the Hereafter is better, and more lasting
Transliteration
Inna hatha lafee alssuhufi aloola
Translation
This is in the former scriptures
Transliteration
Suhufi ibraheema wamoosa
Translation
The Scriptures of Abraham and Moses
Affirms scriptural continuity: reveals that these core spiritual truths—transcendence, moral purification, and the primacy of the eternal soul over material wealth—were identical in the ancient lost scrolls revealed to Prophets Abraham (Ibrahim) and Moses (Musa).