Surah

A surah (; Arabic: سُورَة, romanized: sūrah; pl. سُوَر, suwar) is an Arabic word meaning "chapter" in the Quran. There are 114 surah in the Quran, each divided into verses (Arabic: آيات, romanized: āyāt, lit. 'signs'). The surah are of unequal length; the shortest surah ("al-Kawthar") has only three verses, while the longest (al-Baqarah) contains 286 verses. The Quran consists of one short introductory chapter (Q1), eight very long chapters, making up one-third of the Quran (Q2‒9); 19 mid-length chapters, making up another one-third (Q10‒28); and 86 short and very short ones of the last one-third (Q29‒114). Of the 114 surah in the Quran, 86 are classified as Meccan (Arabic: مكي, romanized: makkī), as according to Islamic tradition they were revealed before Muhammad's migration to Medina (hijrah), while 28 are Medinan (Arabic: مدني, romanized: madanī), as they were revealed after. This classification is only approximate in regard to the location of revelation; any surah revealed after the migration is termed Medinan and any revealed before it is termed Meccan, regardless of where the surah was revealed. However, some Meccan suwar contain Medinan verses (verses revealed after the migration) and vice versa. Whether a surah is Medinan or Meccan depends on if the beginning of the surah was revealed before or after the migration. The Meccan surah generally deal with faith and scenes of the Hereafter while the Medinan surah are more concerned with organizing the social life of the nascent Muslim community and leading Muslims to the ultimate goal of attaining dar al-Islam by showing strength towards the unbelievers. Except for surah "At-Tawbah", all suwar commence with "In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful" (Arabic: بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ, romanized: bi-smi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm). This formula is known as the basmalah (Arabic: بَسْمَلَة) and denotes the boundaries between...