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How the Qur'an is organised

Surahs and ayahs come from the Qur'an itself. Juz, hizb and page numbers are reading aids added later. This guide keeps the two apart.

Short answer

The Qur'an has 114 surahs (chapters) containing 6,236 ayahs (verses) in the Kufan verse count used by most printed copies today and by Bayyina's reader.

Its longest surah is The Cow (286 ayahs); the shortest have 3. The division into 30 juz is a reading schedule, not part of the text.

114 surahs, 6,236 ayahs

Every count on this page is computed from the same text the reader shows, so you can check it surah by surah. The three longest surahs are The Cow (286), The Poets (227), and The Heights (206). The shortest, with 3 ayahs each, are The Declining Day (103), The Abundance (108), and The Help (110).

What a surah is

The word سُورَة (sūrah) is the Qur'an's own name for one of its units. It challenges doubters to bring "a surah like it" and opens Surah An-Nur by calling itself a surah:

وَإِن كُنتُمْ فِى رَيْبٍۢ مِّمَّا نَزَّلْنَا عَلَىٰ عَبْدِنَا فَأْتُوا۟ بِسُورَةٍۢ مِّن مِّثْلِهِۦ وَٱدْعُوا۟ شُهَدَآءَكُم مِّن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ إِن كُنتُمْ صَٰدِقِينَ

And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our Servant [Muhammad], then produce a surah the like thereof and call upon your witnesses other than Allah, if you should be truthful.

Al-Baqarah 2:23English: Sahih International

سُورَةٌ أَنزَلْنَٰهَا وَفَرَضْنَٰهَا وَأَنزَلْنَا فِيهَآ ءَايَٰتٍۭ بَيِّنَٰتٍۢ لَّعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ

[This is] a surah which We have sent down and made [that within it] obligatory and revealed therein verses of clear evidence that you might remember.

An-Nur 24:1English: Sahih International

The surah names you see (Al-Baqarah, "The Cow"; Al-Kahf, "The Cave") are traditional titles, usually taken from a word inside the surah. They are not written in the Arabic text itself.

What an ayah is

آيَة (āyah, plural āyāt) means a sign. The Qur'an uses the same word for its own verses and for signs in nature and history, which is worth remembering when a translation renders it one way only.

الٓر ۚ كِتَٰبٌ أُحْكِمَتْ ءَايَٰتُهُۥ ثُمَّ فُصِّلَتْ مِن لَّدُنْ حَكِيمٍ خَبِيرٍ

Alif, Lam, Ra. [This is] a Book whose verses are perfected and then presented in detail from [one who is] Wise and Acquainted.

Hud 11:1English: Sahih International

كِتَٰبٌ أَنزَلْنَٰهُ إِلَيْكَ مُبَٰرَكٌۭ لِّيَدَّبَّرُوٓا۟ ءَايَٰتِهِۦ وَلِيَتَذَكَّرَ أُو۟لُوا۟ ٱلْأَلْبَٰبِ

[This is] a blessed Book which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], that they might reflect upon its verses and that those of understanding would be reminded.

Sad 38:29English: Sahih International

Surahs that open with letters

29 surahs begin with letters read by their names, such as الٓمٓ (alif lām mīm) and حمٓ (ḥā mīm). The Qur'an does not explain them, and Bayyina does not assign them a meaning.

The basmalah

بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ (“In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful”) is numbered as an ayah only in Al-Fatihah in this count. Printed copies place it above every other surah except At-Tawbah (9), which opens straight into its text. Inside a surah it appears once, in Solomon's letter:

بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

Al-Fatihah 1:1English: Sahih International

إِنَّهُۥ مِن سُلَيْمَٰنَ وَإِنَّهُۥ بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Indeed, it is from Solomon, and indeed, it reads: 'In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful,

An-Naml 27:30English: Sahih International

بَرَآءَةٌۭ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦٓ إِلَى ٱلَّذِينَ عَٰهَدتُّم مِّنَ ٱلْمُشْرِكِينَ

[This is a declaration of] disassociation, from Allah and His Messenger, to those with whom you had made a treaty among the polytheists.

At-Tawbah 9:1English: Sahih International
At-Tawbah begins here, with no basmalah above it.

Juz, hizb and pages

The juz (one-thirtieth), hizb (one-sixtieth) and page numbers divide the text into equal portions for reading over a month or for memorising. They often begin mid-surah and are not mentioned in the Qur'an.

The Qur'an describes reading it in measured portions and being sent down in parts, not in one sitting:

أَوْ زِدْ عَلَيْهِ وَرَتِّلِ ٱلْقُرْءَانَ تَرْتِيلًا

Or add to it, and recite the Qur'an with measured recitation.

Al-Muzzammil 73:4English: Sahih International

وَقُرْءَانًۭا فَرَقْنَٰهُ لِتَقْرَأَهُۥ عَلَى ٱلنَّاسِ عَلَىٰ مُكْثٍۢ وَنَزَّلْنَٰهُ تَنزِيلًۭا

And [it is] a Qur'an which We have separated [by intervals] that you might recite it to the people over a prolonged period. And We have sent it down progressively.

Al-Isra 17:106English: Sahih International

وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ لَوْلَا نُزِّلَ عَلَيْهِ ٱلْقُرْءَانُ جُمْلَةًۭ وَٰحِدَةًۭ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ لِنُثَبِّتَ بِهِۦ فُؤَادَكَ ۖ وَرَتَّلْنَٰهُ تَرْتِيلًۭا

And those who disbelieve say, "Why was the Qur'an not revealed to him all at once?" Thus [it is] that We may strengthen thereby your heart. And We have spaced it distinctly.

Al-Furqan 25:32English: Sahih International

The order of the surahs

The surahs are arranged roughly from longest to shortest, not in the order they were revealed. The opening surah is short, and the Qur'an does not give its own chronology.

All 114 surahs

Each name opens the full surah in Arabic with English. The number after the name is its ayah count.

  1. 1The Opening7
  2. 2The Cow286
  3. 3Family of Imran200
  4. 4The Women176
  5. 5The Table Spread120
  6. 6The Cattle165
  7. 7The Heights206
  8. 8The Spoils of War75
  9. 9The Repentance129
  10. 10Jonah109
  11. 11Hud123
  12. 12Joseph111
  13. 13The Thunder43
  14. 14Abraham52
  15. 15The Rocky Tract99
  16. 16The Bee128
  17. 17The Night Journey111
  18. 18The Cave110
  19. 19Mary98
  20. 20Ta-Ha135
  21. 21The Prophets112
  22. 22The Pilgrimage78
  23. 23The Believers118
  24. 24The Light64
  25. 25The Criterion77
  26. 26The Poets227
  27. 27The Ant93
  28. 28The Stories88
  29. 29The Spider69
  30. 30The Romans60
  31. 31Luqman34
  32. 32The Prostration30
  33. 33The Confederates73
  34. 34Sheba54
  35. 35The Originator45
  36. 36Ya Sin83
  37. 37Those Who Set the Ranks182
  38. 38Sad88
  39. 39The Groups75
  40. 40The Forgiver85
  41. 41Explained in Detail54
  42. 42The Consultation53
  43. 43The Gold Adornment89
  44. 44The Smoke59
  45. 45The Kneeling37
  46. 46The Wind-Curved Sandhills35
  47. 47Muhammad38
  48. 48The Victory29
  49. 49The Rooms18
  50. 50Qaf45
  51. 51The Winnowing Winds60
  52. 52The Mount49
  53. 53The Star62
  54. 54The Moon55
  55. 55The Beneficent78
  56. 56The Inevitable96
  57. 57The Iron29
  58. 58The Pleading Woman22
  59. 59The Exile24
  60. 60The Woman to Be Examined13
  61. 61The Ranks14
  62. 62The Congregation11
  63. 63The Hypocrites11
  64. 64The Mutual Disillusion18
  65. 65The Divorce12
  66. 66The Prohibition12
  67. 67The Sovereignty30
  68. 68The Pen52
  69. 69The Reality52
  70. 70The Ascending Stairways44
  71. 71Noah28
  72. 72The Jinn28
  73. 73The Enshrouded One20
  74. 74The Cloaked One56
  75. 75The Resurrection40
  76. 76The Man31
  77. 77The Emissaries50
  78. 78The Tidings40
  79. 79Those Who Drag Forth46
  80. 80He Frowned42
  81. 81The Overthrowing29
  82. 82The Cleaving19
  83. 83The Defrauding36
  84. 84The Splitting Open25
  85. 85The Mansions of the Stars22
  86. 86The Morning Star17
  87. 87The Most High19
  88. 88The Overwhelming26
  89. 89The Dawn30
  90. 90The City20
  91. 91The Sun15
  92. 92The Night21
  93. 93The Morning Hours11
  94. 94The Relief8
  95. 95The Fig8
  96. 96The Clot19
  97. 97The Power5
  98. 98The Clear Proof8
  99. 99The Earthquake8
  100. 100The Coursers11
  101. 101The Calamity11
  102. 102The Rivalry in Worldly Increase8
  103. 103The Declining Day3
  104. 104The Traducer9
  105. 105The Elephant5
  106. 106Quraysh4
  107. 107The Small Kindnesses7
  108. 108The Abundance3
  109. 109The Disbelievers6
  110. 110The Help3
  111. 111The Palm Fiber5
  112. 112The Sincerity4
  113. 113The Daybreak5
  114. 114Mankind6

Sources and method

Surah and ayah counts come from Bayyina's stored text (Kufan numbering). The Qur'an's own descriptions are quoted above; reading divisions, page layout and numbering conventions are labelled as outside the text.

Arabic quotations are copied unchanged from the text Bayyina's reader shows, and English quotations from the Sahih International edition they are labelled with. Counts are computed from the word-by-word corpus data behind Word study, where you can repeat them. Found an error? Tell us.