سُورَةُ البُرُوجِ
Surah 85 - Al-Burooj
The Constellations
- 22 verses
- Juz 30
- Page 590 of the Mushaf
Al-Burooj has 22 verses. Three oaths open it: the sky and its constellations, a day that is promised, a witness and the thing witnessed. The text then moves without warning into a scene it places in no country and no year: people the surah calls the companions of the Uhdood have lit a fire, sat down around it, and watched what they were inflicting on believers. Verse 8 states the only charge held against those believers - that they had believed. Two outcomes answer one another next, then a run of names of Allah, then two peoples recalled, Pharaoh and Thamud. The last two verses turn back to the Quran itself, described as preserved.
The main parts
The text of the surah
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ وَٱلسَّمَآءِ ذَاتِ ٱلْبُرُوجِ
By the sky containing great stars
وَٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْمَوْعُودِ
And [by] the promised Day
وَشَاهِدٍۢ وَمَشْهُودٍۢ
And [by] the witness and what is witnessed,
قُتِلَ أَصْحَٰبُ ٱلْأُخْدُودِ
Cursed were the companions of the trench
ٱلنَّارِ ذَاتِ ٱلْوَقُودِ
[Containing] the fire full of fuel,
إِذْ هُمْ عَلَيْهَا قُعُودٌۭ
When they were sitting near it
وَهُمْ عَلَىٰ مَا يَفْعَلُونَ بِٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ شُهُودٌۭ
And they, to what they were doing against the believers, were witnesses.
وَمَا نَقَمُوا۟ مِنْهُمْ إِلَّآ أَن يُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ ٱلْعَزِيزِ ٱلْحَمِيدِ
And they resented them not except because they believed in Allah, the Exalted in Might, the Praiseworthy,
ٱلَّذِى لَهُۥ مُلْكُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ شَهِيدٌ
To whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. And Allah, over all things, is Witness.
إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ فَتَنُوا۟ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنَٰتِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَتُوبُوا۟ فَلَهُمْ عَذَابُ جَهَنَّمَ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابُ ٱلْحَرِيقِ
Indeed, those who have tortured the believing men and believing women and then have not repented will have the punishment of Hell, and they will have the punishment of the Burning Fire.
إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ لَهُمْ جَنَّٰتٌۭ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَٰرُ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ ٱلْفَوْزُ ٱلْكَبِيرُ
Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds will have gardens beneath which rivers flow. That is the great attainment.
إِنَّ بَطْشَ رَبِّكَ لَشَدِيدٌ
Indeed, the vengeance of your Lord is severe.
إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ يُبْدِئُ وَيُعِيدُ
Indeed, it is He who originates [creation] and repeats.
وَهُوَ ٱلْغَفُورُ ٱلْوَدُودُ
And He is the Forgiving, the Affectionate,
ذُو ٱلْعَرْشِ ٱلْمَجِيدُ
Honorable Owner of the Throne,
فَعَّالٌۭ لِّمَا يُرِيدُ
Effecter of what He intends.
هَلْ أَتَىٰكَ حَدِيثُ ٱلْجُنُودِ
Has there reached you the story of the soldiers -
فِرْعَوْنَ وَثَمُودَ
[Those of] Pharaoh and Thamud?
بَلِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ فِى تَكْذِيبٍۢ
But they who disbelieve are in [persistent] denial,
وَٱللَّهُ مِن وَرَآئِهِم مُّحِيطٌۢ
While Allah encompasses them from behind.
بَلْ هُوَ قُرْءَانٌۭ مَّجِيدٌۭ
But this is an honored Qur'an
فِى لَوْحٍۢ مَّحْفُوظٍۭ
[Inscribed] in a Preserved Slate.
Key verses of the surah
The first of the three oaths: it sets the sky in place before the surah enters its account.
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ وَٱلسَّمَآءِ ذَاتِ ٱلْبُرُوجِ
By the sky containing great stars
The hinge of the episode: the one charge held against the believers is their belief.
وَمَا نَقَمُوا۟ مِنْهُمْ إِلَّآ أَن يُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ ٱلْعَزِيزِ ٱلْحَمِيدِ
And they resented them not except because they believed in Allah, the Exalted in Might, the Praiseworthy,
The closing verse: the text points to itself and says it is inscribed and kept.
فِى لَوْحٍۢ مَّحْفُوظٍۭ
[Inscribed] in a Preserved Slate.
What is surah Al-Burooj about?
About an ordeal inflicted on believers and what answers it. The surah tells the scene of the fire, names what was held against the victims, sets two fates against each other, recalls two vanished peoples, and ends on the Quran.
Who are the companions of the Uhdood in surah Al-Burooj?
The text describes them without ever placing them: a fire fed with fuel, people settled all around it, and the look they keep on what they are doing. No place, no date and no personal name appears in the surah.
How does surah Al-Burooj end?
With two verses that leave the account and speak of the Quran: it is called honoured, then kept on a Tablet. The surah closes on the text that carries it, not on the peoples it had just cited.
How is surah Al-Burooj built?
In five moves: the oaths, the scene of the fire, two opposed fates, a string of names of Allah, then two peoples cited before the return to the Quran. It goes from oath to account, then from account to statement.
Why is surah Al-Burooj called that?
“Al-Burooj” means “the Constellations”. The name comes from the first verse, where the sky and its constellations open the run of three oaths. It names the surah by its opening image, not by its central episode, which the text calls that of the Uhdood.
How many verses does surah Al-Burooj have?
Surah Al-Burooj has 22 verses. It stands at number 85 in the order of the Mushaf, which holds 114.
The Arabic text is that of the Mushaf. The summary, the outline and the answers on this page describe the text and how it is built: they are not religious commentary.