سُورَةُ التَّكَاثُرِ
Surah 102 - At-Takaathur
Competition
- 8 verses
- Juz 30
- Page 600 of the Mushaf
At-Takaathur has eight verses and rests on repetition. The first two describe an occupation that absorbs, and set a term to it: the moment one goes to the graves. Three verses of warning follow, opened by the same word of denial; the fourth repeats the third but for one word, and the fifth extends the series with a condition the sentence leaves unfinished. The text then announces what will be seen, and says it again adding that the sight will be certain - the same word as in the fifth verse. The last one shifts register: it announces a reckoning, bearing on delights.
The main parts
The text of the surah
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ أَلْهَىٰكُمُ ٱلتَّكَاثُرُ
Competition in [worldly] increase diverts you
حَتَّىٰ زُرْتُمُ ٱلْمَقَابِرَ
Until you visit the graveyards.
كَلَّا سَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ
No! You are going to know.
ثُمَّ كَلَّا سَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ
Then no! You are going to know.
كَلَّا لَوْ تَعْلَمُونَ عِلْمَ ٱلْيَقِينِ
No! If you only knew with knowledge of certainty...
لَتَرَوُنَّ ٱلْجَحِيمَ
You will surely see the Hellfire.
ثُمَّ لَتَرَوُنَّهَا عَيْنَ ٱلْيَقِينِ
Then you will surely see it with the eye of certainty.
ثُمَّ لَتُسْـَٔلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ ٱلنَّعِيمِ
Then you will surely be asked that Day about pleasure.
Key verses of the surah
The opening verse: in a single sentence it names what draws attention away and sets the subject of the rest.
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ أَلْهَىٰكُمُ ٱلتَّكَاثُرُ
Competition in [worldly] increase diverts you
The last verse: the surah closes on a reckoning rather than on a description.
ثُمَّ لَتُسْـَٔلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ ٱلنَّعِيمِ
Then you will surely be asked that Day about pleasure.
What is surah At-Takaathur about?
Of an occupation that takes up all the room - the race for more - and of the point where it stops. The text does not argue: it states the case in two verses, warns three times, then says what will be seen and what will be asked.
How is surah At-Takaathur built?
In three moves. Two verses set the scene. Three warn, opened by the same word, two of them differing only by a word added at the front. Three announce, linked by the same connector in verses 4, 7 and 8. Repetition is its main device.
What does surah At-Takaathur say about certainty?
The word comes twice. In verse 5 it qualifies a knowledge, inside a condition the sentence leaves hanging, never saying what would follow. In verse 7 it qualifies a sight: what the previous verse announced is by then before the eyes.
How does surah At-Takaathur end?
With a shift of register. Having said what will be seen, the eighth verse adds no description: it announces a questioning to come, bearing on delights, and leaves the surah open on it.
Why is surah At-Takaathur called that?
“At-Takaathur” names the race to have ever more, and the rivalry that goes with it. The name is the surah's second word, in verse 1, the one that names what draws attention away. It appears only once: the seven other verses speak of it without repeating it.
How many verses does surah At-Takaathur have?
Surah At-Takaathur has 8 verses. It stands at number 102 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.