Quran facts, counted from the text
The longest ayah, the shortest surah, how many ayat and words there are, and where the prostrations are. Every number here is computed from the Tanzil text that AmalKit uses, and the method is shown.
- Surahs
- 114From Al-Fatiha (1) to An-Nas (114).
- Ayat
- 6,236In the Kufan count of Hafs, used in almost every printed mushaf. Other early counts give slightly different totals because they split some ayat differently, not because any text differs.
- Words
- 77,430Our count of the Tanzil Uthmani text: every space-separated word, not counting pause marks or the Bismillah at the head of 112 surahs, but counting it as the first ayah of Al-Fatiha. Other counts differ by a few hundred depending on how joined particles are counted.
- Juz, hizb, quarters
- 30, 60, 240Each juz has two hizb, and each hizb four quarters. See the juz list.
- Mushaf pages
- 604In the standard Madinah mushaf, about 20 pages per juz.
- Rukus
- 556The section markers (ruku) used in South Asian mushafs, as listed in the Tanzil data.
- Manzils
- 7Seven parts for reading the whole Quran in a week, starting at surahs 1, 5, 10, 17, 26, 37 and 50.
- Makki and Madani
- 86 and 2886 surahs (4,613 ayat) are classed as revealed in Makkah and 28 (1,623 ayat) in Madinah, by the Tanzil data.
Computed by AmalKit from the Tanzil Uthmani text and AlQuran.cloud metadata.
Guide
Longest and shortest, with the references
The longest ayah: 2:282
The longest ayah in the Quran is Al-Baqarah 2:282, the ayah about writing down debts. It has 128 words in the Uthmani text, and fills most of a page of the Madinah mushaf.
The shortest surah: Al-Kawthar
Three surahs have only 3 ayat: Al-Asr (103), Al-Kawthar (108), An-Nasr (110). Of these, Al-Kawthar is the shortest, with 10 words, against 14 in Al-Asr and 19 in An-Nasr. So Al-Kawthar is the shortest surah by every measure.
The longest surah: Al-Baqarah
Al-Baqarah is the longest surah, with 286 ayat and 6,116 words, about 7 percent of the whole text. Next come Ash-Shuara (227 ayat) and Al-Araf (206 ayat) by number of ayat, though Ash-Shuara's ayat are short.
The shortest ayat
Counting words, 28 ayat are a single word: 2:1, 3:1, 7:1, 19:1, 20:1, 26:1, 28:1, 29:1, 30:1, 31:1, 32:1, 36:1, 40:1, 41:1, 42:1, 42:2, 43:1, 44:1, 45:1, 46:1, 52:1, 55:1, 55:64, 69:1, 89:1, 93:1, 101:1, 103:1. Many are the separate letters at the start of surahs, such as Ta-Ha (20:1) and Ya-Sin (36:1). Others are single words such as Ar-Rahman (55:1), Al-Haqqah (69:1), Al-Qariah (101:1) and Wal-Asr (103:1), and 55:64, mudhammatan, "dark green", describing two gardens.
The most repeated ayah
"Fa bi ayyi ala'i rabbikuma tukadhdhiban", "So which of the favours of your Lord would you deny?", comes 31 times in Surah Ar-Rahman, the first at 55:13.
Surahs that open with separate letters
29 surahs begin with the separate letters (al-huruf al-muqattaat), such as Alif Lam Mim. Their meaning is known only to Allah, according to most scholars. They are surahs 2, 3, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 36, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 50, 68.
The Bismillah
Every surah begins with the Bismillah except At-Tawbah (9). It also appears inside An-Naml 27:30, in Sulayman's letter, so it occurs 114 times in all.
The ayat of prostration (sajdah)
The Tanzil data marks 15 places: 7:206, 13:15, 16:50, 17:109, 19:58, 22:18, 22:77, 25:60, 27:26, 32:15, 38:24, 41:38, 53:62, 84:21, 96:19. The schools count them differently.
There are 14 ayat of sajdah, and prostrating at each is wajib for the reciter and the listener. Surah Al-Hajj has one, at 22:18, and the one at Sad (38:24) is counted.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i, Hanbali
- There are 14 as well, but they count both 22:18 and 22:77 in Al-Hajj and treat Sad 38:24 as a prostration of thanks, not of recitation. The prostration is sunnah, not wajib.
- Maliki
- The relied-upon count is 11, leaving out 22:77 and the three in the last part of the Quran (53:62, 84:21 and 96:19). The prostration is sunnah.
Surahs named after prophets
Six surahs carry a prophet's name: Yunus, Hud, Yusuf, Ibrahim, Muhammad and Nuh. Maryam is named after the mother of Isa, the only woman named in the Quran.
The rulings on this page are pending review by the scholars on our team.
Questions
Good to know
What is the longest ayah in the Quran?
Al-Baqarah 2:282, the ayah on recording debts.
What is the shortest surah in the Quran?
Al-Kawthar (108), with 3 ayat and the fewest words of any surah.
How many ayat are in the Quran?
6,236 in the Kufan count used in most mushafs.
How many words are in the Quran?
About 77,400 by our count of the Uthmani text. Counts differ a little depending on how joined particles are counted.
How many sajdah are in the Quran?
14 in the Hanafi school. The Tanzil text marks 15 places because the Shafi'i and Hanbali schools add 22:77.