✦ AT A GLANCE ✦
الكوثر
Al-Kawthar
✦ Why this name
The Abundance — al-Kawthar, a river in Paradise given to the Prophet ﷺ. It is the shortest surah in the Quran.
✦ When it came
Meccan. The Prophet's ﷺ sons had died in infancy, and an enemy called him *abtar* — cut off, without a legacy. This surah answered.
✦ The story
Three verses, and they are a reply.
*"Indeed, We have granted you al-Kawthar. So pray to your Lord and sacrifice. Indeed, your enemy is the one cut off."*
A man mocked him for having no sons to carry his name. Fourteen centuries later, his name is said aloud more often than any other name in human history, in every language, in every hour of every day — and the man who mocked him is remembered only in this surah, unnamed.
The middle verse is worth noticing. Given abundance, the instruction is not to celebrate. It is to pray and to give.