✦ AT A GLANCE ✦

الحجر

Al-Hijr

The Rocky Tract · 99 verses · meccan · 8 min read

✦ Why this name

Al-Hijr — the rocky valley in the north-west of Arabia where Thamud carved their homes into the cliffs, mentioned in verses 80–84.

✦ When it came

Meccan, during a period of intense mockery. The surah is largely a consolation to the Prophet ﷺ: the pattern of mockery is old, and it has never once changed the outcome.

✦ The story

The surah's most famous verse is a guarantee: *"Indeed, it is We who sent down the Reminder, and indeed, We will be its guardian."* Everything else in the surah stands under that sentence — the Book will not be lost, whatever is done to the man carrying it.

Then it retells the refusal at the beginning of everything. Iblis will not bow to a creature made of clay, is expelled, and asks for time. His plan is stated in his own words, and so is its limit: *"you will have no authority over My servants, except those who follow you."*

Guests arrive at Ibrahim's عليه السلام door with news of a son in his old age, and then continue to Lut's town. The rock-carvers of al-Hijr are named. And near the end, the Prophet ﷺ is told something quietly personal: *"We know that your heart is constrained by what they say."* The remedy given is not an argument. It is prayer.

✦ How it unfolds

  1. AYAH 1-15

    The Reminder guarded

    The promise that the Quran will be preserved, and the mockery that has met every messenger.

  2. AYAH 26-48

    Clay and refusal

    Adam formed from clay, Iblis refusing, asking for respite, and the limit set on his reach.

  3. AYAH 51-84

    Guests and towns

    The news of a son for Ibrahim, the people of Lut, and the rock-carvers who felt safe in their cliffs.

  4. AYAH 85-99

    When the chest tightens

    "We know your heart is constrained" — and the answer: glorify, prostrate, and worship until certainty comes.

✦ Verses to carry

Sources

Introductions to the surah in Tafsir Ibn Kathir and Mawdudi's Tafhim al-Qur'an; ayah numbering per the Madani mushaf.

Awaiting scholar review — please read alongside a trusted tafsir.