Al-Muzzammil — The Enshrouded One
سُورَةُ المُزَّمِّلِ
Verses
20
Revealed
3rd
Period
Makkan
Juz
29
Al-Muzzammil opens by calling the Prophet ﷺ out of his cloak. He had wrapped himself up — al-muzzammil, the enshrouded one — and the command comes: arise, and stand the night in prayer, all but a little of it. Pray half the night, or a little less, or a little more, and recite the Qur'an with tartīl — slow, measured, deliberate recitation. A reason is given at once: We are about to lay upon you a heavy word. The night hours are singled out as the time when heart and tongue align most fully, because the day is a long swim of occupation. So keep the name of your Lord on your tongue, cut yourself off to Him in devotion, take the Lord of the East and the West as your only trustee, be patient over what the deniers say, and withdraw from them with a gracious, dignified distance.
The surah then hands the reckoning to Allah: leave Me and the deniers — those cushioned in ease — for with Him are shackles, a blazing fire, food that chokes, and a Day when the earth and mountains convulse into a heap of sliding sand. A Messenger has been sent to bear witness over this people, just as one was sent to Pharaoh — and Pharaoh disobeyed and was seized with a ruinous grip. How, then, will anyone guard himself against a Day so terrible it turns children white-haired, a Day the very sky breaks apart? This is a reminder, so whoever wills may take a road to his Lord. The long final verse (v.20), revealed later, then lightens the night vigil with which the surah began: Allah knows the believers cannot sustain such prayer, and knows that among them are the sick, the travellers seeking His bounty, and those fighting in His cause — so recite what is easy, establish the prayer, give the zakat, and lend Allah a goodly loan.
Rise for the nightTartīl — measured recitationA heavy word to comePatience & gracious distanceThe vigil lightened
0/4 sections learned
Core message
The surah addresses the Prophet ﷺ by his state in that very moment — al-muzzammil, the one wrapped up in his cloak — and calls him out of his covering into the night (v.1). Arise and pray through the night, all but a little of it: half of it, or a little less, or a little more, and recite the Qur'an with tartīl — slow, measured, distinct recitation (vv.2–4). The reason follows: We are about to cast upon you a heavy word — the weight of revelation and the mission it carries (v.5). The hours of the night are singled out because that is when heart and tongue meet most fully and speech is most upright (v.6), for the day is filled with long, occupying affairs (v.7). So keep the name of your Lord on your tongue and cut yourself off to Him in complete devotion (v.8).
1–4
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْمُزَّمِّلُ•قُمِ ٱلَّيْلَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا•نِّصْفَهُۥٓ أَوِ ٱنقُصْ مِنْهُ قَلِيلًا•أَوْ زِدْ عَلَيْهِ وَرَتِّلِ ٱلْقُرْءَانَ تَرْتِيلًا
Yā ayyuhā-l-muzzammil•Qumi-l-layla illā qalīlā•Niṣfahu awi-nquṣ minhu qalīlā•Aw zid ʿalayhi warattili-l-qurʾāna tartīlā
O you who wraps himself [in clothing], Arise [to pray] the night, except for a little - Half of it - or subtract from it a little Or add to it, and recite the Qur'an with measured recitation.
5
إِنَّا سَنُلْقِى عَلَيْكَ قَوْلًا ثَقِيلًا
Innā sanulqī ʿalayka qawlan thaqīlā
Indeed, We will cast upon you a heavy word.
6–7
إِنَّ نَاشِئَةَ ٱلَّيْلِ هِىَ أَشَدُّ وَطْـًٔا وَأَقْوَمُ قِيلًا•إِنَّ لَكَ فِى ٱلنَّهَارِ سَبْحًا طَوِيلًا
Inna nāshiʾata-l-layli hiya ashaddu waṭʾan waʾaqwamu qīlā•Inna laka fī-n-nahāri sabḥan ṭawīlā
Indeed, the hours of the night are more effective for concurrence [of heart and tongue] and more suitable for words. Indeed, for you by day is prolonged occupation.
8
وَٱذْكُرِ ٱسْمَ رَبِّكَ وَتَبَتَّلْ إِلَيْهِ تَبْتِيلًا
Wadhkuri-sma rabbika watabattal ilayhi tabtīlā
And remember the name of your Lord and devote yourself to Him with [complete] devotion.
Memory hook — from wrapped to standing
The section moves the Prophet ﷺ from lying wrapped (al-muzzammil) to standing in prayer (qumi l-layl). Hold two rhyming words: tartīlā in v.4 — recitation slowed and shaped, never rushed — and tabtīlā in v.8 — devotion that cuts away everything but Allah. The two frame the discipline of the night: measure your recitation, and detach your heart.
What tartīl means — v.4
Tartīl is to recite unhurriedly, giving each letter its right and pausing at the ends of verses, so the meaning has room to land on the heart. It is not merely a manner of reading but the Qur'anic ideal itself — reflection is the point, not speed. This is why the reciters preserve the science of tajwīd and the places of pausing: the command of v.4 is the root of it.
Why the night? — vv.6–7
Nāshi'ata l-layl (the rising / the hours of the night) is set against sabhan tawīlā (a long swim of occupation) by day. In the stillness of the night, with the world's business set aside, the heart and tongue move together — the recitation is ashaddu wat'ā (heavier in its impress) and aqwamu qīlā (more upright in speech). The night is chosen not for hardship's sake but because it is where concentration is deepest.
Section 1 — The enshrouded one rises for the night (vv. 1–8)
ٱلْمُزَّمِّلُ
al-muzzammil
The enshrouded / wrapped one
v.1 — the Prophet ﷺ addressed by his state; the surah's name
قُمِ ٱلَّيْلَ
qumi l-layl
Arise [in prayer] the night
v.2 — the opening command to stand the night
وَرَتِّلِ ٱلْقُرْءَانَ تَرْتِيلًا
wa rattili l-qur'āna tartīlā
And recite the Qur'an with measured recitation
v.4 — the norm for how the Qur'an is read
قَوْلًۭا ثَقِيلًا
qawlan thaqīlā
A heavy word
v.5 — the weight of the coming revelation
نَاشِئَةَ ٱلَّيْلِ
nāshi'ata l-layl
The hours / rising of the night
v.6 — when heart and tongue align most fully
وَأَقْوَمُ قِيلًا
wa aqwamu qīlā
And more upright in speech
v.6 — the night recitation is truer, steadier
سَبْحًۭا طَوِيلًۭا
sabhan tawīlā
Prolonged occupation / a long swim
v.7 — the busyness of the day
وَتَبَتَّلْ إِلَيْهِ تَبْتِيلًۭا
wa tabattal ilayhi tabtīlā
And devote yourself to Him wholly
v.8 — cut yourself off to Him alone
Section 2 — Trust, patience, and the deniers left to Allah (vv. 9–14)
ٱلْمَشْرِقِ وَٱلْمَغْرِبِ
al-mashriq wa-l-maghrib
The East and the West
v.9 — He is Lord of them both
وَكِيلًۭا
wakīlā
Disposer of affairs / trustee
v.9 — take Him alone to entrust matters to
وَٱصْبِرْ
wa-sbir
And be patient
v.10 — over what the deniers say
هَجْرًۭا جَمِيلًۭا
hajran jamīlā
A gracious avoidance
v.10 — withdraw without insult or revenge
وَذَرْنِى وَٱلْمُكَذِّبِينَ
wa dharnī wa-l-mukadhdhibīn
And leave Me with the deniers
v.11 — Allah takes their reckoning upon Himself
أُو۟لِى ٱلنَّعْمَةِ
ulī n-naʿma
Those of ease / luxury
v.11 — the deniers cushioned in comfort
أَنكَالًۭا
ankālā
Shackles / heavy fetters
v.12 — held in store for them
ذَا غُصَّةٍۢ
dhā ghussa
That chokes [in the throat]
v.13 — the food of the punishment
كَثِيبًۭا مَّهِيلًا
kathīban mahīlā
A heap of sliding sand
v.14 — the mountains on the Day of upheaval
Section 3 — A Messenger, like the one sent to Pharaoh (vv. 15–19)
رَسُولًۭا شَٰهِدًا
rasūlan shāhidā
A Messenger as a witness
v.15 — sent to bear witness over you
فِرْعَوْنَ
firʿawn
Pharaoh
v.15 — to whom a messenger was likewise sent
فَعَصَىٰ
fa-ʿasā
But he disobeyed
v.16 — Pharaoh's response to the messenger
أَخْذًۭا وَبِيلًۭا
akhdhan wabīlā
A ruinous seizure
v.16 — how Allah seized Pharaoh
يَجْعَلُ ٱلْوِلْدَٰنَ شِيبًا
yajʿalu l-wildāna shībā
Makes the children white-haired
v.17 — the terror of that Day
ٱلسَّمَآءُ مُنفَطِرٌۢ
as-samā'u munfatir
The heaven breaking apart
v.18 — the sky splits on that Day
مَفْعُولًا
mafʿūlā
[Certainly] carried out
v.18 — His promise is ever fulfilled
تَذْكِرَةٌۭ
tadhkira
A reminder
v.19 — what this surah is
سَبِيلًا
sabīlā
A way / road [to his Lord]
v.19 — whoever wills may take it
Section 4 — The night vigil lightened (v. 20)
ثُلُثَىِ ٱلَّيْلِ
thuluthayi l-layl
Two thirds of the night
v.20 — the extent of the night prayer they stood
لَّن تُحْصُوهُ
lan tuhsūh
You will not be able to sustain / reckon it
v.20 — why the vigil is eased
فَتَابَ عَلَيْكُمْ
fatāba ʿalaykum
So He turned to you in forgiveness
v.20 — the mercy behind the lightening
مَا تَيَسَّرَ
mā tayassara
What is easy
v.20 — recite what you are able; stated twice
يَضْرِبُونَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ
yadribūna fi l-ard
Travelling through the land
v.20 — those seeking Allah's bounty
يُقَٰتِلُونَ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ
yuqātilūna fī sabīli llāh
Fighting for the cause of Allah
v.20 — another excuse acknowledged by name
وَأَقِيمُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ
wa aqīmū s-salāh
And establish the prayer
v.20 — the fixed obligation that remains
قَرْضًا حَسَنًۭا
qardan hasanā
A goodly loan
v.20 — lending to Allah, repaid multiplied
غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌۢ
ghafūrun rahīm
Forgiving, Merciful
v.20 — the note the surah closes on
A surah of the night
Al-Muzzammil is, at its heart, the charter of the night prayer. Its opening verses are the command that first made qiyām al-layl obligatory, and its closing verse is what eased it. Reciting the surah — especially within a night prayer — carries that same weight: it is a call to stand, to recite with tartīl, and to entrust one's affairs to the Lord of the East and the West before sleep or in the last third of the night.
In qiyam al-layl — its natural home
Verses 1–20 · the surah that commanded the night prayer
Al-Muzzammil is uniquely fitted to the night prayer, since it is the surah that instituted qiyām al-layl. Reciting it in the night — even a portion of it — lets its command and its mercy meet: the call to arise and stand the night (vv.1–4) and the closing permission to recite whatever is easy (v.20).
Let the opening verses set the intention as you begin, and let v.20 remind you that consistency, not exhaustion, is what is asked — mā tayassara, what you are able.
Recite with tartīl, as the surah itself commands in v.4: unhurried, distinct, giving the meaning room to settle.
Full surah in one rak'ah
Verses 1–20 · preserving the whole arc
At twenty verses — nineteen short ones and a single long close — the surah fits comfortably in one rak'ah. Reciting it whole preserves its movement: the command to rise → patience and trust → the warning of Pharaoh's fate → the lightening of the vigil.
For memorisation, the natural blocks are vv.1–8 (the night command), vv.9–14 (patience and the deniers), vv.15–19 (Pharaoh and the reminder), and the long v.20 on its own.
The long closing verse rewards slow, deliberate recitation — its clauses move from the night prayer through the sick, the traveller, and the fighter to prayer, zakat, and the goodly loan.
A model for practising tartīl
Verses 1–7 · training measured recitation
The rhyming, evenly-weighted verses of the opening (all ending in the long -īlā sound: qalīlā, tartīlā, thaqīlā, tawīlā) make this passage an ideal place to practise the tartīl the surah commands.
Recite slowly enough to hear each ending land, pausing cleanly at every verse-end, letting the meaning of a heavy word and the hours of the night register before moving on.
This is the surah teaching its own method: it commands measured recitation in v.4 and then models it in the very cadence of its verses.
Natural stopping points
v.5
innā sanulqī ʿalayka qawlan thaqīlā — end of the opening command and its reason. “A heavy word” is a weighty place to pause before the turn to the night's virtue.
v.10
wa-hjurhum hajran jamīlā — end of the instructions to the Prophet ﷺ: trust, patience, and gracious distance. A clean seam before Allah takes the deniers' matter into His own hands.
v.14
wa kānati l-jibālu kathīban mahīlā — the close of the warning passage, ending on the mountains dissolving into sand. A heavy, complete landing.
v.19
fa-man shā'a ttakhadha ilā rabbihi sabīlā — end of the Makkan body of the surah, closing on the open invitation. A natural pause before the long final verse.
v.20
The long closing verse — the lightening of the vigil, ending on Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. A gentle, complete close to the surah.
How well do you know this surah?