Al-Qaari'a — The Calamity
سُورَةُ القَارِعَةِ
Verses
11
Revealed
30th
Period
Makkan
Juz
30
Al-Qaari'a is named for the Day of Judgment itself — al-Qari'ah, the Striking Calamity, the sudden blow that shatters the world. The surah opens by repeating the word three times like a hammer, building dread through a rhetorical question that refuses to be answered casually: what is the Calamity? What could ever make you grasp it? Then it shows you: people scattered like moths drawn to a flame, mountains carded apart like tufts of dyed wool.
From that cosmic terror the surah narrows to a single, decisive mechanism — the scales. Everything comes down to weight. The one whose scales are heavy with good deeds enters a life of contentment; the one whose scales are light has, for a home, Hawiyah — the abyss. And in case anyone underestimates it, the surah ends by naming what that abyss is: a Fire, intensely hot. The whole surah is a single question with a single answer: on that Day, what will your scale weigh?
Al-Qari'ah — the striking blowMoths and carded woolThe Scale of deedsHeavy vs. light scalesHawiyah — the abyss
Before you begin
Start with sincerity — ask Allah to make this easy for you and to let what you learn benefit you. A short dua to begin with:
رَبِّ زِدْنِي عِلْمًا
Rabbi zidni ‘ilma — “My Lord, increase me in knowledge.” (Qur'an 20:114)
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Core message
The surah strikes its name three times in a row — al-Qari'ah — then asks ma al-qari'ah (what is it?) and wa ma adraka ma al-qari'ah (what could make you comprehend it?). This triple repetition magnifies the terror before any description is given. Then two images deliver it: on that Day people will be like al-farash al-mabthuth — moths scattered and flung about — and the mountains like al-'ihn al-manfush — wool, carded and fluffed apart. The solid becomes weightless; the crowd becomes chaos.
1–3
ٱلْقَارِعَةُ•مَا ٱلْقَارِعَةُ•وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا ٱلْقَارِعَةُ
The Striking Calamity - What is the Striking Calamity? And what can make you know what is the Striking Calamity?
4–5
يَوْمَ يَكُونُ ٱلنَّاسُ كَٱلْفَرَاشِ ٱلْمَبْثُوثِ•وَتَكُونُ ٱلْجِبَالُ كَٱلْعِهْنِ ٱلْمَنفُوشِ
It is the Day when people will be like moths, dispersed, And the mountains will be like wool, fluffed up.
Memory hook — three strikes, then two similes
Lock in the rhythm: the word al-qari'ah hits three times (vv.1–3), each raising the tension, then two similes answer it (vv.4–5). Pair them by their carded/scattered quality: people = moths (scattered, vv.4), mountains = wool (fluffed, v.5). The shared idea is disintegration — everything once stable comes apart.
Why moths?
Al-farash are small flying insects — moths or winged ants — that swarm helplessly toward a flame, colliding and scattering in confusion. The image captures humanity on that Day: disoriented, dense as a swarm, driven without direction. It is a picture of total loss of control.
Section 1 — The striking calamity (vv. 1–5)
ٱلْقَارِعَةُ
al-qari'ah
The Striking Calamity
vv.1–3 — the Day of Judgment; repeated three times
وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ
wa ma adraka
And what could make you grasp...?
v.3 — the device that magnifies the unknown
ٱلنَّاسُ
an-nas
The people / mankind
v.4 — likened to scattered moths
كَٱلْفَرَاشِ
ka-l-farash
Like moths
v.4 — small insects swarming a flame
ٱلْمَبْثُوثِ
al-mabthuth
Scattered / dispersed
v.4 — flung about in confusion
ٱلْجِبَالُ
al-jibal
The mountains
v.5 — likened to carded wool
كَٱلْعِهْنِ
ka-l-'ihn
Like wool
v.5 — soft, dyed wool
ٱلْمَنفُوشِ
al-manfush
Fluffed up / carded
v.5 — combed apart, weightless
Section 2 — The scales and the two destinies (vv. 6–11)
ثَقُلَتْ
thaqulat
Became heavy
v.6 — scales heavy with good deeds
مَوَٰزِينُهُۥ
mawazinuh
His scales / balances
vv.6 & 8 — the weighing of deeds
عِيشَةٍۢ رَّاضِيَةٍۢ
'ishatin radiyah
A pleasant, contented life
v.7 — the reward of the heavy scale
خَفَّتْ
khaffat
Became light
v.8 — scales light of good deeds
فَأُمُّهُۥ
fa-ummuhu
His refuge / “mother”
v.9 — the abyss that enfolds him
هَاوِيَةٌۭ
hawiyah
The abyss (a name of Hell)
v.9 — from a root meaning to fall headlong
مَا هِيَهْ
ma hiyah
What it is
v.10 — the surah's question, reused
نَارٌ حَامِيَةٌۢ
narun hamiyah
An intensely hot Fire
v.11 — the plain answer; the surah's final word
Building dread by repetition
Al-Qari'ah is built on echo: the word al-qari'ah repeats three times at the start, and the question wa ma adraka ma... appears at both the opening and the close. At eleven verses it sits easily in one rak'ah, but reciters often slow the triple opening to let its weight land.
Full surah — single rak'ah
Verses 1–11 · the calamity and its verdict
The surah falls into two halves: the terror of the Day (vv.1–5) and the weighing that decides every fate (vv.6–11). Reciting both together delivers the question and its answer in one arc.
Let the triple al-qari'ah of vv.1–3 build slowly, then carry the rhyme — the verse-ends move through -ah / -ush and settle on the long -iyah ending (radiyah, hawiyah, hiyah, hamiyah) that ties the second half together.
Natural stopping points
v.5
wa takunu al-jibalu ka-l-'ihni al-manfush — end of the opening scene. The two similes complete the picture of the Day before the surah turns to the scales.
v.7
fa-huwa fi 'ishatin radiyah — end of the first destiny. A natural pause between the heavy scale and the light one.
v.11
narun hamiyah — the final verse. Two words that name the abyss and close the surah with nothing left to add.