Groups of sūrahs
Sūrah families
Some sūrahs were spoken of together by the Prophet ﷺ, by the Companions, or by the scholars who came after them. Knowing the group tells you what to expect before you read a word of it. Every grouping here carries the report it rests on, and where a report is weak or the membership is disputed, the page says so.
The Ḥawāmīm
الحواميمSeven sūrahs in a row that all open with Ḥā Mīm.
7 sūrahs · Ghāfir, Fuṣṣilat, Ash-Shūrā, Az-Zukhruf…
The Musabbiḥāt
المسبِّحاتThe sūrahs that open by glorifying Allah — recited before sleep.
7 sūrahs · Al-Isrāʾ, Al-Ḥadīd, Al-Ḥashr, Aṣ-Ṣaff…
Az-Zahrāwān — the two bright ones
الزهراوانAl-Baqarah and Āl ʿImrān, named as a pair by the Prophet ﷺ.
2 sūrahs · Al-Baqarah, Āl ʿImrān
Al-Muʿawwidhāt — the sūrahs of seeking refuge
المعوِّذاتAl-Falaq and an-Nās as a pair, with al-Ikhlāṣ joined to them in practice.
3 sūrahs · Al-Ikhlāṣ, Al-Falaq, An-Nās
Aṭ-Ṭiwāl as-Sabʿ — the seven long
الطُّوَل السبعThe seven long sūrahs that open the muṣḥaf after al-Fātiḥah.
7 sūrahs · Al-Baqarah, Āl ʿImrān, An-Nisāʾ, Al-Māʾidah…
Al-Mufaṣṣal — the closing portion
المفصَّلThe last stretch of the muṣḥaf, divided into long, middle and short.
3 portions
The fourfold division of the Qurʾān
الطُّوَل والمِئون والمثاني والمفصَّلAn early way of describing the whole Qurʾān in four portions.
4 portions
The Alif Lām Mīm openings
المSix sūrahs that open with the same three letters — and the same subject.
6 sūrahs · Al-Baqarah, Āl ʿImrān, Al-ʿAnkabūt, Ar-Rūm…
The Friday Fajr pair
سجدة والإنسانAs-Sajdah and al-Insān, recited together in Fajr on Fridays.
2 sūrahs · As-Sajdah, Al-Insān
The pair of sincerity
الكافرون والإخلاصAl-Kāfirūn and al-Ikhlāṣ, paired in the Prophet's ﷺ regular prayers.
2 sūrahs · Al-Kāfirūn, Al-Ikhlāṣ
Nothing here adds to the Qurʾān or rearranges it. These are names the early community used for stretches of text that already sit together.