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Surah 86 · Makkah · 17 āyāt
Phase 02 · Going public — and the persecution(c. 10–8 BH) — view in timelineAt-TāriqThe Nightcomer
الطارق
A short, early Makkan surah that swears by the piercing night-star to establish a single truth: every soul has a watcher over it. From there it moves to the astonishing origin of man from a fluid ejected from between the loins and the ribs, to Allah's power to resurrect, to an oath by rain-bearing sky and life-splitting earth affirming the Qur'an is decisive speech, and closes with a quiet warning: the plotters plot, but Allah's plan prevails — so give the disbelievers a little respite.
Why it was revealed
Revealed in Makkah during the period when the Prophet ﷺ preached mainly to close associates and Quraysh had not yet organised open persecution, though mockery of the Resurrection was already a common objection raised against him.
Drawn fromal-Suyūṭī, al-Itqān fī ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān (on the Makkan surahs); Ibn Kathīr on 86:15–17; Ibn Kathīr on 86:5–8; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm, introduction to Sūrat aṭ-Ṭāriq; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm, introduction to the surah; the general Makkan context described by Ibn Isḥāq, al-Sīrah
No authentic, specific occasion of revelation (asbāb al-nuzūl) is transmitted for this surah beyond its general placement among the early Makkan surahs that establish tawḥīd, the reality of an ever-watching Lord, and the certainty of resurrection. Where no sound report exists, it is better to say so plainly than to invent one.
Cited toIbn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm, introduction to Sūrat aṭ-Ṭāriq; al-Suyūṭī, al-Itqān fī ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān (on the Makkan surahs)
In the Prophet's ﷺ life
Qur'an named among the earliest revealed
Scholars of the Qur'anic sciences place aṭ-Ṭāriq among the early Makkan surahs, alongside others that open with oaths and press the case for tawḥīd and resurrection before the more detailed legal surahs of Madinah were revealed.
Recalled in āyah 1, 2, 3
وَٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلطَّارِقِ
By the sky and the night comer
وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا ٱلطَّارِقُ
And what can make you know what is the night comer?
ٱلنَّجْمُ ٱلثَّاقِبُ
It is the piercing star
Cited toIbn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm, introduction to the surah
- Madd — 2 vowels
- Madd — 2, 4 or 6 vowels
- Madd — 6 vowels (lāzim)
- Madd — 4 or 5 vowels (wājib)
- Ghunnah — 2 vowels
- Qalqalah
- Ikhfāʾ
- Ikhfāʾ shafawī
- Idghām shafawī
- Idghām with ghunnah
- Idghām without ghunnah
- Idghām mutajānisayn
- Idghām mutaqāribayn
- Iqlāb
- Hamzat al-waṣl
- Lām shamsiyyah
- Silent letter
Tajwīd markup and colour convention: Quran.com API (v4) — text_uthmani_tajweed. Recitation audio: Quran.com / Quran Foundation Audio API (v4).
The oath: every soul has a watcher
Allah swears by the sky and by the piercing night-star (aṭ-ṭāriq) that no soul is left without a guardian recording over it. The oath's grandeur matches the weight of the claim: nothing you do escapes notice.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
وَٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلطَّارِقِ
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By the sky and the night comer
وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا ٱلطَّارِقُ
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And what can make you know what is the night comer?
ٱلنَّجْمُ ٱلثَّاقِبُ
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It is the piercing star
إِن كُلُّ نَفْسٍ لَّمَّا عَلَيْهَا حَافِظٌ
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There is no soul but that it has over it a protector.
From the tafsīr
Aṭ-ṭāriq is that which comes at night; here it is explained by what follows — an-najm al-thāqib, the piercing star whose light cuts through darkness. Allah swears by it that every soul has a protector (ḥāfiẓ) over it, recording its deeds.
Cited toIbn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
Al-ṭurūq linguistically is a coming by night, because a night-visitor typically knocks (yaṭruqu) at the door; the star is named ṭāriq because it appears at night. Al-thāqib means piercing and brilliant, cutting through the darkness with its light.
Cited toAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān
Key takeaways
- Allah swears by something small and distant — a single star — to teach that nothing is too small for His notice either.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
- The word ḥāfiẓ (guardian/recorder) means the watching over you is active and continuous, not occasional.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
- A soul that truly believes it is watched behaves differently than one that assumes it is unseen.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
Reflect
What would change in your day if you pictured the recording angel as vividly as the night sky?
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Question 1 of 2
What is the response (jawāb al-qasam) to the oath in this surah?
Question 2 of 2
How does the surah itself explain the meaning of aṭ-ṭāriq?
Man's origin: proof written into his own creation
Let man consider what he was created from: a fluid ejected, emerging from between the backbone and the ribs. The verse turns attention inward — the proof of Allah's power needs no distant miracle, only honest reflection on one's own beginning.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
فَلْيَنظُرِ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ مِمَّ خُلِقَ
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So let man observe from what he was created.
خُلِقَ مِن مَّآءٍ دَافِقٍ
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He was created from a fluid, ejected,
يَخْرُجُ مِنۢ بَيْنِ ٱلصُّلْبِ وَٱلتَّرَآئِبِ
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Emerging from between the backbone and the ribs.
From the tafsīr
Māʾ dāfiq is the ejected, spurting fluid from which man is created; it emerges from between aṣ-ṣulb (the man's backbone) and at-tarāʾib (the ribs of the chest), a description of the source of reproductive fluid in the human body.
Cited toIbn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
The command falyanẓur al-insān — 'let man consider' — is an invitation to reflect, drawing the conclusion that the One who originated him from so humble a beginning is certainly able to return him after death.
Cited toAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān
Key takeaways
- The strongest evidence for the Resurrection cited here is not external — it is each person's own body.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
- Reflection (naẓar) on creation is presented as a religious duty, not idle curiosity.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
- A being created from something so unremarkable has no basis for arrogance.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
Reflect
Where in your own life have you overlooked evidence of Allah's power because it was too close to notice?
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Question 1 of 1
According to āyāt 6–7, from where does man's created substance emerge?
The power to bring back, and the day secrets are exposed
The One who began that creation is certainly able to return it. A day is coming when the innermost secrets are tested and brought out — and on that day, man will have no strength and no helper of his own.
Drawn fromAl-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
إِنَّهُۥ عَلَىٰ رَجْعِهِۦ لَقَادِرٌ
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Indeed, He [i.e., Allāh], to return him [to life], is Able.
يَوْمَ تُبْلَى ٱلسَّرَآئِرُ
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The Day when secrets will be put on trial,
فَمَا لَهُۥ مِن قُوَّةٍ وَلَا نَاصِرٍ
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Then he [i.e., man] will have no power or any helper.
From the tafsīr
Innahu ʿalā rajʿihī la-qādir — He who created him the first time is certainly able to bring him back after death; yawma tublā as-sarāʾir is the Day of Judgement, when hidden matters of the heart — beliefs, intentions, deeds kept secret — are exposed and tested.
Cited toIbn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
As-sarāʾir refers to what people concealed of their deeds and beliefs in the worldly life; on that Day nothing of it remains hidden, and man will find neither strength (quwwah) in himself nor any helper (nāṣir) to save him.
Cited toAl-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān
Key takeaways
- The argument moves logically: if He could originate, He can certainly repeat — a first creation is the harder case, not the second.
Drawn fromAl-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
- 'The secrets tested' means intentions matter as much as visible deeds.
Drawn fromAl-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
- On that Day, wealth, status, and allies that once seemed like strength will all fail to help.
Drawn fromAl-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
Reflect
What intention or private matter would you want to already have corrected before it is tested and exposed?
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Question 1 of 1
How is as-sarāʾir explained by the mufassirūn?
A second oath: the Qur'an is decisive speech
A fresh oath — by the sky that returns rain and the earth that splits open for plants — affirms that the Qur'an is a decisive word (qawl faṣl), no idle jest, separating truth from falsehood.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
وَٱلسَّمَآءِ ذَاتِ ٱلرَّجْعِ
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By the sky which sends back
وَٱلْأَرْضِ ذَاتِ ٱلصَّدْعِ
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And [by] the earth which splits,
إِنَّهُۥ لَقَوْلٌ فَصْلٌ
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Indeed, it [i.e., the Qur’ān] is a decisive statement,
وَمَا هُوَ بِٱلْهَزْلِ
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And it is not amusement.
From the tafsīr
As-samāʾ dhāt ar-rajʿ is the sky that repeatedly sends down rain; al-arḍ dhāt aṣ-ṣadʿ is the earth that splits open for seeds and plants to emerge — cycles of return and renewal, fitting an oath about a Book that likewise returns truth and brings forth guidance.
Cited toIbn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
Qawl faṣl means speech that distinguishes and separates truth from falsehood decisively; wa mā huwa bil-hazl — 'it is not amusement' — negates any notion that the Qur'an is frivolous or a jest.
Cited toAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān
Key takeaways
- The imagery of rain and sprouting earth mirrors the Qur'an's own function: it brings life and growth to hearts.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
- 'Decisive speech' means the Qur'an settles matters — it is not open to careless dismissal.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
- Calling revelation 'no jest' rules out treating guidance as a matter of entertainment or indifference.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
Reflect
Do you engage with the Qur'an as decisive guidance, or sometimes as background noise?
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Question 1 of 1
What does qawl faṣl mean as a description of the Qur'an in āyah 13?
Their scheming, and His greater plan
The disbelievers plot and scheme (kayd), and Allah plots too — His plan overtakes theirs completely. The surah closes with a striking instruction: give the disbelievers a little respite, a calm word rather than a panicked one.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
إِنَّهُمْ يَكِيدُونَ كَيْدًا
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Indeed, they are planning a plan,
وَأَكِيدُ كَيْدًا
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But I am planning a plan.
فَمَهِّلِ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ أَمْهِلْهُمْ رُوَيْدًۢا
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So allow time for the disbelievers. Leave them awhile.
From the tafsīr
Innahum yakīdūna kaydā, wa akīdu kaydā — they plot a plot, and I too plan a plan; Allah's plan (His decree and gradual seizing of the wrongdoers) is described as encompassing and certain, however elaborate their scheming.
Cited toIbn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
Famahhil al-kāfirīna amhilhum ruwaydā — 'so give the disbelievers respite, a gentle respite' — instructs patience rather than haste in confronting them, trusting that Allah's response will come in its due time.
Cited toAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān
Key takeaways
- Human scheming against truth is real, but it is never the last word — Allah's plan is described as overtaking it.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
- 'Ruwaydā' (a little, gently) counsels measured patience, not passivity or panic.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
- The surah that opened with a watcher over every soul closes by reminding the listener that Allah is also watching, and outmaneuvering, every scheme against His guidance.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
Reflect
Where do you need 'ruwaydā' — patience without panic — while trusting Allah's plan over visible opposition?
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How does the surah conclude regarding the disbelievers?
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Roots from this surah
Learn the three-letter root and you unlock every word built from it — across the whole Qur'an, not just this surah.
ط ر ق
āyāt 1, 2to knock, to come by night
- طَارِقnight-comer, one who knocks
- طَرِيقpath, road
- طَرَقَhe knocked, arrived at night
ح ف ظ
āyāt 4to guard, preserve, watch over
- حَافِظguardian, protector
- حِفْظpreservation, memorisation
- مَحْفُوظprotected, preserved
خ ل ق
āyāt 5, 6to create, bring into being
- خَلَقَhe created
- خَلْقcreation
- خَالِقthe Creator
ر ج ع
āyāt 8, 11to return, come back
- رَجَعَhe returned
- رَجْعreturn, repetition
- مَرْجِعplace of return
س ر ر
āyāt 9to conceal, keep secret
- سِرّa secret
- سَرِيرَةan inner, hidden matter
- أَسَرَّhe concealed, kept hidden
ق و ل
āyāt 13to speak, say
- قَوْلa statement, speech
- قَالَhe said
- مَقَالَةan article, saying
ك ي د
āyāt 15, 16to scheme, plot, devise a plan
- كَيْدa scheme, plot
- كَادَhe plotted, schemed
- مَكِيدَةa stratagem
م ه ل
āyāt 17to grant time, delay, act gently
- مَهَّلَhe gave respite
- مُهْلَةa grace period
- تَمَهَّلَhe proceeded calmly
Carry this with you
- Every soul lives under an unbroken watch — nothing done in secret is truly unseen.
- Reflect on your own creation; it is proof enough of what your Creator can do again.
- The One who began you from something so humble can certainly return you after death.
- On the Day secrets are tested, no worldly power or ally will be able to help.
- The Qur'an is decisive speech, never to be treated as idle amusement.
- Human scheming against the truth is real, but Allah's plan overtakes it entirely.
- Facing opposition calls for measured patience (ruwaydā), not panic or despair.
- Where no authentic occasion of revelation is transmitted, it is better to say so than to invent one.
Where this surah connects
Cross-surah threads
Parts of the Qurʾān explain other parts. Each thread below opens the same subject as it is argued across every other surah you have studied, in revelation order.
Sources behind Sūrah At-Tāriq
Every line of context, tafsīr and takeaway on this page traces back to one of these references. Ḥadīth numbers open on sunnah.com and āyah references open on quran.com, so you can check the claim rather than take it on trust. The Arabic text itself is fetched live from a verified public corpus.
Tafsīr14
- Al-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān
- Al-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān on 86:13–14
- Al-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān on 86:17
- Al-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān on 86:4
- al-Suyūṭī, al-Itqān fī ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān (on the Makkan surahs)
- Al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān
- Al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān on 86:9–10
- Ibn Kathīr on 86:15–17
- Ibn Kathīr on 86:5–8
- Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
- Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm on 86:1–3
- Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm on 86:6–7
- Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm, introduction to Sūrat aṭ-Ṭāriq
- Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm, introduction to the surah
Seerah & history1
- the general Makkan context described by Ibn Isḥāq, al-Sīrah
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At-Tāriq · The power to bring back, and the day secrets are exposed
What is meant by yawma tublā as-sarāʾir in āyah 9?
Arabic (Uthmānī script) and the Ṣaḥīḥ International translation are fetched live from the Quran.com API (v4), sourced from the King Fahd Complex muṣḥaf — api.quran.com API docs · Translation: Ṣaḥīḥ International · Integrity & testing protocol