Surah 100
Surah Al-'Adiyat (The Courser)
العاديات
Also written: Adiyat
Surah Al-'Adiyat (العاديات) is surah 100 of the 114 surahs of the Quran. It has 11 ayahs, was revealed in Mecca (Meccan), and its name means “The Courser”.
- Number
- 100
- Ayahs
- 11
- Revelation
- Meccan
- Meaning
- The Courser
Names, meaning and Meccan/Medinan classification as listed in the quran-json dataset.
About Surah Al-'Adiyat
Al-’Adiyat, “The Courser”, opens with a vivid, breathless scene: horses racing and panting, striking sparks with their hooves, raiding at dawn, raising dust and plunging into the midst of a crowd. That energy and loyalty are then set against the human being, who is ungrateful to his Lord and fiercely attached to wealth.
Flow of the surah
- The charge (100:1–5): five short oaths that build speed and sound, from panting to sparks to dust.
- The answer (100:6–8): the human being is ungrateful to his Lord, is himself a witness to that, and is intense in his love of good things.
- A sobering question (100:9–11): does he not know what will happen when the graves are emptied and what is in the hearts is brought out? On that Day, their Lord is fully aware of them.
The lesson of the horse
Commentators often draw out the contrast: a horse, fed and cared for by its owner, gives everything — even running into danger — for him. The human being, given far more by his Lord, often responds with ingratitude. The word used for “good things” in verse 8 is understood by most as wealth.
Most commentators understand the opening verses as describing war horses. A minority view, reported from some early figures, applies them to the camels of pilgrims travelling between the sacred sites; both readings keep the same image of tireless effort.
The sound of the Arabic here, with its quick, repeated endings, makes the surah especially striking when recited aloud.
Frequently asked questions
- What are the 'chargers' in Surah Al-'Adiyat?
- Most commentators say war horses; a minority view says the camels of pilgrims.
- How many verses are in Surah Al-'Adiyat?
- 11.
- How many ayahs are in Surah Al-'Adiyat?
- Surah Al-'Adiyat has 11 ayahs. It is surah number 100 in the Quran and is Meccan.
- Can I read Surah Al-'Adiyat in English or save it as a PDF?
- Yes. This page shows the Arabic text of every ayah with the Saheeh International English meaning under it. Use “Print / Save as PDF” for a clean printable copy that you can save as a PDF file from your browser.
- Is Surah Al-'Adiyat the same as Surah Adiyat?
- Yes. Adiyat and Al-'Adiyat are different English spellings of the same surah name, العاديات.
Summaries describe the surah’s content and commonly cited reports for general readers; they are not a tafsir or a religious ruling.
Making a video of Surah Al-'Adiyat
With 11 ayahs, Surah Al-'Adiyat is short enough for a single vertical video. Select all ayahs on the new-project page, load a recitation, and use “Highlight current ayah” to keep the whole surah on screen while each ayah is emphasised as it is recited.
In the editor, the Online Recitations tab lists the reciters Quran Foundation provides for this surah. See how to create a Quran video for the full steps.
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Surah Al-'Adiyat in Arabic with English meaning
Arabic: Uthmani script from The Noble Qur'an Encyclopedia (quranenc.com), Uthmani script, via quran-json (CC-BY-SA 4.0), shown as in the verified dataset; open-tanween marks use the equivalent codepoints this font draws, as in the editor. English meaning: Saheeh International (tanzil.net). A translation conveys the meaning; it is not the Quran itself.
وَٱلۡعَٰدِيَٰتِ ضَبۡحࣰا ١
100:1By the racers, panting
فَٱلۡمُورِيَٰتِ قَدۡحࣰا ٢
100:2And the producers of sparks [when] striking
فَٱلۡمُغِيرَٰتِ صُبۡحࣰا ٣
100:3And the chargers at dawn
فَأَثَرۡنَ بِهِۦ نَقۡعࣰا ٤
100:4Stirring up thereby [clouds of] dust
فَوَسَطۡنَ بِهِۦ جَمۡعًا ٥
100:5Arriving thereby in the center collectively
إِنَّ ٱلۡإِنسَٰنَ لِرَبِّهِۦ لَكَنُودࣱ ٦
100:6Indeed mankind, to his Lord, is ungrateful
وَإِنَّهُۥ عَلَىٰ ذَٰلِكَ لَشَهِيدࣱ ٧
100:7And indeed, he is to that a witness
وَإِنَّهُۥ لِحُبِّ ٱلۡخَيۡرِ لَشَدِيدٌ ٨
100:8And indeed he is, in love of wealth, intense
۞أَفَلَا يَعۡلَمُ إِذَا بُعۡثِرَ مَا فِي ٱلۡقُبُورِ ٩
100:9But does he not know that when the contents of the graves are scattered
وَحُصِّلَ مَا فِي ٱلصُّدُورِ ١٠
100:10And that within the breasts is obtained
إِنَّ رَبَّهُم بِهِمۡ يَوۡمَئِذࣲ لَّخَبِيرُۢ ١١
100:11Indeed, their Lord with them, that Day, is [fully] Acquainted