Surah 99
Surah Az-Zalzalah (The Earthquake)
الزلزلة
Also written: Zalzalah, Zilzal, Zalzala
Surah Az-Zalzalah (الزلزلة) is surah 99 of the 114 surahs of the Quran. It has 8 ayahs, was revealed in Medina (Medinan), and its name means “The Earthquake”.
- Number
- 99
- Ayahs
- 8
- Revelation
- Medinan
- Meaning
- The Earthquake
Names, meaning and Meccan/Medinan classification as listed in the quran-json dataset.
About Surah Az-Zalzalah
Az-Zalzalah, “The Earthquake”, describes the earth’s final, violent shaking on the Last Day. The ground gives up its burdens, people ask in bewilderment what is happening, and the earth itself reports what took place on it. The surah ends with two verses that capture the Quran’s idea of accountability: nothing done, however small, is lost.
Verse by verse
- The shaking (99:1–3): the earth quakes, throws out what it carries, and the human being asks what is wrong with it.
- The earth speaks (99:4–5): it tells its news because its Lord has inspired it to.
- Scattered groups (99:6): people come forth in separate groups to be shown their deeds.
- The scale of an atom (99:7–8): whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.
“The comprehensive verse”
In Sahih al-Bukhari, when the Prophet was asked about a matter on which nothing specific had been revealed, he pointed to the last two verses of this surah and called them unique and all-encompassing. Their message encourages small acts of kindness and warns against dismissing small wrongs.
A report in at-Tirmidhi explains the earth’s “news” as its testimony about what every person did upon it, though scholars differ on the strength of its chain. Another narration says Az-Zalzalah equals half the Quran; many hadith scholars consider it weak.
Meccan or Medinan?
The dataset used on this site lists it as Medinan. Scholars differ; many classify it as Meccan because of its focus on the Last Day.
Frequently asked questions
- Where is the verse about an atom's weight of good?
- Surah Az-Zalzalah, verses 7-8.
- How many verses are in Surah Az-Zalzalah?
- 8.
- Is Surah Az-Zalzalah Meccan or Medinan?
- Scholars differ. The dataset used on this site lists it as Medinan; many classify it as Meccan.
- How many ayahs are in Surah Az-Zalzalah?
- Surah Az-Zalzalah has 8 ayahs. It is surah number 99 in the Quran and is Medinan.
- Can I read Surah Az-Zalzalah 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 Az-Zalzalah the same as Surah Zalzalah?
- Yes. Zalzalah, Zilzal, Zalzala and Az-Zalzalah are different English spellings of the same surah name, الزلزلة.
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 Az-Zalzalah
With 8 ayahs, Surah Az-Zalzalah 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 Az-Zalzalah 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.
إِذَا زُلۡزِلَتِ ٱلۡأَرۡضُ زِلۡزَالَهَا ١
99:1When the earth is shaken with its [final] earthquake
وَأَخۡرَجَتِ ٱلۡأَرۡضُ أَثۡقَالَهَا ٢
99:2And the earth discharges its burdens
وَقَالَ ٱلۡإِنسَٰنُ مَا لَهَا ٣
99:3And man says, "What is [wrong] with it
يَوۡمَئِذࣲ تُحَدِّثُ أَخۡبَارَهَا ٤
99:4That Day, it will report its news
بِأَنَّ رَبَّكَ أَوۡحَىٰ لَهَا ٥
99:5Because your Lord has commanded it
يَوۡمَئِذࣲ يَصۡدُرُ ٱلنَّاسُ أَشۡتَاتࣰا لِّيُرَوۡاْ أَعۡمَٰلَهُمۡ ٦
99:6That Day, the people will depart separated [into categories] to be shown [the result of] their deeds
فَمَن يَعۡمَلۡ مِثۡقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيۡرࣰا يَرَهُۥ ٧
99:7So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it
وَمَن يَعۡمَلۡ مِثۡقَالَ ذَرَّةࣲ شَرࣰّا يَرَهُۥ ٨
99:8And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it