Three more surahs, then the Crib + hooks tab. The quiz mixes these three with a recall drill —
then lesson 6 adds the final four surahs and lesson 7 is the complete 23-surah review.
Flash mode hides the word meanings so you can self-test.
سُورَةُ الْفِيلِAl-Feel — “The Elephant” Makki · 5 verses · #105
Theme & context (background)
🎯 Theme: Allah destroyed the army of the elephant that came to demolish the Ka‘bah — His power protects His House and turns the plots of tyrants to ruin.
📜 Occasion / historical event (know this one!): in the Year of the Elephant (~570 CE, the year the Prophet ﷺ was born),
Abraha, the Abyssinian governor of Yemen, marched on Makkah with a great army led by an elephant to destroy the Ka‘bah.
Allah sent flocks of birds (ababil) that pelted them with stones of baked clay, leaving them like chewed-up straw.
Text & translation
أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِأَصْحَابِ الْفِيلِ ﴿١﴾1. Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with the people of the elephant?
أَلَمْ يَجْعَلْ كَيْدَهُمْ فِي تَضْلِيلٍ ﴿٢﴾2. Did He not make their plot go astray?
وَأَرْسَلَ عَلَيْهِمْ طَيْرًا أَبَابِيلَ ﴿٣﴾3. And He sent against them birds in flocks,
تَرْمِيهِمْ بِحِجَارَةٍ مِنْ سِجِّيلٍ ﴿٤﴾4. pelting them with stones of baked clay,
فَجَعَلَهُمْ كَعَصْفٍ مَأْكُولٍ ﴿٥﴾5. and made them like chewed-up straw.
Key words (lafzi)
أَصْحَابِ الْفِيلِthe people of the elephant (Abraha's army)
كَيْدَهُمْtheir plot / scheme
فِي تَضْلِيلٍinto misguidance / to waste
طَيْرًا أَبَابِيلَbirds in flocks (flock after flock)
بِحِجَارَةٍ مِنْ سِجِّيلٍstones of hard, baked clay
كَعَصْفٍ مَأْكُولٍlike eaten / chewed-up straw
Reflection (background)
💡 Lesson: no power, however mighty, can stand against Allah. He protects His religion and His sacred House;
the schemes of the arrogant end in ruin.
سُورَةُ قُرَيْشٍQuraysh — “The Tribe of Quraysh” Makki · 4 verses · #106
Theme & context (background)
🎯 Theme: in gratitude for the security and provision Allah gave Quraysh through their trade caravans, they should worship the Lord of the Ka‘bah alone.
📜 Context — the cause→blessing sequence with Al-Feel: because Allah destroyed the elephant army, the Ka‘bah and Makkah
stayed secure, and the Quraysh's winter and summer trade journeys (to Yemen and Syria) were safe and prosperous. So Allah
reminds them: worship the Lord of this House who fed you against hunger and secured you from fear.
Text & translation
لِإِيلَافِ قُرَيْشٍ ﴿١﴾1. For the security / familiarity of the Quraysh —
إِيلَافِهِمْ رِحْلَةَ الشِّتَاءِ وَالصَّيْفِ ﴿٢﴾2. their security in the journey of winter and summer —
فَلْيَعْبُدُوا رَبَّ هَٰذَا الْبَيْتِ ﴿٣﴾3. so let them worship the Lord of this House (the Ka‘bah),
الَّذِي أَطْعَمَهُمْ مِنْ جُوعٍ وَآمَنَهُمْ مِنْ خَوْفٍ ﴿٤﴾4. who fed them against hunger and made them safe from fear.
Key words (lafzi)
لِإِيلَافِfor the accustomed security / familiarity
قُرَيْشٍthe Quraysh (tribe)
رِحْلَةَthe journey / caravan
الشِّتَاءِ وَالصَّيْفِwinter and summer
رَبَّ هَٰذَا الْبَيْتِthe Lord of this House (Ka‘bah)
أَطْعَمَهُمْ مِنْ جُوعٍfed them against hunger
آمَنَهُمْ مِنْ خَوْفٍsecured them from fear
Reflection (background)
💡 Lesson: recognise Allah's gifts of food and safety and respond with worship and gratitude — the two great
blessings of life are mentioned here: provision (against hunger) and security (against fear).
سُورَةُ الْهُمَزَةِAl-Humazah — “The Slanderer” Makki · 9 verses · #104
Theme & context (background)
🎯 Theme: a warning to the slanderer and backbiter who hoards wealth thinking it makes him immortal — his end is the Crushing Fire.
📜 Context: condemns those who mock, slander and backbite and who amass wealth and count it obsessively, imagining
it will give them eternal life. The deck distinguishes the two title words: humazah = one who insults to the face,
lumazah = one who speaks ill behind the back.
Text & translation
وَيْلٌ لِكُلِّ هُمَزَةٍ لُمَزَةٍ ﴿١﴾1. Woe to every slanderer and backbiter,
الَّذِي جَمَعَ مَالًا وَعَدَّدَهُ ﴿٢﴾2. who amasses wealth and counts it over and over,
يَحْسَبُ أَنَّ مَالَهُ أَخْلَدَهُ ﴿٣﴾3. thinking that his wealth will make him immortal.
كَلَّا ۖ لَيُنْبَذَنَّ فِي الْحُطَمَةِ ﴿٤﴾4. No! He will surely be cast into the Crusher.
وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الْحُطَمَةُ ﴿٥﴾5. And what will make you realise what the Crusher is?
نَارُ اللَّهِ الْمُوقَدَةُ ﴿٦﴾6. It is Allah's kindled Fire,
الَّتِي تَطَّلِعُ عَلَى الْأَفْئِدَةِ ﴿٧﴾7. which rises over the hearts.
إِنَّهَا عَلَيْهِمْ مُؤْصَدَةٌ ﴿٨﴾8. It will be closed in over them,
فِي عَمَدٍ مُمَدَّدَةٍ ﴿٩﴾9. in outstretched columns.
Key words (lafzi)
وَيْلٌwoe / destruction
هُمَزَةٍslanderer (insults to the face)
لُمَزَةٍbackbiter (in one's absence)
جَمَعَ مَالًا وَعَدَّدَهُamassed wealth and counts it
أَخْلَدَهُwill make him immortal
الْحُطَمَةِthe Crusher (al-Hutamah, a fire)
الْمُوقَدَةُthe kindled (fire)
الْأَفْئِدَةِthe hearts
مُؤْصَدَةٌclosed in / sealed over (them)
Reflection (background)
💡 Lesson: guard your tongue from mockery and backbiting, and don't let wealth make you arrogant — money cannot
buy immortality, and obsession with it ends in الْحُطَمَة, the Crushing Fire.
The word-glosses (Learn tab) come from the slides; this tab adds the grammar parse
— the lafzi exam's second axis — from the recorded lectures (video 6 = Quraysh, video 7 = al-Fīl & al-Humazah).
Tag ▶ V7 §24 = video 7, section 24. Off-topic material is kept in
From the lectures so nothing is lost.
سُورَةُ قُرَيْشٍ — Quraysh (grammar & word-build)
The ism / fiʿl / ḥarf inventory
- Every Arabic word is one of three kinds: ism (noun), fiʿl (verb), ḥarf (particle) — across the whole Qurʾān most words are nouns. ▶ V6 §32, §35
- This surah's 3 verbs (fiʿl): يَأْلَفُ (from īlāf), أَطْعَمَ "He fed", آمَنَ "He secured". ▶ V6 §33
- This surah's 2 particles (ḥarf): the lām (لِ / lām al-amr) and min (مِنْ "from"); everything else is a noun. ▶ V6 §34–§35
- لِإِيلَافِ = a lām prefix + īlāf, a verbal noun (maṣdar) from alifa / yaʾlafu "to be made fond / accustomed". ▶ V6 §10–§11
- الَّذِي = a relative pronoun (ism mawṣūl) "the One who" — needs a clause before and after it. ▶ V6 §26–§27
Case & the command verb
- فَلْيَعْبُدُوا = a command verb (imperative, from ʿabada / yaʿbudu); the fa-l- contains the lām of command (lām al-amr) — distinct from an interrogative lām. ▶ V6 §22–§23, §25
- رَبَّ "Lord" has three case-states — rafʿ رَبُّ · naṣb رَبَّ · jarr رَبِّ; here it is accusative (naṣb) because it is the object (mafʿūl bihi) of "worship". ▶ V6 §24
- أَطْعَمَهُمْ مِنْ جُوعٍ: aṭʿama (verb) "He fed" + -hum "them" + min (particle) "from" → "fed them [saving them] from hunger". ▶ V6 §28–§29
- Winter caravan = to Yemen; summer caravan = to Shām (Syria) — the two safe trade journeys. ▶ V6 §17–§18
سُورَةُ الْفِيلِ — al-Fīl (verb forms & the vivid present)
- تَرَ is a present-tense verb (fiʿl muḍāriʿ) of raʾā "he saw" (the māḍī, past). ▶ V7 §4
- The particle lam causes jazm (jussive) — the final letter takes sukūn, and the weak final letter is dropped: تَرَى → تَرَ. ▶ V7 §6–§7, §12–§13
- Interrogative hamza: the opening أَ turns a statement into a question — أَلَمْ تَرَ "Have you not seen?", أَلَمْ يَجْعَلْ "Did He not make?". ▶ V7 §8, §14–§16, §23
- أَرْسَلَ "He sent" is a four-letter māḍī (form IV); the opening wāw is a connecting particle "and". ▶ V7 §26
- Precise word-choice: أَبَابِيل = birds in flocks, NOT أَفْوَاجًا (people in crowds, Sūrat an-Naṣr) — each word fits its exact sense. ▶ V7 §33–§34
- تَرْمِي "pelting" is a muḍāriʿ with a feminine (muʾannath) subject = the birds (طَيْر, a feminine plural). ▶ V7 §35, §37
- Present tense for a past event: the muḍāriʿ tarmī re-stages the finished event vividly, as if you were watching it happen. ▶ V7 §36, §53–§54
- Verb-type recap: tara (muḍāriʿ) · faʿala (māḍī) · yajʿal (muḍāriʿ) · arsala (4-letter māḍī) · tarmī (muḍāriʿ) · jaʿala (māḍī). ▶ V7 §46
سُورَةُ الْهُمَزَةِ — al-Humazah (objects, four-letter verbs & emphasis)
- مَالًا "wealth" is the object (mafʿūl) → accusative (manṣūb), marked by the fatḥa-tanwīn (ـً); structure = fiʿl–fāʿil–mafʿūl. ▶ V7 §68–§69
- عَدَّدَ "counted it over and over" is a four-letter māḍī (root ʿ-d-d); أَخْلَدَ "made immortal" is likewise a four-letter māḍī (root kh-l-d) — vs the three-letter جَمَعَ "he gathered". ▶ V7 §70, §75, §94
- يَحْسَبُ "he supposes" is a muḍāriʿ (an ongoing mental state), vs the māḍī actions around it. ▶ V7 §73, §77
- كَلَّا = an emphatic "No! By no means! Never!" — refuting the immortality delusion. ▶ V7 §78
- لَيُنْبَذَنَّ "he will surely be cast" carries an emphatic lām + nūn at-tawkīd (the heavy emphatic nūn) = "he will most certainly be flung". ▶ V7 §80–§81
- الَّتِي = the feminine relative pronoun "which" (agreeing with نَار); masc. = الَّذِي, fem. = الَّتِي. ▶ V7 §88
- الْأَفْئِدَة "the hearts" is the plural of fuʾād (فُؤَاد). ▶ V7 §89
Word-by-word translation drill. For each verse, tap the word-meanings in order
to rebuild the English translation. This is the heart of tafseer lafzi — practice, not graded.
A crib row for each of this lesson's three surahs, then the memory hooks. The complete
23-surah crib and the all-surah battery test are in lesson 6 → lesson 7.
This lesson's three surahs
| Surah | Name means | Key word (lafzi) | Theme keyword | Revelation hook |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| الفيل #105 | The Elephant | أَبَابِيلَ in flocks | Allah destroyed Abraha's elephant army (ababil birds) | The cause — set up before Quraysh's blessing |
| قريش #106 | The tribe Quraysh | إِيلَافِ accustomed security | Gratitude for security & the winter/summer caravans → worship the Lord of this House | The blessing that follows Al-Feel |
| الهمزة #104 | The Slanderer | هُمَزَةٍ لُمَزَةٍ slanderer ・ backbiter | Woe to the backbiter who hoards wealth → al-Ḥuṭamah (the Crusher) | Humazah (insult to the face) vs Lumazah (backbite in absence) |
Memory hooks
- Only THREE Madani in the whole syllabus: البينة (#98) + الزلزلة (#99) + النصر (#110, lesson 6). Everything else is Makki — answer “Makki” unless it's one of these three.
- Feel → Quraysh = cause → blessing. Allah destroyed the elephant army (Feel) → so Makkah and Quraysh's caravans stayed safe (Quraysh). In some recitations they are read as one unit.
- Quraysh's two gifts: أَطْعَمَهُمْ مِنْ جُوعٍ (fed against hunger) + آمَنَهُمْ مِنْ خَوْفٍ (secured from fear) — provision & safety.
- Humazah's pair: هُمَزَة = insult to the face · لُمَزَة = backbite in absence. Punishment = الْحُطَمَة, the Crusher (a name of Hell).
- “First” superlatives: Al-Alaq = first revelation · Al-Fatiha = first complete surah · Laylat al-Qadr = night the Quran first descended.
- Two “equals” facts: Al-Ikhlas = ⅓ of the Quran · Laylat al-Qadr = better than 1000 months.
- Occasions worth memorising: Masad (Abu Lahab's insult at Safa) · Falaq/Nas (sorcery / refuge) · Ikhlas (“describe your Lord”) · Duha (revelation paused) · Alaq (Cave of Hira / Abu Jahl) · Feel (Year of the Elephant) · Quraysh (safe caravans).
Extra exam facts (grammar, from the lectures)
| Point | Recall |
|---|---|
| 3 kinds of word | Every Arabic word is ism (noun) · fiʿl (verb) · ḥarf (particle). Quraysh = 3 verbs (يَأْلَفُ، أَطْعَمَ، آمَنَ) + 2 particles (لِ، مِنْ), rest nouns. |
| رَبَّ case | Accusative (naṣb) as the object (mafʿūl bihi) of فَلْيَعْبُدُوا. Three states: rafʿ رَبُّ · naṣb رَبَّ · jarr رَبِّ. |
| فَلْيَعْبُدُوا | A command verb; the fa-l- holds the lām of command (lām al-amr). إِيلَاف = a maṣdar (verbal noun). |
| تَرَ + jazm | Muḍāriʿ of رَأَى. lam causes jazm: final letter takes sukūn, weak letter dropped — تَرَى → تَرَ. Opening أَ = interrogative hamza. |
| Four-letter māḍī | أَرْسَلَ (al-Fīl) · عَدَّدَ · أَخْلَدَ (al-Humazah) are 4-letter past verbs; vs 3-letter جَمَعَ. |
| تَرْمِي vivid present | Muḍāriʿ with a feminine (muʾannath) subject (the birds طَيْر); present tense re-stages the past event vividly. |
| أَبَابِيل vs أَفْوَاجًا | abābīl = birds in flocks (al-Fīl); afwājā = people in crowds (an-Naṣr). Precise word-choice — not interchangeable. |
| لَيُنْبَذَنَّ | Emphatic lām + nūn at-tawkīd → "he will most certainly be cast". مَالًا = object in the accusative (manṣūb). |
| Feminine markers | الَّتِي = fem. relative (vs masc. الَّذِي), agreeing with نَار. الْأَفْئِدَة = plural of فُؤَاد "heart". |
🎯 Final exam drill — 20 questions. Mostly word-meanings (lafzi) from this lesson's three surahs (Feel, Quraysh, Humazah),
plus the grammar parse from the 📹 Lecture tab, a few well-known words and a recall round over the wider syllabus.
Score 16/20 on first try (≥80%) to pass — then finish with lesson 6.