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.
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).
🎯 Final exam drill — 16 questions. Mostly word-meanings (lafzi) from this lesson's three surahs (Feel, Quraysh, Humazah),
plus a few well-known words and a recall round over the wider syllabus. Score 13/16 on first try (≥80%) to pass — then finish with lesson 6.