About Surah Al-'Adiyat

Reports of a missing military expedition led by al-Mundhir ibn ʿAmr circulated for a month before these eleven verses confirmed the army's safety. This narrative grounds a strong position that the text is Madinan, though early authorities like Ibn Masʿūd counted it as the fourteenth Makkan revelation, placed between Sūrat al-ʿAṣr and al-Kawthar. The chapter takes its primary names—"Sūrat al-ʿĀdiyāt" (The Chargers) and "Sūrat al-Ḍabḥ" (The Panting)—from its opening oath, implicitly commending the warriors and their mounts.

The text opens with oaths swearing by the power and breath of these warhorses, using their exertion to affirm human ingratitude. It then turns to condemn an excessive love of wealth, warning Muslims against traits shared by polytheists and hypocrites.

The final ayahs establish the absolute certainty of accountability after death. The outward momentum of the charging mounts gives way to an unavoidable reality, where the contents of the graves are brought forth and the deepest secrets of human hearts are exposed and judged.

Surah 100 of 114Makkan

Al-'Adiyat

العاديات The Courser

Verses: 11
Revelation: Makkan
Juz: 30
Pages: 599–600

Themes and purpose:

This surah opens with oaths to affirm the profound ingratitude and excessive love of wealth inherent in humankind. Its purpose is to warn the ungrateful of the Day of Judgment, when the contents of the graves will be brought forth and the secrets of the hearts will be revealed and judged.

Context of Revelation:

Era: The consensus of early scholars (Ibn Masʿūd, Jābir ibn Zayd) considers it Makkan. However, the compelling narrative that it was revealed following a specific raid led by al-Mundhir ibn ʿAmr suggests a Madinan origin, which is also a strong position.

Context: The reported context is a specific military expedition that went missing for a month, leading the hypocrites to claim the expedition had been annihilated. The surah was revealed to confirm the army's safety and success.

Chronology: According to the Makkan view, it has been counted as the 14th surah in the order of revelation, revealed after Sūrat al-ʿAṣr and before al-Kawthar.

Name and Ayah Count:

Name: The surah is known as "Sūrat al-ʿĀdiyāt" (The Chargers) and "Wa-l-ʿĀdiyāt" (By the Chargers), in reference to the opening oath, and also "Sūrat al-Ḍabḥ" (The Panting) from the same ayah. The reference to warhorses is seen as an implicit commendation of the warriors.

Ayah Count: 11 ayahs.

Surah Overview:

The Oath: Affirming the truth of the warning by swearing by the power and speed of the warhorses (or the pilgrim's mounts). [1-5]
Condemning evil traits, specifically ingratitude and excessive love of wealth, which are common to both the polytheists and the hypocrites, and warning Muslims against them. [6, 8]
The Final Exposure: Warning that the contents of the graves will be brought forth and the secrets of the hearts will be revealed and judged. [9-10]
Establishing the absolute certainty of the Judgment and the accountability for all deeds after death. [11]