About Surah Al-Anbya

Abdullah ibn Mas’ud cherished this text among al-ʿItāq al-Ūwal—the early, exceptional chapters he learned first. Delivered in Makkah before the emigration, it takes the title of The Prophets by naming sixteen messengers. Only one other chapter names more, drawing direct lines between their ancient trials and the Prophet’s reality amid secret plots.

The verses open with a stark warning to a heedless humanity that the reckoning is imminent. The focus then expands to the heavens and earth, arguing the cosmic order could never survive a multiplicity of gods. From these signs, the text moves into a swift succession of prophetic histories—recounting the prayers and rescues of Ibrahim, Yunus, and Musa—proving every messenger brought the same truth and faced identical rejection.

The approaching Hour shadows these accounts, warning that all creatures face extinction and life remains a trial. Yet beyond the threat of sudden punishment and the release of Gog and Magog, a guarantee overrides the warnings. The earth is promised to the righteous believers, and the Prophet's mission is affirmed as a mercy to the worlds.

Surah 21 Juz 17 112 verses

Al-Anbya

The Prophets Meccan

021

Surah Info Reflections Layers

بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

21:1

Ever closer to people draws their reckoning, while they turn away, heedless.

M.A.S. Abdel Haleem

21:2

Whenever any fresh revelation comes to them from their Lord, they listen to it playfully

M.A.S. Abdel Haleem

21:3

with frivolous hearts. The evildoers conferred in secret: ‘Is this man anything but a mortal like yourselves? Are you going to fall under his spell with your eyes wide open?’

M.A.S. Abdel Haleem

21:4

He said, ‘My Lord knows everything that is said in the heavens and the earth: He is the All Hearing, the All Knowing.’

M.A.S. Abdel Haleem

21:5

Some say, ‘Muddled dreams’; others, ‘He made it up’; yet others, ‘He is just a poet, let him show us a sign as previous messengers did.’

M.A.S. Abdel Haleem

21:6

But of the communities We destroyed before them not a single one believed. Will these now believe?

M.A.S. Abdel Haleem

21:7

And even before your time [Prophet], all the messengers We sent were only men We inspired–– if you [disbelievers] do not know, ask people who know the Scripture––

M.A.S. Abdel Haleem

21:8

We did not give them bodies that ate no food, nor were they immortal.

M.A.S. Abdel Haleem

21:9

We fulfilled Our promise to them in the end: We saved them and those We wished to save, and We destroyed those who exceeded all bounds.

M.A.S. Abdel Haleem