Quranic theme
Shirt
القميص
11 verses
A stained, torn, and ultimately healing garment serves as the physical pivot for an entire prophetic history, while elsewhere the Quran frames the simple shirt as a canvas for divine authority. Rather than mere clothing, the qamis (shirt) functions as a bearer of forensic evidence, a conduit for restoring sight, and a testament to God's protective grace.
How does a shirt serve as evidence of the truth? In the narrative of Prophet Yusuf, his shirt acts as a silent witness at two critical moments of false accusation. First, his brothers attempt to fake his death by bringing their father a shirt "deceptively stained with blood" (12:18). The prophet Yaqub sees through the prop, recognizing the deception: "No! Your souls have prompted you to do wrong! But it is best to be patient: from God alone I seek help to bear what you are saying." Years later, when the wife of his master tries to seduce Yusuf, they race for the door, and she tears his shirt from behind just as they meet her husband (12:25). She immediately demands Yusuf be imprisoned or punished, claiming he tried to dishonor her. A member of her household offers a definitive test: if the shirt is torn at the front, she is telling the truth and he is lying (12:26). But if it is torn at the back, she is lying and he is telling the truth (12:27). When the husband sees the tear at the back, he declares it proof of the woman's immense treachery, exonerating Yusuf entirely (12:28). In both instances, the physical state of the shirt exposes human deception.
Can a garment heal? Decades after his brothers stripped him of his shirt and cast him into a well, Yusuf—now a powerful figure in Egypt—uses his garment to reverse his family's grief. He instructs his brothers, "Take my shirt and lay it over my father’s face: he will recover his sight" (12:93). The garment that once brought the father profound sorrow becomes the direct instrument of his physical healing. Commenting on this extraordinary property, Salah al-Khalidi notes (القرآن ونقض مطاعن الرهبان, 1/ 136) that the shirt carried the scent of Paradise and held a distinct miraculous effect, restoring the grieving father's vision the moment it was placed upon him.
What do shirts symbolize in miracles and the afterlife? Beyond Yusuf's trials, shirts and cloaks become focal points for prophetic signs and divine decrees. God commands Prophet Musa to "put your hand inside your shirt" (28:32) or cloak (27:12). The hand emerges brilliantly white but unharmed. Musa is told to hold his arm close to his side, free from fear, as this stands as one of the two definitive signs presented to Pharaoh and his chiefs, whom the Quran calls "truly wicked people" (28:32). On a universal scale, the Quran describes everyday garments as a perfection of God's blessings, providing humanity with clothes to protect from the heat and armor to shield them in their wars, so that they may devote themselves to Him (16:81).
The protection of worldly clothing is entirely inverted in the afterlife. The same items designed to shield the body from heat and harm are replaced by a terrifying punitive reality on the Day of Judgment, where the guilty are bound together in fetters, clad in unyielding garments of pitch, their faces covered in fire (14:49-50).
Verses
All 11 verses, in mushaf order.
وَجَآءُو عَلَىٰ قَمِيصِهِۦ بِدَمٍ كَذِبٍ ۚ قَالَ بَلْ سَوَّلَتْ لَكُمْ أَنفُسُكُمْ أَمْرًا ۖ فَصَبْرٌ جَمِيلٌ ۖ وَٱللَّهُ ٱلْمُسْتَعَانُ عَلَىٰ مَا تَصِفُونَ
and they showed him his shirt, deceptively stained with blood. He cried, ‘No! Your souls have prompted you to do wrong! But it is best to be patient: from God alone I seek help to bear what you are saying.’
وَٱسْتَبَقَا ٱلْبَابَ وَقَدَّتْ قَمِيصَهُۥ مِن دُبُرٍ وَأَلْفَيَا سَيِّدَهَا لَدَا ٱلْبَابِ ۚ قَالَتْ مَا جَزَآءُ مَنْ أَرَادَ بِأَهْلِكَ سُوٓءًا إِلَّآ أَن يُسْجَنَ أَوْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
They raced for the door- she tore his shirt from behind- and at the door they met her husband. She said, ‘What, other than prison or painful punishment, should be the reward of someone who tried to dishonour your wife?’
قَالَ هِىَ رَٰوَدَتْنِى عَن نَّفْسِى ۚ وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِّنْ أَهْلِهَآ إِن كَانَ قَمِيصُهُۥ قُدَّ مِن قُبُلٍ فَصَدَقَتْ وَهُوَ مِنَ ٱلْكَـٰذِبِينَ
but he said, ‘She tried to seduce me.’ A member of her household suggested, ‘If his shirt is torn at the front, then it is she who is telling the truth and he who is lying,
وَإِن كَانَ قَمِيصُهُۥ قُدَّ مِن دُبُرٍ فَكَذَبَتْ وَهُوَ مِنَ ٱلصَّـٰدِقِينَ
but if it is torn at the back, then she is lying and he is telling the truth.’
فَلَمَّا رَءَا قَمِيصَهُۥ قُدَّ مِن دُبُرٍ قَالَ إِنَّهُۥ مِن كَيْدِكُنَّ ۖ إِنَّ كَيْدَكُنَّ عَظِيمٌ
When the husband saw that the shirt was torn at the back, he said, ‘This is another instance of women’s treachery: your treachery is truly great.
ٱذْهَبُوا۟ بِقَمِيصِى هَـٰذَا فَأَلْقُوهُ عَلَىٰ وَجْهِ أَبِى يَأْتِ بَصِيرًا وَأْتُونِى بِأَهْلِكُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ
Take my shirt and lay it over my father’s face: he will recover his sight. Then bring your whole family back to me.’
وَتَرَى ٱلْمُجْرِمِينَ يَوْمَئِذٍ مُّقَرَّنِينَ فِى ٱلْأَصْفَادِ
you [Prophet] will see the guilty on that Day, bound together in fetters,
سَرَابِيلُهُم مِّن قَطِرَانٍ وَتَغْشَىٰ وُجُوهَهُمُ ٱلنَّارُ
in garments of pitch, faces covered in fire.
وَٱللَّهُ جَعَلَ لَكُم مِّمَّا خَلَقَ ظِلَـٰلًا وَجَعَلَ لَكُم مِّنَ ٱلْجِبَالِ أَكْنَـٰنًا وَجَعَلَ لَكُمْ سَرَٰبِيلَ تَقِيكُمُ ٱلْحَرَّ وَسَرَٰبِيلَ تَقِيكُم بَأْسَكُمْ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ يُتِمُّ نِعْمَتَهُۥ عَلَيْكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُسْلِمُونَ
It is God who has given you shade from what He has created, and places of shelter in the mountains; garments to protect you from the heat, and garments to protect you in your wars. In this way He perfects His blessings on you, so that you may devote yourselves to Him.
وَأَدْخِلْ يَدَكَ فِى جَيْبِكَ تَخْرُجْ بَيْضَآءَ مِنْ غَيْرِ سُوٓءٍ ۖ فِى تِسْعِ ءَايَـٰتٍ إِلَىٰ فِرْعَوْنَ وَقَوْمِهِۦٓ ۚ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا۟ قَوْمًا فَـٰسِقِينَ
Put your hand inside your cloak and it will come out white, but unharmed. These are among the nine signs that you will show Pharaoh and his people; they have really gone too far.’
ٱسْلُكْ يَدَكَ فِى جَيْبِكَ تَخْرُجْ بَيْضَآءَ مِنْ غَيْرِ سُوٓءٍ وَٱضْمُمْ إِلَيْكَ جَنَاحَكَ مِنَ ٱلرَّهْبِ ۖ فَذَٰنِكَ بُرْهَـٰنَانِ مِن رَّبِّكَ إِلَىٰ فِرْعَوْنَ وَمَلَإِي۟هِۦٓ ۚ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا۟ قَوْمًا فَـٰسِقِينَ
Put your hand inside your shirt and it will come out white but unharmed- hold your arm close to your side, free from all fear. These shall be two signs from your Lord to Pharaoh and his chiefs; they are truly wicked people.’