Surah 73 of 114 · Makkah
سُورَةُ المُزَّمِّلِ
Al-Muzzammil The Enshrouded One
20 verses · revealed in Makkah
The context
Al-Muzzammil is among the earliest revelations, from the period immediately after the first encounter in the cave, when the Prophet ﷺ had come home shaken and asked to be covered. The surah opens by addressing him by that state: O you who wraps himself in garments.
What follows is not comfort but an instruction, and the instruction is night prayer. He is told to stand nearly all night, or half of it, or a little less, and to recite the Qur'an slowly and distinctly. Then, at the very end of the surah, in a verse the commentators generally place about a year later, the requirement is lightened for the community because Allah knows that some are ill, some are travelling, and some are fighting.
The name
Al-Muzzammil, the Enshrouded One or the One Wrapped in Garments, from the first verse. It is one of two surahs that address the Prophet ﷺ by his physical posture in a moment of fear, and both do the same thing with it: they name the wrapping, and then tell him to get up.
How it moves
- 1-10Stand the nightThe command to rise for most of the night, the instruction to recite with tartil, slowly and distinctly, the warning of a heavy word about to be laid on him, and the instruction to be patient with what is said.
- 11-19Leave them to MeThe wealthy deniers left to Allah, the fetters and the fire, and the comparison of this messenger to the one sent to Fir'awn.
- 20The lighteningThe final verse, longer than the rest of the surah, which reduces the requirement because of illness, travel and fighting, and ends with prayer, zakah and a good loan to Allah.
The themes
The night as preparation
The instruction to stand at night arrives before the mission's difficulties are described, which places it as the equipment rather than as an additional burden.
Tartil
Recite the Qur'an with measured recitation. The one instruction the Qur'an gives about how it is to be read, and it is about slowness.
A heavy word
We will cast upon you a heavy word. Said to a man who had just been frightened, and stated as a warning rather than softened.
The requirement lightened
The closing verse is unusually specific about why: some are ill, some travel for provision, some are fighting. Difficulty is treated as a reason and not as an excuse to be argued with.
The heart of it
Recited slowly, the surah's opening is one of the most human moments in the Qur'an. A man is lying wrapped in a blanket because of what he has just seen, and the first words addressed to him name that exact posture. He is not told that he was mistaken or that there is nothing to fear. He is told to stand up and pray.
The instruction about tartil sits in the middle of it, and it is the only place the Qur'an says anything about the manner of its own recitation. Not to finish it. Not to recite much. To recite it slowly, distinctly, at a pace that lets the words land.
Verses worth knowing
- 73:1-2O you who wraps himself in garments, stand at night, except for a little. The first instruction given to a frightened man.
- 73:4And recite the Qur'an with measured recitation. The Book's one instruction about how it is to be read.
- 73:5We will cast upon you a heavy word. A warning rather than a reassurance.
- 73:20The closing verse, which lightens the requirement and names illness, travel and fighting as the reasons.
On reciting it
No authentic report establishes a specific merit for reciting Al-Muzzammil. Its importance lies in verse 4, which is the only instruction the Qur'an gives about the manner of its own recitation, and in verse 20, which the commentators generally treat as lightening the night prayer from an obligation to a voluntary one.
No virtue report
Read beside it
On the shelf
- 73:1-4Al-Muzzammil · 73:1-4
- 73:6-7Al-Muzzammil · 73:6-7
- 73:8Al-Muzzammil · 73:8
- 73:9Al-Muzzammil · 73:9
Surahs it travels with