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Surah

A ''surah'' (; ; ) is an Arabic word meaning "chapter" in the Quran. There are 114 ''surah'' in the Quran, each divided into verses (). The ''surah'' are of unequal length; the shortest ''surah'' ("al-Kawthar") has only three verses, while the longest (al-Baqarah) contains 286 verses. The Quran consists of one short introductory chapter (Q1), eight very long chapters, making up one-third of the Quran (Q2‒9); 19 mid-length chapters, making up another one-third (Q10‒28); and 86 short and very short ones of the last one-third (Q29‒114).

Of the 114 ''surah'' in the Quran, 86 are classified as Meccan (), as according to Islamic tradition they were revealed before Muhammad's migration to Medina (''hijrah''), while 28 are Medinan (), as they were revealed after. This classification is only approximate in regard to the location of revelation; any ''surah'' revealed after the migration is termed Medinan and any revealed before it is termed Meccan, regardless of where the ''surah'' was revealed. However, some Meccan ''suwar'' contain Medinan verses (verses revealed after the migration) and vice versa. Whether a ''surah'' is Medinan or Meccan depends on if the beginning of the ''surah'' was revealed before or after the migration.

The Meccan ''surah'' generally deal with faith and scenes of the Hereafter while the Medinan ''surah'' are more concerned with organizing the social life of the nascent Muslim community and leading Muslims to the ultimate goal of attaining ''dar al-Islam'' by showing strength towards the unbelievers. Except for ''surah'' "At-Tawbah", all ''suwar'' commence with "In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful" (). This formula is known as the ''basmalah'' () and denotes the boundaries between ''suwar. ''The ''suwar'' are arranged roughly in order of descending size; therefore the arrangement of the Quran is neither chronological nor thematic. ''Surah'' are recited during the standing portions () of Muslim prayers. "Al-Fatiha", the first ''surah'' of the Quran, is recited in every unit of prayer, and some units of prayer also involve recitation of all or part of any other ''surah''. Provided by Wikipedia