Annotated Chronological Quran

It is hardly simple to put the Quran in its correct chronological order, as there are conflicts about the revelatory circumstances of some surat.  To make matters worse, Muhammad often added to existing surat at later dates, and the later surat are especially likely to be revealed in a piecemeal fashion, with many topics put together in a single recitation.

Please see the Timeline of Muhammad to put this into greater context.  There, I am slowly building up links to ahadith, excerpts of sirat, and other resources to provide a full narrative of events in Muhammad’s life.

My base is the 1924 Cairo Quran, the standardized Arabic edition of the Hafs version of the Quran, as printed in 1984 under the Saudis, that most Muslims are familiar with.  (There are 37 different Arabic-language variations currently in print, but the Hafs Cairo and especially the Cairo/Saudi version is the only Quran most Muslims know is in existence.  I use other translations, concordances, and interlinear text for a more precise translation than most scholars choose to make.

For fuller access to Arabic variants in the Quran, the Quranic Gateway is an invaluable tool to compare the meanings, changes, and disagreements between various editions of the Quran.  For comparing different translations, the Quranic Arabic Corpus is useful.  I have not yet drilled into the Quranic Gateway material, but it will be a great supplement as my work goes on.

Every surah’s page will also contain links to revelatory circumstances, theological commentaries, and excerpts from relevant tasfir, with special attention paid to the early medieval context of Arabia and original sources to which the surat respond or from which the retold narratives.

Click on the link of the number to go to that particular page.

English Name Arabic Name Number Type
The Clot Al-Alaq 96:1-5 Meccan 1
The Cloaked One Al-Muddaththir 74:1-5 Meccan 1
The Overthrowing At-Takwir 81 Meccan 1
The Night Al-Layl 92 Meccan 1
The Pen Al-Qalam 68:1-6, 10-16 Meccan 1
The Cloaked One Al-Muddaththir 74:6-56 Meccan 1
The Dawn Al-Fajr 89 Meccan 1
The Forenoon Ad-Dhuhaa 93 Meccan 1
The Expansion Ash-Sharh 94 Meccan 1
The Afternoon Al-Asr 103 Meccan 1
The Abundance Al-Kawthar 108 Meccan 1
The Piling Up At-Takaathur 102 Meccan 1
Small Kindnesses Al-Maa’un 107:1-3 Meccan 1

Traditional Egyptian Order

This is the order that Islamic scholars have traditionally gone by, based on their understanding of the ahadith.  It is the starting point for the order above, but I have search tools unavailable to pre-digital Islamic scholars and so can much more easily assemble the ahadith that are linked to different surat and I don’t have to rely on my memory, so it is much easier for me to refine this order in view of the sirat (biographies) of Muhammad.

Order Sura Name Number Type Exceptions
1 Al-Alaq 96 Meccan  
2 Al-Qalam 68 Meccan Except 17-33 and 48-50, from Medina
3 Al-Muzzammil 73 Meccan Except 10, 11 and 20, from Medina
4 Al-Muddaththir 74 Meccan  
5 Al-Faatiha 1 Meccan  
6 Al-Masad 111 Meccan  
7 At-Takwir 81 Meccan  
8 Al-A’laa 87 Meccan  
9 Al-Lail 92 Meccan  
10 Al-Fajr 89 Meccan  
11 Ad-Dhuhaa 93 Meccan  
12 Ash-Sharh 94 Meccan  
13 Al-Asr 103 Meccan  
14 Al-Aadiyaat 100 Meccan  
15 Al-Kawthar 108 Meccan  
16 At-Takaathur 102 Meccan  
17 Al-Maa’un 107 Meccan Only 1-3 from Mecca; the rest from Medina
18 Al-Kaafiroon 109 Meccan  
19 Al-Fil 105 Meccan  
20 Al-Falaq 113 Meccan  
21 An-Naas 114 Meccan  
22 Al-Ikhlaas 112 Meccan  
23 An-Najm 53 Meccan Except 32, from Medina
24 Abasa 80 Meccan  
25 Al-Qadr 97 Meccan  
26 Ash-Shams 91 Meccan  
27 Al-Burooj 85 Meccan  
28 At-Tin 95 Meccan  
29 Quraish 106 Meccan  
30 Al-Qaari’a 101 Meccan  
31 Al-Qiyaama 75 Meccan  
32 Al-Humaza 104 Meccan  
33 Al-Mursalaat 77 Meccan Except 48, from Medina
34 Qaaf 50 Meccan Except 38, from Medina
35 Al-Balad 90 Meccan  
36 At-Taariq 86 Meccan  
37 Al-Qamar 54 Meccan Except 44-46, from Medina
38 Saad 38 Meccan  
39 Al-A’raaf 7 Meccan Except 163-170, from Medina
40 Al-Jinn 72 Meccan  
41 Yaseen 36 Meccan Except 45, from Medina
42 Al-Furqaan 25 Meccan Except 68-70, from Medina
43 Faatir 35 Meccan  
44 Maryam 19 Meccan Except 58 and 71, from Medina
45 Taa-Haa 20 Meccan Except 130 and 131, from Medina
46 Al-Waaqia 56 Meccan Except 81 and 82, from Medina
47 Ash-Shu’araa 26 Meccan Except 197 and 224-227, from Medina
48 An-Naml 27 Meccan  
49 Al-Qasas 28 Meccan Except 52-55 from Medina and 85 from Juhfa at the time of the Hijra
50 Al-Israa 17 Meccan Except 26, 32, 33, 57, 73-80, from Medina
51 Yunus 10 Meccan Except 40, 94, 95, 96, from Medina
52 Hud 11 Meccan Except 12, 17, 114, from Medina
53 Yusuf 12 Meccan Except 1, 2, 3, 7, from Medina
54 Al-Hijr 15 Meccan Except 87, from Medina
55 Al-An’aam 6 Meccan Except 20, 23, 91, 93, 114, 151, 152, 153, from Medina
56 As-Saaffaat 37 Meccan  
57 Luqman 31 Meccan Except 27-29, from Medina
58 Saba 34 Meccan  
59 Az-Zumar 39 Meccan  
60 Al-Ghaafir 40 Meccan Except 56, 57, from Medina
61 Fussilat 41 Meccan  
62 Ash-Shura 42 Meccan Except 23, 24, 25, 27, from Medina
63 Az-Zukhruf 43 Meccan Except 54, from Medina
64 Ad-Dukhaan 44 Meccan  
65 Al-Jaathiya 45 Meccan Except 14, from Medina
66 Al-Ahqaf 46 Meccan Except 10, 15, 35, from Medina
67 Adh-Dhaariyat 51 Meccan  
68 Al-Ghaashiya 88 Meccan  
69 Al-Kahf 18 Meccan Except 28, 83-101, from Medina
70 An-Nahl 16 Meccan Except the last three verses from Medina
71 Nooh 71 Meccan  
72 Ibrahim 14 Meccan Except 28, 29, from Medina
73 Al-Anbiyaa 21 Meccan  
74 Al-Muminoon 23 Meccan  
75 As-Sajda 32 Meccan Except 16-20, from Medina
76 At-Tur 52 Meccan  
77 Al-Mulk 67 Meccan  
78 Al-Haaqqa 69 Meccan  
79 Al-Ma’aarij 70 Meccan  
80 An-Naba 78 Meccan  
81 An-Naazi’aat 79 Meccan  
82 Al-Infitaar 82 Meccan  
83 Al-Inshiqaaq 84 Meccan  
84 Ar-Room 30 Meccan Except 17, from Medina
85 Al-Ankaboot 29 Meccan Except 1-11, from Medina
86 Al-Mutaffifin 83 Meccan  
87 Al-Baqara 2 Medinan Except 281 from Mina at the time of the Last Hajj
88 Al-Anfaal 8 Medinan Except 30-36 from Mecca
89 Aal-i-Imraan 3 Medinan  
90 Al-Ahzaab 33 Medinan  
91 Al-Mumtahana 60 Medinan  
92 An-Nisaa 4 Medinan  
93 Az-Zalzala 99 Medinan  
94 Al-Hadid 57 Medinan  
95 Muhammad 47 Medinan Except 13, revealed during the Prophet’s Hijrah
96 Ar-Ra’d 13 Medinan  
97 Ar-Rahmaan 55 Medinan  
98 Al-Insaan 76 Medinan  
99 At-Talaaq 65 Medinan  
100 Al-Bayyina 98 Medinan  
101 Al-Hashr 59 Medinan  
102 An-Noor 24 Medinan  
103 Al-Hajj 22 Medinan Except 52-55, revealed between Mecca and Medina
104 Al-Munaafiqoon 63 Medinan  
105 Al-Mujaadila 58 Medinan  
106 Al-Hujuraat 49 Medinan  
107 At-Tahrim 66 Medinan  
108 At-Taghaabun 64 Medinan  
109 As-Saff 61 Medinan  
110 Al-Jumu’a 62 Medinan  
111 Al-Fath 48 Medinan Revealed while returning from Hudaybiyya
112 Al-Maaida 5 Medinan Except 3, revealed at Arafat on Last Hajj
113 At-Tawba 9 Medinan Except last two verses from Mecca
114 An-Nasr 110 Medinan Revealed at Mina on Last Hajj, but regarded as Medinan sura

Theodor Nöldeke’s Chronology

From Wikipedia:  “Nöldeke considered the suras from the perspective of content and stylistic development and linguistic origination to rearrange them in historical sequence of revelation.”

Group 1. First Meccan Period (48 Suras ): Surahs 96; 74; 111; 106; 108; 104; 107; 102; 105; 92; 90; 94; 93; 97; 86; 91; 80; 68; 87; 95; 103; 85; 73; 101; 99; 82; 81; 53; 84; 100; 79; 77; 78; 88; 89; 75; 83; 69; 51; 52; 56; 70; 55; 112; 109; 113; 114; 1

Group 2. Second Meccan Period (21 Suras): 54; 37; 71; 76; 44; 50; 20; 26; 15; 19; 38; 36; 43; 72; 67; 23; 21; 25; 17; 27; 18

Group 3. Third Meccan Period (21 Suras):32; 41; 45; 16; 30; 11; 14; 12; 40; 28; 39; 29; 31; 42; 10; 34; 35; 7; 46; 6; 13

Group 4. Medinan Period (24 Suras): 2; 98; 64; 62; 8; 47; 3; 61; 57; 4; 65; 59; 33; 63; 24; 58; 22; 48; 66; 60; 110; 49; 9; 5

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