# Surah Az-Zalzalah Meaning, Word by Word

> Surah Az-Zalzalah meaning word by word, with Arabic, transliteration and a plain English rendering of all eight verses.

Source: https://surahkids.site/blog/az-zalzalah/
Published: 3 September 2026

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Surah Az-Zalzalah is the 99th surah of the Quran, eight verses and thirty-six words long, and it falls into two halves: the first about the earth, which is shaken, gives up what it was holding and then speaks, the second about the people who come out of it and what they are shown. It takes its name from the fourth word of verse 1, زِلْزَالَهَا (*zil'zālahā*, "(with) its earthquake").

Eight verses sounds like more work than the three- and four-verse surahs, but the last two are the same sentence twice with two words changed, so it is shorter to learn than its length suggests. Thirty-six words, twenty-nine of them distinct forms. It is the sixteenth surah in the SurahKids learning order, the group children reach once the very short surahs are steady.

The word-by-word breakdown below uses the Arabic exactly as it appears in the mushaf. The English is a plain rendering, one among many. Translations are interpretations, and two or three of the words in this surah are ones English handles only approximately.

## Surah Az-Zalzalah word by word

### Verse 1

| Arabic | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| إِذَا | idhā | When |
| زُلْزِلَتِ | zul'zilati | is shaken |
| ٱلْأَرْضُ | l-arḍu | the earth |
| زِلْزَالَهَا | zil'zālahā | (with) its earthquake |

*idhā zul'zilati l-arḍu zil'zālahā* — When the earth is shaken with its earthquake,

### Verse 2

| Arabic | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| وَأَخْرَجَتِ | wa-akhrajati | And brings forth |
| ٱلْأَرْضُ | l-arḍu | the earth |
| أَثْقَالَهَا | athqālahā | its burdens |

*wa-akhrajati l-arḍu athqālahā* — and the earth brings forth its burdens,

### Verse 3

| Arabic | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| وَقَالَ | waqāla | And says |
| ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ | l-insānu | man |
| مَا | mā | What |
| لَهَا | lahā | (is) with it |

*waqāla l-insānu mā lahā* — and man says, "What is with it?" —

### Verse 4

| Arabic | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| يَوْمَئِذٍۢ | yawma-idhin | That Day |
| تُحَدِّثُ | tuḥaddithu | it will report |
| أَخْبَارَهَا | akhbārahā | its news |

*yawma-idhin tuḥaddithu akhbārahā* — that Day it will report its news,

### Verse 5

| Arabic | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| بِأَنَّ | bi-anna | Because |
| رَبَّكَ | rabbaka | your Lord |
| أَوْحَىٰ | awḥā | inspired |
| لَهَا | lahā | [to] it |

*bi-anna rabbaka awḥā lahā* — because your Lord inspired it.

### Verse 6

| Arabic | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| يَوْمَئِذٍۢ | yawma-idhin | That Day |
| يَصْدُرُ | yaṣduru | will proceed |
| ٱلنَّاسُ | l-nāsu | the mankind |
| أَشْتَاتًۭا | ashtātan | (in) scattered groups |
| لِّيُرَوْا۟ | liyuraw | to be shown |
| أَعْمَـٰلَهُمْ | aʿmālahum | their deeds |

*yawma-idhin yaṣduru l-nāsu ashtātan liyuraw aʿmālahum* — That Day mankind will proceed in scattered groups, to be shown their deeds.

### Verse 7

| Arabic | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| فَمَن | faman | So whoever |
| يَعْمَلْ | yaʿmal | does |
| مِثْقَالَ | mith'qāla | (equal to the) weight |
| ذَرَّةٍ | dharratin | (of) an atom |
| خَيْرًۭا | khayran | good |
| يَرَهُۥ | yarahu | will see it |

*faman yaʿmal mith'qāla dharratin khayran yarahu* — So whoever does the weight of an atom of good will see it,

### Verse 8

| Arabic | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| وَمَن | waman | And whoever |
| يَعْمَلْ | yaʿmal | does |
| مِثْقَالَ | mith'qāla | (equal to the) weight |
| ذَرَّةٍۢ | dharratin | (of) an atom |
| شَرًّۭا | sharran | evil |
| يَرَهُۥ | yarahu | will see it |

*waman yaʿmal mith'qāla dharratin sharran yarahu* — and whoever does the weight of an atom of evil will see it.

## The surah in plain English

When the earth is shaken with its earthquake, and the earth brings forth its burdens, and man says, "What is with it?" — that Day it will report its news, because your Lord inspired it. That Day mankind will proceed in scattered groups, to be shown their deeds. So whoever does the weight of an atom of good will see it, and whoever does the weight of an atom of evil will see it.

## What the words tell you

**The name of the surah is inside the surah, twice over.** Verse 1 has زُلْزِلَتِ (*zul'zilati*, "is shaken") and then زِلْزَالَهَا (*zil'zālahā*, "(with) its earthquake") — the same root as a verb and then as its own noun, three words apart. Arabic does that to intensify: not merely shaken, but shaken with the shaking that belongs to it. It is also why you will see the surah listed under two names, Az-Zalzalah and Al-Zilzal.

**The earth starts as the thing acted on and ends up as the one talking.** In verse 1 ٱلْأَرْضُ (*l-arḍu*, "the earth") is what زُلْزِلَتِ happens to — the verb is passive, and the surah does not say who does it. In verse 2 the same word is the doer: وَأَخْرَجَتِ (*wa-akhrajati*, "And brings forth"). By verse 4 it has a verb of speech, تُحَدِّثُ (*tuḥaddithu*, "it will report"), with أَخْبَارَهَا (*akhbārahā*, "its news") as what it reports. Shaken, then emptied, then giving an account.

**Five words end in "its" or "it", and every one of them is the earth.** زِلْزَالَهَا (*zil'zālahā*), أَثْقَالَهَا (*athqālahā*, "its burdens"), لَهَا (*lahā*) in verse 3 and again in verse 5, and أَخْبَارَهَا (*akhbārahā*) all carry the same attached feminine pronoun — one ending to learn, five of the surah's thirty-six words made easier.

**Man gets four words, and one of them is a question.** Verse 3 is the only line with a human speaker: وَقَالَ (*waqāla*, "And says") ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ (*l-insānu*, "man") مَا (*mā*, "What") لَهَا (*lahā*, "(is) with it"). No crowd and no name — just *al-insān*, the same word for man or mankind that opens the claim in [Surah Al-Asr](/blog/surah-al-asr-meaning/). His question is left standing; verse 4 is not addressed to him.

**Verse 5 explains verse 4 with a single word.** بِأَنَّ (*bi-anna*, "Because") is the join: the earth can report because رَبَّكَ (*rabbaka*, "your Lord") أَوْحَىٰ (*awḥā*, "inspired") لَهَا (*lahā*, "[to] it"). Note the "your" on *rabbaka* — singular, one listener at a time, in a surah otherwise about everybody. *Awḥā* comes from the root Arabic uses for revelation, and "inspired" is a reasonable rendering of it here rather than a full account.

**Verse 6 is the longest verse, and the only one with a crowd in it.** It opens with يَوْمَئِذٍۢ (*yawma-idhin*, "That Day"), as verse 4 did — the first turning to the earth's account, this one to the people. ٱلنَّاسُ (*l-nāsu*, "the mankind") come out أَشْتَاتًۭا (*ashtātan*, "(in) scattered groups"), and then لِّيُرَوْا۟ (*liyuraw*, "to be shown") أَعْمَـٰلَهُمْ (*aʿmālahum*, "their deeds"). *Liyuraw* is passive: they are shown their deeds, they do not go looking through them.

**The last two verses are the same sentence twice.** Put them side by side and only two words move:

- فَمَن (*faman*, "So whoever") يَعْمَلْ (*yaʿmal*, "does") مِثْقَالَ (*mith'qāla*, "(equal to the) weight") ذَرَّةٍ (*dharratin*, "(of) an atom") خَيْرًۭا (*khayran*, "good") يَرَهُۥ (*yarahu*, "will see it")
- وَمَن (*waman*, "And whoever") *yaʿmal* *mith'qāla* *dharratin* شَرًّۭا (*sharran*, "evil") *yarahu*

Only the connector changes, *fa-* to *wa-*, and the fifth word, "good" to "evil". Twelve of the surah's thirty-six words sit in these two verses, and four words account for eight of them. Both halves are measured the same way.

ذَرَّةٍ (*dharratin*) is the word to be careful with. "An atom" is a common gloss, but *dharrah* is used of the smallest thing a person can picture — a speck of dust in a sunbeam, the tiniest ant. Any of those is defensible; the shared sense is the smallest amount there is. In يَرَهُۥ (*yarahu*, "will see it") the "it" is the deed. And أَعْمَـٰلَهُمْ (*aʿmālahum*, "their deeds") and يَعْمَلْ (*yaʿmal*, "does") share a root: verse 6 shows people being shown their deeds, verses 7 and 8 name the doing.

The surah names no date, no place and no person. It describes the shaking, the account and the seeing, and stops.

## Words you already know

Az-Zalzalah sits sixteenth in the learning order, and 7 of its 29 distinct word forms — 24 per cent — have already appeared in a surah met earlier in the sequence, so roughly one word in four is revision rather than new.

Looking the other way, across the 37 surahs of Juz Amma these forms from Az-Zalzalah turn up in three or more of them:

- مَا (*mā*, "What") — in 23 surahs
- إِذَا (*idhā*, "When") — in 15 surahs
- رَبَّكَ (*rabbaka*, "your Lord") — in 12 surahs
- ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ (*l-insānu*, "man") — in 12 surahs
- يَوْمَئِذٍۢ (*yawma-idhin*, "That Day") — in 9 surahs
- ٱلْأَرْضُ (*l-arḍu*, "the earth") — in 6 surahs
- ٱلنَّاسُ (*l-nāsu*, "the mankind") — in 5 surahs
- فَمَن (*faman*, "So whoever") — in 3 surahs

Eight recurring forms is a good haul for a surah this size, and unusually three are nouns you can point at: the earth, man, mankind. Most of what recurs across Juz Amma is connective tissue — particles, prepositions, question words — the pattern behind [the most common words in the Quran](/blog/most-common-quran-words/).

## How long it takes to learn

Eight verses and thirty-six words, two of them the same sentence twice, is a two- or three-sitting job for the sound if the shorter surahs are solid. Verses 2 to 5 are three or four words each and go quickly; verse 6 is the one to slow down on, six words with four of them new.

The meaning takes longer, though less here than in a surah with no internal repetition. A workable pace is verses 1 to 5 in the first week, verse 6 on its own, then 7 and 8 as one pattern with two slots. Then come back a week later and again a month later — the return visits decide whether it stays, which is what [spaced repetition for Quran memorisation](/blog/spaced-repetition-quran-memorization/) is about. SurahKids has Az-Zalzalah with per-word audio, flashcards and quizzes on the words themselves, alongside the other 36 surahs of Juz Amma.

In the learning order it follows Surah Al-'Adiyat and comes before Surah Al-Bayyinah, neither of which has a page here yet. [The order to learn the short surahs](/blog/order-to-learn-short-surahs/) sets out the sequence and the reasoning, and [Surah Al-Fil](/blog/al-fil/) is a shorter companion to it at five verses and twenty-three words.

## FAQ

### What is the meaning of Surah Az-Zalzalah?

Surah Az-Zalzalah describes the earth shaken with its earthquake, giving up its burdens and reporting its news, and mankind proceeding in scattered groups to be shown their deeds — whoever does the weight of an atom of good will see it, and whoever does the weight of an atom of evil will see it.

### What does "az-Zalzalah" mean in English?

*Az-zalzalah* means "the earthquake", or "the shaking". The surah is named from زِلْزَالَهَا (*zil'zālahā*, "(with) its earthquake") in verse 1, whose root also gives that verse its verb زُلْزِلَتِ (*zul'zilati*, "is shaken"). You will also see the surah listed as Al-Zilzal.

### How many verses does Surah Az-Zalzalah have?

Eight, made up of thirty-six words in total. It is the 99th surah of the Quran and sits in the last section, Juz Amma, among the short surahs usually learned first.

### What does "the weight of an atom" mean in Surah Az-Zalzalah?

It is the smallest amount the Arabic can name. مِثْقَالَ (*mith'qāla*) ذَرَّةٍ (*dharratin*) is rendered here as the weight of an atom, and elsewhere as a speck of dust or the tiniest ant — the point being that nothing is too small to count. Verses 7 and 8 use the phrase in identical wording, once for good and once for evil.

### Is Surah Az-Zalzalah easy to memorise?

It is easier than eight verses suggests. Five of its eight verses are three or four words long, verses 7 and 8 are the same sentence with two words swapped, and five of its words share the same "its" ending pointing back to the earth. Verse 6 is the only line that needs extra passes.