القارِعَة
Mountains like fluffed-up wool. People like scattered moths. Then a giant set of scales, and one question: is your side heavy with good? Eleven short verses that children never forget.
▶ Listen fullListen, read, and learn
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The Striking Hour!
What is the Striking Hour?
And what can tell you what the Striking Hour is?
It is the Day when people will be like scattered moths,
and the mountains will be like fluffed-up wool.
So the one whose scale of good deeds is heavy
will have a happy life,
but the one whose scale of good deeds is light
will have the deep pit as his home.
And what can tell you what that is?
A blazing fire.
About Al-Qari'ah
Al-Qari'ah means "the striking hour" — from an Arabic word for a sudden knock that makes you jump. It is one of the names of the Day of Judgement, and the surah opens by saying the name three times, as if it is too big to explain: Al-Qari'ah. What is Al-Qari'ah? And what can tell you what Al-Qari'ah is?
Then come the two pictures. People will be like scattered moths, fluttering everywhere around a light. And the mountains — the heaviest things anyone can imagine — will be like fluffed-up coloured wool, light enough to blow away. Everything solid becomes weightless.
And that is the point, because the surah then sets up the scales. On a day when mountains weigh nothing, what still has weight? Only what we did. For children, this is the whole lesson: every good deed goes on your scale — sharing a toy, helping your mum, saying a kind word to someone nobody else talked to. Small things, quietly done for Allah, are heavy.
Verse 6 does not say "whoever has the most good deeds." It says whoever's scale is heavy. Deeds are weighed, not counted — and what makes them heavy is doing them sincerely for Allah. That is why one quiet kindness nobody saw can outweigh a hundred done for show.
Find good deeds to try in the lessons →Surahs paired with Al-Qari'ah
Al-Qari'ah is about the day our deeds are weighed. These short surahs ask the same question in different words:
For Parents
What does Al-Qari'ah mean?
Al-Qari'ah (القارعة) means "the striking hour" or "the crashing blow." It comes from an Arabic word for a sudden, loud knock that startles you.
It is one of the names of the Day of Judgement, and the surah is named after it because the Day arrives the way a bang arrives: all at once, with no warning.
What is Surah Al-Qari'ah about?
It describes the Day of Judgement in two pictures — people scattered like moths around a light, and mountains turned soft like fluffed-up coloured wool — and then it sets up the scales.
Whoever's scale of good deeds is heavy will have a happy life. It teaches that deeds are weighed, not counted.
How long is Surah Al-Qari'ah?
Al-Qari'ah is eleven verses long, but they are among the shortest verses in the Quran — some are only two words. The whole surah takes about 30 seconds to recite.
It is the 101st surah and was revealed in Mecca.
What are the scales in Surah Al-Qari'ah?
The Arabic word is mawazin, the scales or balances. On the Day of Judgement, our deeds are placed on a scale.
The surah does not say the person with the most deeds wins — it says the person whose scale is heavy. Weight comes from sincerity, so a small kindness done honestly for Allah can weigh a great deal.
Why does the Quran compare mountains to wool?
Because it is the most surprising comparison possible. Mountains are the heaviest, most immovable things a child can picture, and 'ihn is soft, coloured wool that has been fluffed apart and floats away in the wind.
The image says that on that Day, the strongest things we know become weightless. Only what we did still has weight.
Is Al-Qari'ah too frightening for young children?
It does not have to be. Children handle these images better than adults expect, because the surah is mostly wonder rather than threat: moths, wool, a giant set of scales.
Spend your time on verses 6 and 7 — the heavy scale and the happy life — and let that be the takeaway. If your child asks about the last verses, answer honestly and briefly, then return to the scale they are building today.
How can my child memorize Al-Qari'ah?
The opening is a gift: "Al-qari'ah. Mal-qari'ah. Wa maa adraaka mal-qari'ah." The same word three times, so the first three verses arrive almost for free.
Verses 6 and 8 are mirror images of each other (heavy scale, light scale), so teach them as a pair. Play the recitation daily and let your child finish each line.