Ghafir · Makki · ayah 1 of 85

Ghafir 40:1

حمٓ

“Ḥā, Meem.[1364]”

Saheeh International

Essence

Two letter-names open the first of seven sister surahs: a sound the first Muslims loved, named, and used as a watchword.

A reflection

The eldest of seven sisters

Most surahs stand alone. This one opens a household.

Seven surahs in a row, from Ghafir to Al-Ahqaf, begin with the same two letter-names: Ḥā Mīm. Each then turns at once to the Book and where it came from. A report preserved in the commentaries says they were revealed one after another, straight after Az-Zumar, in the order they now stand.

The early Muslims gave this group a family name. They called them Āl Ḥā Mīm, the people of Ḥā Mīm. One early grammarian explained it plainly: it is like saying the family of so-and-so. Some of the early generation even disliked any other plural. To them the seven were not a category. They were relatives.

They also spoke of them with unusual warmth. Ibn Masʿūd is reported to have called them the brocade of the Quran, the cloth woven with patterns of silk. Ibn ʿAbbās is reported to have said that everything has a kernel, and the kernel of the Quran is these surahs. Another early report says they used to be called the brides.

These reports come through the books on the Quran's merits, not the graded collections, so they are held as reports. But they agree on one thing. Those who lived closest to the revelation heard these seven as a set, and loved them as one.

Picture a terraced street built by one builder. Every front door has the same carved stone above it. Walk past one house and you notice nothing. Walk the whole street and the stone begins to speak: the same hand made all of this.

Ghafir is the first door on that street. When you hear Ḥā Mīm here, you are not just starting a surah. You are being welcomed into a family of seven, and this is the eldest.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.