Al-Kawthar

Al-Kawthar: the cards as text

Qur'an and Tafsir, Surah 108. Draft written with AI help: awaiting scholar review.

  1. Card 1

    A father buries his son. His enemies call him finished. The reply is three lines long.

  2. Card 2

    A man with no sons

    The Prophet ﷺ loses a young son.

    Among the Arabs, a name lived through sons. A man without one was called abtar: cut off.

    Leaders of Quraysh, Makkah's ruling tribe, say it of him: no heir, soon forgotten.

  3. Card 3

    Three ayat, three moves

    1. 1: The gift. They said he had nothing left. The first line says: We have given you al-Kawthar, abundance.
    2. 2: The response. So pray to your Lord and sacrifice. Not a reply to the mockers. A turn toward the giver.
    3. 3: The verdict. The word they used on him is handed back. It is the one who hates you who is cut off.
  4. Card 4

    Al-Kawthar 108:1: The reply does not open with the insult. It opens with a gift.

    إِنَّآ أَعۡطَيۡنَٰكَ ٱلۡكَوۡثَرَ ۝١

    1 Indeed, We have granted you, [O Muḥammad], al-Kawthar.

  5. Card 5

    A river, or everything good?

    What is al-Kawthar? A river in Paradise, hadith say. All the good the Prophet ﷺ was given, said Ibn 'Abbas. His student Sa'id ibn Jubayr joined the two: the river is part of that good.

  6. Card 6

    He looked up, smiling

    Anas ibn Malik reported: the Prophet ﷺ dozed in the mosque, then lifted his head, smiling. Asked why, he said a surah had just been revealed to him. Then he recited al-Kawthar.

  7. Card 7

    Al-Kawthar 108:2: Then what to do about the gift. No reply to the mockers.

    فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَٱنۡحَرۡ ۝٢

    2 So pray to your Lord and offer sacrifice [to Him alone].

  8. Card 8

    The word for camels

    The Arabic for "sacrifice" here is nahr: the way a camel is slaughtered. Ma'ariful Qur'an notes that camels were what the Arabs generally offered.

  9. Card 9

    Al-Kawthar 108:3: Last, the mockers' own word, handed back.

    إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ ٱلۡأَبۡتَرُ ۝٣

    3 Indeed, your enemy is the one cut off.

  10. Card 10

    Who said it?

    Early reports of the taunt name different men: al-'As ibn Wa'il most often, also 'Uqbah ibn Abi Mu'ayt, Abu Lahab, and Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf. The surah itself names nobody.

  11. Card 11

    Who is remembered now

    The mockers said the Prophet ﷺ would be forgotten. Their own names survive, Ma'ariful Qur'an points out, mainly because commentaries on this surah need them to explain it.

  12. Card 12

    Reflect: What did "abtar" mean when Quraysh used it of the Prophet [saw]?

    Answer: A man cut off, with no sons. It was a taunt for a man whose sons had died: his line and his name would end. The last ayah turns the word back on the one who used it.

  13. Card 13

    The end of Al-Kawthar.

Read the full sheet or swipe the cards.