Surah Al-Mulk — the chapter that protects in the grave
Qur'an, chapter 67 · 30 verses · Makkan · also called Tabarak and Al-Mani'ah (the Preventer).
The opening verses in Arabic
تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي بِيَدِهِ الْمُلْكُ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ الَّذِي خَلَقَ الْمَوْتَ وَالْحَيَاةَ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْغَفُورُ
Transliteration
Tabārakalladhī biyadihil-mulku wa huwa 'alā kulli shay'in qadīr. Alladhī khalaqal-mawta wal-ḥayāta liyabluwakum ayyukum aḥsanu 'amalā, wa huwal-'azīzul-ghafūr.
Translation (Saheeh International)
"Blessed is He in whose hand is dominion, and He is over all things competent — [He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed — and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving." (67:1–2)
Virtues from authentic hadith
- It intercedes until its reciter is forgiven. The Prophet ﷺ said: "There is a chapter of the Qur'an of thirty verses which intercedes for a man until he is forgiven — Tabārakalladhī biyadihil-mulk." (Sunan Abi Dawud 1400; Sunan at-Tirmidhi 2891, graded hasan)
- A protection from the punishment of the grave. Ibn Mas'ud ؓ said: "Whoever recites Tabārakalladhī biyadihil-mulk every night, Allah protects him from the punishment of the grave." (Sunan an-Nasa'i al-Kubra 10547) It is for this that the surah is called Al-Mani'ah, the Preventer.
- The Prophet ﷺ recited it nightly. He would not sleep until he had recited Surah As-Sajdah and Surah Al-Mulk. (Sunan at-Tirmidhi 2892)
What the surah is about
Al-Mulk opens by placing all dominion in Allah's hand, then turns the reader's eyes upward to the seven perfectly ordered heavens, and downward to the earth made gentle enough to walk upon. Between the two it asks a single question in many forms: who sustains all this, and who will answer for the life you were given? Death and life are named as a test — not a punishment — and the surah closes by asking where you would find water if the springs sank into the ground. Recited at night, it is a nightly return to that perspective.
When to recite it
The established practice is every night before sleeping. There is no requirement to recite it from memory — reading from the muṣḥaf or a screen carries the same reward, and listening attentively is valid for anyone who cannot yet read Arabic.
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Related: Surah Yaseen (36) · Ayatul Kursi (2:255) · Evening and bedtime adhkar