Fast facts
- Where
- Sūrah al-Baqarah 2:255, the 255th verse of the second chapter
- The name
- From al-Kursi (الكرسي), the Footstool, mentioned within it
- Called
- The greatest verse of the Qur’an (Sahih Muslim 810)
- Structure
- Ten clauses, each a statement about Allah
- Reported use
- After each obligatory prayer, and on going to sleep
On this page
Why it is called the greatest verse
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (محمد) asked Ubayy ibn Kaʿb (أبي بن كعب) (رضي الله عنه) which verse of the Book of Allah he considered the greatest. Ubayy answered with this one. The Prophet ﷺ struck him on the chest and told him that the knowledge would be a pleasure to him (Sahih Muslim 810).
The reason usually given is that the verse is pure tawhid (توحيد). It contains no command, no prohibition, no story and no ruling. From beginning to end it makes statements about Allah and nothing else, which no other single verse sustains at that length.
What it establishes, clause by clause
Read as a sequence rather than as a block, the verse moves outward: from who He is, to what does not touch Him, to what He owns, to what nobody can do without Him, to the reach of His knowledge, and finally to the ease of it all.
- Allah, there is no god but He: the negation before the affirmation, which is the shape of the shahadah (الشهادة) itself.
- al-Hayy al-Qayyum (الحي القيوم): the Living, the Sustainer who is self-subsisting and by whom everything else subsists. Two names doing structural work.
- Neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him: the first negation, and it removes the limitation that every living thing otherwise has.
- To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth: ownership, stated without qualification.
- Who can intercede except by His permission: the clause that settles the question of intermediaries.
- He knows what is before them and behind them: knowledge that is not partial.
- They encompass nothing of His knowledge except as He wills: the direction is one way; knowledge of Him is granted, not seized.
- His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth: the image of scale.
- Their preservation does not weary Him: sustaining all of it costs Him nothing.
- And He is the Most High, the Most Great: the close, returning to two names.
The clause about intercession is the one that carries the most weight in practice. It does not deny that intercession happens; it makes it conditional on permission, which removes any notion of a party who can act on Allah independently of Him.
What the Kursi is
Kursi (كرسي) is usually rendered footstool or seat, and it is distinguished from the ʿArsh (العرش), the Throne. Ibn ʿAbbas (ابن عباس) (رضي الله عنه) is reported to have explained the Kursi as the place of the feet, with the ʿArsh being immeasurable beyond it.
The classical position on such terms is to affirm them as revelation states them without asking how, and without reducing them to metaphor or likening them to created things. The verse’s own purpose in mentioning it is scale: whatever the Kursi is, it extends over the heavens and the earth, and that is the point being made.
What is reported about reciting it
- After each obligatory prayer. A report holds that whoever recites it after every prescribed prayer has nothing between him and Paradise except death. It is graded variously and is widely acted upon.
- On going to sleep. In the well-known account of Abu Hurayrah (أبو هريرة) (رضي الله عنه) and the thief who came to the charity of Ramadan, the thief taught him this verse as protection through the night, and the Prophet ﷺ confirmed the advice was true although the one giving it was a liar (Sahih al-Bukhari 2311).
That second report is worth reading in full rather than in summary, because of what it does with its source: the advice is accepted on its merits while the person giving it is named as a habitual liar, and both facts are left standing.
Frequently asked questions
Is Ayat al-Kursi one verse or several?
One: Sūrah al-Baqarah 2:255. The two verses after it, 2:256 and 2:257, are often recited with it and are sometimes called part of the same passage, but the verse itself is 255 alone.
What is the difference between the Kursi and the ʿArsh?
They are distinct in the sources. The Kursi (كرسي) is described as extending over the heavens and the earth; the ʿArsh (العرش) is greater still. The classical approach affirms both as stated without speculating about their form.
Does reciting it guarantee protection?
The reports describe a protection, and every such report sits under the general principle that outcomes belong to Allah. Recitation is a cause a person is instructed to take, in the same way that locking a door is, and neither displaces reliance on Him.