# Surahs that begin with separate letters (muqatta'at)

29 surahs open with letters read out one by one (al-huruf al-muqatta'at). They use 14 letters in 14 combinations. Detected from the Tanzil Uthmani text; the site does not interpret them.

| Letters | Read as | Surahs |
|---|---|---|
| الٓمٓ | Alif Lam Mim | 2 Al-Baqarah, 3 Ali 'Imran, 29 Al-'Ankabut, 30 Ar-Rum, 31 Luqman, 32 As-Sajdah |
| الٓمٓصٓ | Alif Lam Mim Sad | 7 Al-A'raf |
| الٓر | Alif Lam Ra | 10 Yunus, 11 Hud, 12 Yusuf, 14 Ibrahim, 15 Al-Hijr |
| الٓمٓر | Alif Lam Mim Ra | 13 Ar-Ra'd |
| كٓهيعٓصٓ | Kaf Ha Ya Ayn Sad | 19 Maryam |
| طه | Ta Ha | 20 Ta-Ha |
| طسٓمٓ | Ta Sin Mim | 26 Ash-Shu'ara, 28 Al-Qasas |
| طسٓ | Ta Sin | 27 An-Naml |
| يسٓ | Ya Sin | 36 Ya-Sin |
| صٓ | Sad | 38 Sad |
| حمٓ | Ha Mim | 40 Ghafir, 41 Fussilat, 43 Az-Zukhruf, 44 Ad-Dukhan, 45 Al-Jathiyah, 46 Al-Ahqaf |
| حمٓ عٓسٓقٓ | Ha Mim, Ayn Sin Qaf | 42 Ash-Shura |
| قٓ | Qaf | 50 Qaf |
| نٓ | Nun | 68 Al-Qalam |

## Common questions

**How many surahs start with muqatta'at letters?**

29. They use 14 different letters — half of the Arabic alphabet — in 14 different combinations, from a single letter such as Qaf to the five letters Kaf Ha Ya Ayn Sad.

**Which surahs start with Alif Lam Mim?**

6: Al-Baqarah, Ali 'Imran, Al-'Ankabut, Ar-Rum, Luqman and As-Sajdah (surahs 2, 3, 29, 30, 31, 32). Two more begin with longer forms of it — Alif Lam Mim Sad (Al-A'raf) and Alif Lam Mim Ra (Ar-Ra'd).

**Which surahs start with Ha Mim?**

7 consecutive surahs, 40 to 46: Ghafir, Fussilat, Ash-Shura, Az-Zukhruf, Ad-Dukhan, Al-Jathiyah, Al-Ahqaf. Ash-Shura (42) follows Ha Mim with a second verse of letters, Ayn Sin Qaf.

**Which surahs start with Alif Lam Ra?**

5: Yunus, Hud, Yusuf, Ibrahim and Al-Hijr. Ar-Ra'd begins with Alif Lam Mim Ra.

**What are the muqatta'at letters?**

Al-huruf al-muqatta'at, "the disconnected letters", are letters that open some surahs and are read out one by one by their names — Alif Lam Mim is recited "alif, lam, mim" rather than as a word. Their meaning is not stated in the text and commentators have proposed many explanations; this site lists them and does not interpret them.

**Which is the longest group of letters?**

Kaf Ha Ya Ayn Sad (كٓهيعٓصٓ), the five letters that open Maryam, surah 19.

Canonical page: https://quranonlineread.com/quran/muqattaat/