Ayat al-Kursi (2:255): Meaning, Translation and When to Recite It
You probably learned Ayat al-Kursi before anyone explained it. Someone recited it over you before a long drive, or under their breath at your bedside, and it settled into you the way a lullaby does. Now it comes out after the salam at the speed of habit. This page is for the night you want to slow down and hear what you have been saying.
The full verse in Arabic and English
Ayat al-Kursi is verse 255 of Surah Al-Baqarah (2). It takes its name from one word near its end, kursi. Here is the whole verse.
ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلۡحَيُّ ٱلۡقَيُّومُۚ لَا تَأۡخُذُهُۥ سِنَةٞ وَلَا نَوۡمٞۚ لَّهُۥ مَا فِي ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِۗ مَن ذَا ٱلَّذِي يَشۡفَعُ عِندَهُۥٓ إِلَّا بِإِذۡنِهِۦۚ يَعۡلَمُ مَا بَيۡنَ أَيۡدِيهِمۡ وَمَا خَلۡفَهُمۡۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيۡءٖ مِّنۡ عِلۡمِهِۦٓ إِلَّا بِمَا شَآءَۚ وَسِعَ كُرۡسِيُّهُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضَۖ وَلَا يَـُٔودُهُۥ حِفۡظُهُمَاۚ وَهُوَ ٱلۡعَلِيُّ ٱلۡعَظِيمُ
"Allah - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of [all] existence. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them, and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills. His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth, and their preservation tires Him not. And He is the Most High, the Most Great"
Al-Baqarah 2:255
Transliteration
Allahu la ilaha illa huwal-Hayyul-Qayyum. La ta'khudhuhu sinatun wa la nawm. Lahu ma fis-samawati wa ma fil-ard. Man dhal-ladhi yashfa'u 'indahu illa bi-idhnih. Ya'lamu ma bayna aydihim wa ma khalfahum. Wa la yuhituna bi-shay'in min 'ilmihi illa bima sha'. Wasi'a kursiyyuhus-samawati wal-ard. Wa la ya'uduhu hifzuhuma. Wa huwal-'Aliyyul-'Azim.
Use it as a bridge while your ear catches up, and listen to a reciter alongside it. Sounds like the throaty h in Hayy don't survive English spelling.
The greatest verse in the Quran
The Prophet ﷺ once asked Ubayy ibn Ka'b which verse in the Book of Allah was the greatest. Ubayy answered, "Allah and His Messenger know best." The question came again, and this time he said: Allahu la ilaha illa huwal-Hayyul-Qayyum. The Prophet ﷺ struck him on the chest and said, "May knowledge delight you, Abu al-Mundhir" (Sahih Muslim 810).
Scholars point to its subject as part of the reason. There is no story here and no ruling. From first word to last it is about Allah: who He is, what belongs to Him, what He knows, and what never tires Him.
Phrase by phrase: what the verse says about Allah
Ayat al-Kursi falls into short phrases, each one small enough to carry around for a day.
Allah, there is no deity except Him
ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ
"Allah - there is no deity except Him"
The verse opens with the shahada in its plainest form. Before you learn anything else about Allah, you are told that nothing besides Him deserves worship. Everything after this hangs from it, and it quietly sets your other worries and attachments back down to their real size.
The Ever-Living, the Sustainer
ٱلۡحَيُّ ٱلۡقَيُّومُۚ
"the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of [all] existence."
Al-Hayy is life without beginning or end, life that depends on nothing. Al-Qayyum is the One who stands by Himself and keeps everything else standing: your heartbeat, the moon on its path, the rain that reached the field your bread came from. Some scholars held that these two names, said together, are the Greatest Name of Allah, though there are other opinions.
Neither drowsiness nor sleep
لَا تَأۡخُذُهُۥ سِنَةٞ وَلَا نَوۡمٞۚ
"Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep."
Sinah is the heaviness before sleep, the nod you catch yourself making on a late bus. Nawm is sleep itself. Allah is touched by neither. The Prophet ﷺ said, "Allah does not sleep, and it does not befit Him to sleep" (Sahih Muslim 179).
This is the line to hold at night. You have to sleep, and for hours your watchfulness simply switches off. His never does. You can put the watch down, because He is keeping it.
Everything belongs to Him
لَّهُۥ مَا فِي ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِۗ
"To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth."
That includes whatever you are afraid of losing and the people you love most. It is a gentle line and a hard one. Nothing you hold is finally yours, and everything you hold is already in the hands of its real Owner.
No one intercedes without His permission
مَن ذَا ٱلَّذِي يَشۡفَعُ عِندَهُۥٓ إِلَّا بِإِذۡنِهِۦۚ
"Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission?"
In human affairs, connections get you a hearing. Here no one speaks for anyone unless Allah allows it; even the intercession of the Prophet ﷺ on the Day of Judgement comes by His leave. The comfort on the other side is that no gatekeeper stands between you and your Lord. You can ask Him yourself, tonight, in your own words.
His knowledge, and the little we are given
يَعۡلَمُ مَا بَيۡنَ أَيۡدِيهِمۡ وَمَا خَلۡفَهُمۡۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيۡءٖ مِّنۡ عِلۡمِهِۦٓ إِلَّا بِمَا شَآءَۚ
"He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them, and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills."
He knows what is ahead of you and what is behind you, what you have forgotten and what hasn't happened yet. You know only what He chooses to show you. You were never asked to see your whole life at once, only to trust the One who does.
His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth
وَسِعَ كُرۡسِيُّهُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضَۖ
"His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth"
This is the phrase that names the verse. Scholars differ on what exactly the Kursi is (more on that in the questions below), but their explanations meet at the same place: every star you have looked up at on a clear night sits inside something that belongs to Him.
Guarding them does not tire Him
وَلَا يَـُٔودُهُۥ حِفۡظُهُمَاۚ
"and their preservation tires Him not."
Keeping the heavens and the earth in place costs Him nothing. The things that feel enormous at two in the morning are no strain for Him either. You get tired of carrying what you carry. He does not tire of keeping you.
The Most High, the Most Great
وَهُوَ ٱلۡعَلِيُّ ٱلۡعَظِيمُ
"And He is the Most High, the Most Great"
The verse ends where it began, with Allah. Al-'Aliyy: above everything, in every sense. Al-'Azim: greater than anything you can picture, including whatever is frightening you right now. It is a good last word to fall asleep on.
When to recite Ayat al-Kursi
The Sunnah ties this verse to two moments: the end of each obligatory prayer, and bedtime. Each takes less than a minute.
After every obligatory prayer
Abu Umamah reported that the Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever recites Ayat al-Kursi after every prescribed prayer, nothing will prevent him from entering Paradise except death." Al-Nasa'i recorded it in al-Sunan al-Kubra (9848). Some earlier critics questioned its chain, but many hadith scholars accepted it, and al-Albani graded it sahih.
In practice: after the salam, alongside your usual dhikr, recite it once, quietly. For the rest of what to say after prayer, see our guide to adhkar after salah.
Before you sleep
Abu Hurayrah was once put in charge of guarding the zakat of Ramadan. A man came by night and helped himself to handfuls of food. Abu Hurayrah caught him, and twice let him go when he pleaded need. On the third night the man bargained for his release with a piece of advice: "When you go to your bed, recite Ayat al-Kursi, and a guardian from Allah will stay with you, and no devil will come near you until morning." The Prophet ﷺ said, "He told you the truth, though he is a liar," and explained that the visitor had been a devil (Sahih al-Bukhari 5010).
It is fitting that the verse which says Allah never sleeps is the one taught for the moment you fall asleep. Lights off, phone face down, recite it once. If you keep a short bedtime routine, it sits well beside the last two verses of Surah Al-Baqarah, Surah Al-Mulk (67) and the other duas before sleep.
Any other time
It is a verse of the Quran, so you can recite it whenever you like, including in prayer after Al-Fatihah. Many collections of morning and evening adhkar include it too.
A small way to make it yours
If you have said this verse a thousand times without feeling much, nothing is wrong with you. Familiar words wear smooth, like stones in a river. One way to get them back is to take one phrase a night.
Tonight it might be "Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep." Recite the whole verse as usual, but when you reach that line, slow down and mean it. Tomorrow, take the next. In nine nights you will have walked the whole verse, and it will likely sound different after the salam.
A quiet minute with the Quran, every day
Sereni gives you one quiet minute with the Quran each day — a verse, a hadith and a dua — chosen for whatever you’re carrying.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Ayat al-Kursi in the Quran?
It is verse 255 of Surah Al-Baqarah (2), the longest surah in the Quran. You will find it near the beginning of the third juz.
What does Kursi mean?
Literally, a seat or footstool. Scholars differ on its meaning in this verse: many early commentators understood it as a real and immense creation, while others read it as Allah's knowledge or His dominion. Either way, the verse describes a greatness that takes in the heavens and the earth.
How many times should I recite Ayat al-Kursi?
The authentic narrations mention reciting it once after each obligatory prayer and once before sleep. They do not set a higher number, so there is nothing to count. Once, with your attention on the words, follows the Sunnah.
Can I recite Ayat al-Kursi without wudu?
Yes, from memory. Reciting the Quran without wudu is permitted; most scholars require wudu only for touching a physical mushaf. For someone in a state of janabah or menstruation, scholars differ on reciting the Quran, so follow your school or ask a scholar you trust.
Keep reading: Duas before sleep · Adhkar after salah · The last two verses of Surah Al-Baqarah