Ayat al-Kursi: meaning, virtues and how to memorise it

Ayat al-Kursi in Arabic

ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلْحَىُّ ٱلْقَيُّومُ ۚ لَا تَأْخُذُهُۥ سِنَةٌۭ وَلَا نَوْمٌۭ ۚ لَّهُۥ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۗ مَن ذَا ٱلَّذِى يَشْفَعُ عِندَهُۥٓ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِۦ ۚ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ ۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَىْءٍۢ مِّنْ عِلْمِهِۦٓ إِلَّا بِمَا شَآءَ ۚ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ ۖ وَلَا يَـُٔودُهُۥ حِفْظُهُمَا ۚ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَلِىُّ ٱلْعَظِيمُ ﴿٢٥٥﴾

Meaning, phrase by phrase

#	Meaning	Note
1	Allah: there is no god except Him,	the One who alone deserves worship
2	the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of all.	Al-Hayy and Al-Qayyum, two of the names of Allah
3	Neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him.	He never tires or is unaware
4	To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and on the earth.	everything is His
5	Who could intercede with Him except by His permission?	no one speaks for another without His leave
6	He knows what is before them and what is behind them,	past and future
7	and they grasp nothing of His knowledge except what He wills.	human knowledge is a gift from Him
8	His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth,	the Kursi, often translated "footstool" or "seat"
9	and guarding them does not tire Him.	His care of creation is effortless
10	He is the Most High, the Most Great.	Al-‘Aliyy and Al-‘Azim

The meanings are our plain-English rendering. For a deeper explanation, see our tafseer classes.

When to recite it

• Before sleeping: in a hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari (2311), the one who recites it at night is described as having a guardian from Allah until morning.
• After each obligatory prayer: reported by an-Nasa'i and graded authentic by many scholars.
• As part of the morning and evening remembrance many Muslims keep.

How to memorise it

Learn it in the ten phrases above: one or two a day, joining each new phrase to the ones before. Listen to it recited slowly, then recite it before sleeping each night, so revision becomes a habit. Pay attention to the long vowels and the heavy letters; a teacher can check them in a single lesson. For a full method, see how to memorise the Quran; for the surah it belongs to, see all 114 surahs.