How many surahs are in the Quran, and how many ayahs?
There are 114 surahs and 6,236 ayahs in the Quran, in the Kufan verse count used in most mushafs today. Here is how those numbers break down, why you may see other totals, and which surahs are the longest and shortest.
Last updated: 1 October 2026
114 surahs
A surah is a chapter of the Quran. There are 114, of very different lengths, arranged roughly from longest to shortest after the opening surah, Al-Fatihah. 86 are usually classed as Makki (revealed before the migration to Madinah) and 28 as Madani. You can browse all of them on our list of the 114 surahs.
6,236 ayahs
An ayah is a verse. The standard total is 6,236, following the counting tradition of Kufa, which is the count used with the recitation of Hafs ‘an ‘Asim. In this count, بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ is verse 1 of Al-Fatihah, but it is not numbered as a verse at the start of the other surahs.
| Item | Count |
|---|---|
| Surahs | 114 |
| Ayahs (Kufan count) | 6,236 |
| Juz | 30 |
| Pages (Madinah mushaf) | 604 |
| Places of prostration (sajdah) | 15 |
Why ayah counts differ
The early Muslim centres of Madinah, Makkah, Kufa, Basra and Damascus each preserved a slightly different way of marking where some verses end. The words of the Quran are identical; only the numbering of a few verse breaks changes, so totals differ by a few dozen. When someone quotes a different total, they are usually using one of these other counts, or simply repeating the popular but inaccurate figure of 6,666.
Longest and shortest surahs
| Longest surahs | Ayahs |
|---|---|
| 2. Al-Baqarah (The Cow) | 286 |
| 26. Ash-Shu'ara (The Poets) | 227 |
| 7. Al-A'raf (The Heights) | 206 |
| 3. Al Imran (The Family of Imraan) | 200 |
| 37. As-Saffat (Those drawn up in Ranks) | 182 |
| Shortest surahs | Ayahs |
|---|---|
| 103. Al-'Asr (The Declining Day, Epoch) | 3 |
| 108. Al-Kawthar (Abundance) | 3 |
| 110. An-Nasr (Divine Support) | 3 |
| 106. Quraysh (Quraysh) | 4 |
Al-Kawthar is usually called the shortest surah because it has the fewest words as well as just three verses. Many of the shortest surahs are among the last 10 surahs, which most people memorise first. For page counts, see how many pages are in the Quran, and for the 30 parts and other divisions, see juz, hizb and ruku.
Frequently asked questions
How many surahs are in the Quran?
There are 114 surahs (chapters) in the Quran, from Al-Fatihah to An-Nas.
How many ayahs are in the Quran?
6,236 in the Kufan count used in the Hafs recitation and most printed mushafs today. Other early counting traditions give slightly different totals because they divide some verses differently; the text itself is the same.
How many ayahs are in Surah Al-Baqarah?
Surah Al-Baqarah has 286 ayahs, the most of any surah. It also contains the longest single verse, 2:282, about recording debts.
Is it true the Quran has 6,666 verses?
No. 6,666 is a popular figure but it does not match any of the established verse counts. The standard Kufan count is 6,236.
Which surah has no basmalah?
Surah At-Tawbah (9) does not begin with "Bismillah". Surah An-Naml (27) contains it twice, once at the start and once within verse 30.
Counts calculated from the Tanzil Quran text (Hafs ‘an ‘Asim, Kufan count).
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