About this surah
The name. Al-Infitaar means "The Cleaving," or "The Splitting Open," from its opening verse describing the sky splitting open (82:1), the first in a short run of images of cosmic unraveling — stars scattered, seas burst forth, graves overturned — that opens the surah before it turns to what each soul will find it has done. It is Meccan, short even by the standard of the surahs around it, and moves quickly from cosmic collapse to individual accountability.
What it is known for. The surah is known for its direct address to man, asking what has deluded him concerning his generous Lord, who created him, fashioned him well, and gave him due proportion (82:6-7) — a question often quoted on human heedlessness toward a Creator who has shown nothing but care. It also carries the verse naming two recording angels appointed over every person, noble in Allah's sight, writing down what is done (82:10-12), a verse frequently cited on the idea that a person's deeds are kept, not merely observed.
Reading it. At 19 ayahs it is one of the shortest surahs, read in a couple of minutes. Its brevity and the directness of its address to "man" make it one that a first-time reader can take in as a single, short argument — creation, forgetfulness, and the record being kept — without needing to track a change of subject partway through.
Last updated: 2026-10-23