Surah Mulk Word by Word: Arabic, Transliteration and Meaning

Studying Surah Mulk word by word is one of the best ways to move from reciting the surah to understanding it. When you know what each Arabic word means, the verses you recite every night begin to speak to you directly. This guide gives the Arabic, a transliteration and a word-by-word meaning for key verses of Surah Al-Mulk (chapter 67), lists the words that come back again and again, and suggests a simple daily method for learning the meanings alongside your memorization.

About the word-by-word data

The Arabic text, transliteration and word meanings below come from Quran.com's word-by-word data, and the full-verse translations are Sahih International, also from Quran.com. Word-by-word glosses are study aids: they follow the Arabic order, so they read a little awkwardly in English, and words in brackets are added for sense. For a smooth reading, compare them with a full translation; our Surah Mulk translations compared page shows several side by side.

Surah Al-Mulk has 30 verses and about 333 words in the Quran.com word data, as we explained in yesterday's guide on how long Surah Mulk is. That makes it very manageable to study word by word in a few weeks.

Verse 1: Tabarakalladhi biyadihil mulk

Sahih International: "Blessed is He in whose hand is dominion, and He is over all things competent -"

Two words to notice:

• Tabāraka ("Blessed is") opens the surah, which is why it is also called Surah Tabarak. Our article on the meaning of Tabarak explores this word in depth.
• Al-mulk ("the Dominion") gives the surah its name. When people search for the "meaning of mulk", this is the word: dominion, sovereignty, kingship.

Verse 2: Liyabluwakum, "that He may test you"

Sahih International: "[He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed - and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving -"

The word liyabluwakum ("that He may test you") is one of the most searched words in the surah. Notice that the verse mentions death before life, and that the test is about aḥsanu ʿamalan, the best deed, not the most deeds.

Verse 3: Seven heavens, no flaw

Sahih International: "[And] who created seven heavens in layers. You do not see in the creation of the Most Merciful any inconsistency. So return [your] vision [to the sky]; do you see any breaks?"

Ṭibāqan ("one above another", "in layers") describes the seven heavens. Tafāwut ("fault", "inconsistency") and fuṭūr ("flaw", "breaks") are two different words for imperfection, and the verse invites you to look for both and find neither.

Verse 4: Look again, twice

Sahih International: "Then return [your] vision twice again. [Your] vision will return to you humbled while it is fatigued."

Karratayni means "twice (again)". The repetition of al-baṣar ("the vision") three times across verses 3 and 4 is part of the rhythm of this passage, which is easy to feel once you know the word.

Verse 15: Walk the earth and eat of His provision

Sahih International: "It is He who made the earth tame for you - so walk among its slopes and eat of His provision - and to Him is the resurrection."

Dhalūlan ("subservient", "tame") describes the earth made easy for people to live on, and rizqihi ("His provision") reminds the reader where that provision comes from.

Verse 30: Flowing water

Sahih International: "Say, "Have you considered: if your water was to become sunken [into the earth], then who could bring you flowing water?""

The surah ends with a question that anyone can understand: ghawran ("sunken") water, and maʿīn ("flowing") water. Knowing these two words makes the last verse one of the easiest to remember, and one of the most moving to reflect on.

Words that recur in Surah Al-Mulk

Counting the Quran.com word-by-word data for all 30 verses (ignoring vowel marks), these words appear several times. Learning them first gives you a head start on every verse:

Counts are for the exact word form; related forms (for example "your speech" and "speech") are counted separately, so treat the numbers as a guide, not a ruling. The repeated qul ("Say") is especially noticeable in the final verses, which our tafsir of Surah Mulk discusses.

A simple word-by-word study method

1. One verse a day. Read the Arabic, then the transliteration, then each word's meaning.
2. Cover and recall. Cover the meaning column and say each word's meaning aloud.
3. Read the full translation. See how the words come together in natural English.
4. Listen. Play the verse from your favourite reciter on our Surah Mulk audio page and follow the words.
5. Recite from memory. If you are also memorizing, use our guide to memorizing Surah Mulk, and track progress with the daily tracker.

At one verse a day, you will have studied the whole surah word by word in 30 days, which pairs naturally with our Surah Mulk 30-day challenge.

Tips for non-Arabic speakers

• Use transliteration as a bridge, not a replacement. It helps you match sounds to words, but correct pronunciation comes from listening to a qualified reciter. Our Surah Mulk tajweed page explains the main rules.
• Watch the small words. Prefixes such as wa- ("and"), fa- ("so") and bi- ("with", "in") are attached to the front of words. Once you spot them, many "new" words turn out to be familiar.
• Why some words start with "l-". In the tables, you will see transliterations like l-mul'ku and l-mawta. The "a" of the article al- is not pronounced when the word is joined to the word before it in recitation, so the transliteration shows only the "l". When the word stands alone, you say al-mulk and al-mawt.
• Learn meanings in small groups. Three or four words at a time is easier to remember than a whole verse. Say the Arabic, then the meaning, then use the word in your own sentence.
• Look up one verse at a time. Our verse explorer lets you jump to any of the 30 verses.

Why understanding the words matters

Understanding what you recite brings the meaning into your heart as well as your tongue. The virtue of this surah is well known. Abu Hurairah narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:

"Indeed there is a Surah in the Qur'an of thirty Ayat which intercedes for a man until he is forgiven. It is: Tabarak Alladhi Biyadihil-Mulk." Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2891, graded Hasan (Darussalam)

That is the narration we rely on; we do not quote weaker reports as if they were authentic. For a carefully sourced overview of other narrations and their gradings, read our Surah Mulk benefits page and virtues of Surah Mulk.

Where to go next

• Read the whole surah with translation on our Surah Mulk translation page.
• Study each verse in detail on the verse pages, starting with verse 1.
• Read the surah in English only in our Surah Mulk in English guide.
• Practise pronunciation with the transliteration page.