What does « To pile up / To accumulate » mean in the Quran?

Discover the meaning of the word To pile up / To accumulate (ركم) in the Quran, with 3 verses in which it appears, and a detailed explanation from Al-Raghib al-Asfahani's Mufradat fi gharib al-Qur'an.

ركم

To pile up / To accumulate

Root: ر - ك - م

Quranic language 3 verses

Updated on 29 May 2026 at 7:00 AM

📖 1 min read

Definition of To pile up / To accumulate

One says 'sahâb markûm' (heaped clouds), meaning piled up.

Allah says: 'Heaped clouds (rukâman)' (An-Nûr: 43).

Allah heaps clouds to produce rain by His power.

To pile up / To accumulate in the Quran (3)

Meccan: 1 Medinan: 2

Distribution of verses by surah

Al-Anfal 1

An-Nur 1

At-Tur 1

Surah Al-Anfal : 37 Medinan

﴿لِيَمِيزَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْخَبِيثَ مِنَ ٱلطَّيِّبِ وَيَجْعَلَ ٱلْخَبِيثَ بَعْضَهُۥ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ فَيَرْكُمَهُۥ جَمِيعًا فَيَجْعَلَهُۥ فِى جَهَنَّمَ أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْخَٰسِرُونَ﴾

[This is] so that Allah may distinguish the wicked from the good and place the wicked some of them upon others and heap them all together and put them into Hell. It is those who are the losers.

Surah An-Nur : 43 Medinan

﴿أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُزْجِى سَحَابًا ثُمَّ يُؤَلِّفُ بَيْنَهُۥ ثُمَّ يَجْعَلُهُۥ رُكَامًا فَتَرَى ٱلْوَدْقَ يَخْرُجُ مِنْ خِلَٰلِهِۦ وَيُنَزِّلُ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مِن جِبَالٍ فِيهَا مِنۢ بَرَدٍ فَيُصِيبُ بِهِۦ مَن يَشَآءُ وَيَصْرِفُهُۥ عَن مَّن يَشَآءُ يَكَادُ سَنَا بَرْقِهِۦ يَذْهَبُ بِٱلْأَبْصَٰرِ﴾

Do you not see that Allah drives clouds? Then He brings them together, then He makes them into a mass, and you see the rain emerge from within it. And He sends down from the sky, mountains [of clouds] within which is hail, and He strikes with it whom He wills and averts it from whom He wills. The flash of its lightening almost takes away the eyesight.

Surah At-Tur : 44 Meccan

﴿وَإِن يَرَوْا۟ كِسْفًا مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ سَاقِطًا يَقُولُوا۟ سَحَابٌ مَّرْكُومٌ﴾

And if they were to see a fragment from the sky falling, they would say, "[It is merely] clouds heaped up."