Discover the meaning of the term Al-āya (آية) in Islamic vocabulary.
Contents :
Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 5 min readIt is a section of the Quran whose parts connect one to another until it ends, long or short.
The sign; its plural: al-ayat; the verses of the Quran were named by it because they are signs upon the rulings, for instance. (F (3)).
In language: the sign and the warning. As-Samarqandi said: the name of sign makes apparent the manner of its indicating what it was made a sign of; hence the clear vestiges of dwellings are called ayat, as they are called ma'alim. An-Nabigha said: (I imagined signs of it and so recognized it ... six years of that have passed, and this year is the seventh). Another said: and the age effaced its traces, that is, the vestiges of the dwellings. It has been said: it is derived from ayat ash-shams (the light of the sun), that is, its brightness; one says aya ash-shams with a kasra on the hamza and a final alif; if the ha is dropped the hamza takes the fatha and is lengthened, and one says ayay ash-shams; the aya is derived from that, for the manifestness of its indication in clearness, like the sun's light and its rays. Hence the miracles of the messengers, the prayers of Allah and His salutation upon them, were named clear signs. Allah the Exalted said: (We surely gave Musa nine clear signs).
A portion of the sura with bounded beginning and end.
The manifest sign; its reality: everything manifest that is inseparable from something whose manifestation does not appear: whenever one attains the manifest of the two, one knows one has attained the other which one did not attain in itself, since their status is one; this is evident in the sensed and the intelligible. It has been said of every sentence of the Quran indicating a ruling, whether a sura or sections, or a section of a sura, that it is an aya; and every utterance from it set off by a verbal separation is called an aya; upon this basis the verses of the suras are counted, by which the sura is enumerated.
It is a section of the Quran whose parts connect one to another until it ends, long or short.
The sign and the indication; in the noble hadith: (the sign of the hypocrite are three: when he speaks he lies, when he promises he breaks his promise, when he is entrusted he betrays). The warning; in the noble Quran: (Today We shall save your body that you may be a sign to those after you) (Yunus: 92). The miracle; in the generous Quran: (And We made the son of Maryam and his mother a sign, and We gave them shelter on a height, a place of rest and a spring) (Al-Mu'minun: 50). The lofty structure; in the Quran: (Do you build on every ridge a monument, sporting?) (Ash-Shu'ara': 128). Of the noble Quran: a sentence, or sentences, at whose end stands the effect of the pause; in the Quran: (And when We substitute a verse in place of a verse, and Allah knows best what He sends down, they say: you are but a fabricator; nay, most of them do not know) (An-Nahl: 101). Of the Quran, by convention: a translated portion of the Quran; the least it can be is six letters, even by estimation, such as (has not begotten) (al-Hasakafi). According to the Hanafis: a Quranic passage composed of sentences, even by estimation, having a beginning and an end, contained within a sura. And: it is a section of the Quran whose parts connect one to another until it ends, long or short.
﴿وَقَالَ لَهُمْ نَبِيُّهُمْ إِنَّ ءَايَةَ مُلْكِهِۦٓ أَن يَأْتِيَكُمُ ٱلتَّابُوتُ فِيهِ سَكِينَةٌۭ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَبَقِيَّةٌۭ مِّمَّا تَرَكَ ءَالُ مُوسَىٰ وَءَالُ هَـٰرُونَ تَحْمِلُهُ ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةُ ۚ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَـَٔايَةًۭ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ﴾
« And their prophet said to them, "Indeed, a sign of his kingship is that the chest will come to you in which is assurance from your Lord and a remnant of what the family of Moses and the family of Aaron had left, carried by the angels. Indeed in that is a sign for you, if you are believers." »
Surah البقرة : 248
﴿وَرَسُولًا إِلَىٰ بَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ أَنِّى قَدْ جِئْتُكُم بِـَٔايَةٍۢ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ ۖ أَنِّىٓ أَخْلُقُ لَكُم مِّنَ ٱلطِّينِ كَهَيْـَٔةِ ٱلطَّيْرِ فَأَنفُخُ فِيهِ فَيَكُونُ طَيْرًۢا بِإِذْنِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ وَأُبْرِئُ ٱلْأَكْمَهَ وَٱلْأَبْرَصَ وَأُحْىِ ٱلْمَوْتَىٰ بِإِذْنِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ وَأُنَبِّئُكُم بِمَا تَأْكُلُونَ وَمَا تَدَّخِرُونَ فِى بُيُوتِكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَـَٔايَةًۭ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ﴾
« And [make him] a messenger to the Children of Israel, [who will say], 'Indeed I have come to you with a sign from your Lord in that I design for you from clay [that which is] like the form of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird by permission of Allah. And I cure the blind and the leper, and I give life to the dead - by permission of Allah. And I inform you of what you eat and what you store in your houses. Indeed in that is a sign for you, if you are believers. »
Surah آل عمران : 49
﴿وَمُصَدِّقًۭا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَىَّ مِنَ ٱلتَّوْرَىٰةِ وَلِأُحِلَّ لَكُم بَعْضَ ٱلَّذِى حُرِّمَ عَلَيْكُمْ ۚ وَجِئْتُكُم بِـَٔايَةٍۢ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ فَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُونِ﴾
« And [I have come] confirming what was before me of the Torah and to make lawful for you some of what was forbidden to you. And I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, so fear Allah and obey me. »
Surah آل عمران : 50
﴿وَإِن كَانَ كَبُرَ عَلَيْكَ إِعْرَاضُهُمْ فَإِنِ ٱسْتَطَعْتَ أَن تَبْتَغِىَ نَفَقًۭا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ أَوْ سُلَّمًۭا فِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ فَتَأْتِيَهُم بِـَٔايَةٍۢ ۚ وَلَوْ شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ لَجَمَعَهُمْ عَلَى ٱلْهُدَىٰ ۚ فَلَا تَكُونَنَّ مِنَ ٱلْجَـٰهِلِينَ﴾
« And if their evasion is difficult for you, then if you are able to seek a tunnel into the earth or a stairway into the sky to bring them a sign, [then do so]. But if Allah had willed, He would have united them upon guidance. So never be of the ignorant. »
Surah الأنعام : 35
﴿قَالَ إِن كُنتَ جِئْتَ بِـَٔايَةٍۢ فَأْتِ بِهَآ إِن كُنتَ مِنَ ٱلصَّـٰدِقِينَ﴾
« [Pharaoh] said, "If you have come with a sign, then bring it forth, if you should be of the truthful." »
Surah الأعراف : 106
﴿وَإِذَا لَمْ تَأْتِهِم بِـَٔايَةٍۢ قَالُوا۟ لَوْلَا ٱجْتَبَيْتَهَا ۚ قُلْ إِنَّمَآ أَتَّبِعُ مَا يُوحَىٰٓ إِلَىَّ مِن رَّبِّى ۚ هَـٰذَا بَصَآئِرُ مِن رَّبِّكُمْ وَهُدًۭى وَرَحْمَةٌۭ لِّقَوْمٍۢ يُؤْمِنُونَ﴾
« And when you, [O Muhammad], do not bring them a sign, they say, "Why have you not contrived it?" Say, "I only follow what is revealed to me from my Lord. This [Qur'an] is enlightenment from your Lord and guidance and mercy for a people who believe." »
Surah الأعراف : 203
This term appears in 32 verses of the Quran.