The short answer
Surah Kausar is the 108th surah of the Quran, with three verses that open "We have given you Abundance" (Al-Kawthar 108:1, meaning surah 108, verse 1). The Arabic and English here come from the Tanzil copy and an adapted Pickthall translation. Kawthar is another spelling of the same name. No virtue for reciting it is stated here, as the reports of its virtues were not checked.
What is Surah Kausar in Arabic, transliteration and English?
Al-Kawthar 108:1 to 3
إِنَّآ أَعْطَيْنَـٰكَ ٱلْكَوْثَرَ فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَٱنْحَرْ إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ ٱلْأَبْتَرُ
Innā aʿṭaynāka l-kawthar. Fa-ṣalli li-rabbika wa-nḥar. Inna shāniʾaka huwa l-abtar.
Indeed, We have given you Abundance; So pray to your Lord, and sacrifice. Indeed, it is your insulter (and not you) who is without posterity.
Al-Kawthar is surah 108, with three verses. To copy the Arabic, use the button under the scroll. The Tanzil copy prints the Bismillah at the start of verse 1, and the verses are counted as three, as the Tanzil metadata counts them.
What does Surah Kawthar mean, verse by verse, with its transliteration?
Each verse has its Arabic, its transliteration, its English and a plain note on the wording.
- 1
إِنَّآ أَعْطَيْنَـٰكَ ٱلْكَوْثَرَ
Innā aʿṭaynāka l-kawthar
Indeed, We have given you Abundance.
The verse begins "Indeed" and says "We have given you". The translation renders al-kawthar as "Abundance". The Tanzil metadata gives the English name as Abundance.
- 2
فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَٱنْحَرْ
Fa-ṣalli li-rabbika wa-nḥar
So pray to your Lord, and sacrifice.
Two commands in one verse: to pray to your Lord, and to sacrifice. The translation keeps them in the order of the Arabic.
- 3
إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ ٱلْأَبْتَرُ
Inna shāniʾaka huwa l-abtar
Indeed, it is your insulter (and not you) who is without posterity.
The verse turns to the one who insults. The translation renders al-abtar as "without posterity", and says it is the insulter, not the one addressed, who is without posterity.
The first verse is three words:
Arabic reads right to left, so the first word is on the right.
- إِنَّآinnāindeed, weOpens the verse. The translation gives it as "Indeed, We".
- أَعْطَيْنَـٰكَaʿṭaynākaWe have given youThe verb is in the first person plural, as the translation renders it.
- ٱلْكَوْثَرَal-kawtharAbundanceTanzil gives the English name as Abundance.
What are the themes and passage structure of Surah Kausar?
The three verses fall into three parts. This describes their wording only.
| Verse | What the wording does |
|---|---|
| 1 | Says that We have given you Abundance |
| 2 | Gives two commands: to pray to the Lord, and to sacrifice |
| 3 | Turns to the one who insults, and says that he is without posterity |
The surah moves from a statement of a gift (verse 1), to the response it asks for (verse 2), to a statement about the one who insults (verse 3). How the commentaries link the three verses, and what the Abundance is taken to be, belongs to tafsir (Quran commentary). Neither is stated here.
What is the context of Surah Kawthar?
The Tanzil metadata classes Al-Kawthar as Meccan (from the Makkan period, before the move to Madinah), and gives its English name as Abundance. The reports about the occasion on which it was revealed, and the classical commentaries on it, were not checked. So no date or occasion of revelation is given, and Meccan is given only as the Tanzil classification.
What do the hadith say Kawthar is?
Two reports from Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, name Kawthar. In Sahih Muslim 400a, sahih by inclusion in Sahih Muslim, the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, says a surah has just been revealed to him and recites it. He then asks whether they know what Kawthar is, and answers that it is a canal his Lord promised him, with an abundance of good in it, and a cistern his people will come to on the Day of Resurrection. 1 The report continues with more about the cistern, which is not retold here.
1AuthenticSahih Muslim 400a
In Sahih al-Bukhari 4964, sahih by inclusion in Sahih al-Bukhari, Anas reports the Prophet saying that when he was taken up to the heavens he came upon a river whose banks were tents of hollow pearls. He asked Gabriel, peace be upon him, what it was, and Gabriel said it was the Kauthar. 2
2AuthenticSahih al-Bukhari 4964
Both reports say what Kawthar is. Neither gives a reward, a number of times or a time for reciting the surah, and the river and the cistern are not joined into one account here.
What are the benefits of Surah Kausar?
No reward, benefit or virtue for reciting or memorising Surah Kausar is stated here. Virtue reports on reciting it are not covered here. The two reports above say what Kawthar is and give no reward for reciting the surah.
The commentaries explain the word al-kawthar in several ways. None of those explanations is cited here, so no account is given of what the Abundance is.
How do you learn Surah Kawthar by heart?
It has three verses. The verse list above gives each line in Arabic, with the transliteration as our guide to the words.
Pronunciation: a guide to the letters. The transliteration and the sound notes below follow the Tanzil Arabic letter by letter. Listen to a qualified reciter for the sound itself.
- ʿ in aʿṭaynāka a tightening deep in the throat.
- ṣ in ṣalli a heavy s, with the tongue pulled back.
- ḥ in wa-nḥar a breathy h with the throat narrowed, not the light English h.
- ʾ in shāniʾaka a catch in the throat before the last part of the word.
Audio is not provided. There is no recording, and no reciter is named or embedded here.
Try it: Surah Kawthar in three questions
Three quick questions on the surah. Each answer explains itself.
1How many verses does Surah Kausar have?
Answer: Three. Three. It is surah 108, after Al-Ma'un and before Al-Kafirun.
2What does verse 2 ask the reader to do?
Answer: Pray and sacrifice. Verse 2: "So pray to your Lord, and sacrifice."
3Which word does the translation used here give for al-kawthar?
Answer: Abundance. Abundance, in the adapted Pickthall translation used here. The commentaries explain the word in several ways, which are not covered here.
I used to fumble this one every time. It is only three short lines, but I kept mixing up which line came next. What fixed it was saying the first line slowly, then picturing the English under it, then doing the other two the same way.
Common mix-ups
- Surah Kawthar is surah 108. Al-Ma'un is 107, Al-Kafirun is 109 and Al-Ikhlas is 112.
- Kawthar and Kausar are two English spellings of this surah's name.
Questions people ask
What is Surah Kausar about?
Surah Kausar, also called Surah Al-Kawthar, is three verses. The first says that Abundance has been given, the second commands prayer and sacrifice to the Lord, and the third says the insulter is the one without posterity. The English is an adapted Pickthall translation.
Is Surah Kawthar the same as Surah Kausar?
Yes. Kawthar, Kausar, Al Kawthar and Al Kausar are spellings of the same surah, number 108.
What is the Surah Kawthar transliteration?
Innā aʿṭaynāka l-kawthar. Fa-ṣalli li-rabbika wa-nḥar. Inna shāniʾaka huwa l-abtar. The verse list above gives each line with its English.
Does reciting Surah Kausar bring a reward?
No reward or virtue for reciting or memorising it is stated here. The two hadith cited are about what Kawthar is, not about reciting the surah.
Sources
Every claim on this page comes from one of these. Gradings are reported with the scholar's name; we do not grade hadith ourselves.
- 1
Anas reported that the Prophet dozed among them, raised his head smiling and said a surah had just been revealed to him, which he recited (Surah Al-Kawthar). He asked whether they knew what Kawthar is and, when they said Allah and His Messenger know best, said it is a canal his Lord promised him with an abundance of good in it, and a cistern to which his people will come on the Day of Resurrection. The report continues with further details of the cistern and the turning away of a servant, and adds a wording from Ibn Hujr.
Authentic: in Sahih Muslim
- 2
Anas reported that when the Prophet was made to ascend to the heavens he said that he came upon a river whose banks were tents of hollow pearls, and when he asked Gabriel what it was, Gabriel replied that it was the Kauthar.
Authentic: in Sahih al-Bukhari
- Q
Quran Arabic for Al-Kawthar 108:1 to 3 (the scroll, the verse list and the word cards), without the Bismillah the Tanzil copy prints at the head of verse 1, and its English.
Tanzil Project Uthmani text, CC BY 3.0. English: adapted from Marmaduke Pickthall's translation (1930), modernised and checked against modern translations.
- M
Surah 108 has three verses, the English name Abundance, and the Tanzil class Meccan.
Tanzil Project metadata CC BY 3.0.
Next
- Al-Kafirun: Arabic, meaning and the bedtime reportQuran lesson
- Al-Ikhlas: meaning, themes and reported virtuesQuran lesson
- The four Quls: Arabic, meaning and reported virtuesQuran lesson
- Surah Tawbah: Arabic, meaning, themes and reading guideQuran lesson
- Bismillah: meaning and when to say it
- Quran and SurahsThe hub
- Surah Quraish: meaning, themes and learningQuran lesson
For your own situation, ask a scholar you trust.
Join the email list
New guides by email, now and then. No spam, and you can leave at any time.
Ilmwell is free and kept going by readers. See how to support it.