Al-Isra, "The Night Journey," is the seventeenth surah — 111 verses revealed in Mecca, in the last years before the emigration to Medina.1 It is also known as Bani Isra'il, "The Children of Israel," and it opens with one of the most celebrated events in the Prophet's ﷺ life.
What it is about
The first verse gives the surah its name: "Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him of Our signs."2 The rest of the surah reads as preparation for what was coming — a community about to have a city of its own. It warns through the history of the Children of Israel, lays down a code of conduct, establishes the times of prayer, and answers the demands of those in Mecca who would believe only if the Prophet ﷺ performed wonders on request.
How it unfolds
After the Night Journey, the surah turns to the Children of Israel, told in their scripture that they would "cause corruption on the earth twice" and be punished each time — with the principle spelled out: "If you do good, you do good for yourselves" — and evil, likewise, falls on those who do it.3
Then comes the surah's code of conduct, opening with a verse that places kindness to parents directly after the worship of God: "Whether one or both of them reach old age [while] with you, say not to them [so much as], 'uff,' and do not repel them but speak to them a noble word. And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy and say, 'My Lord, have mercy upon them as they brought me up [when I was] small.'"4 The commands continue: give relatives, the poor and the traveler their due without waste or miserliness; do not kill your children for fear of poverty; do not approach unlawful intercourse; do not take life unjustly; protect the orphan's property; keep commitments; weigh honestly; do not "pursue that of which you have no knowledge"; and "do not walk upon the earth exultantly. Indeed, you will never tear the earth [apart], and you will never reach the mountains in height."5
The surah affirms human dignity — "We have certainly honored the children of Adam"6 — and sets out the times of prayer, from the decline of the sun to the darkness of night and the recitation of dawn, adding night prayer for the Prophet ﷺ with the hope that "your Lord will resurrect you to a praised station."7 The daily prayers themselves were prescribed on the night of the Journey, in the ascension that followed it: fifty at first, reduced at the Prophet's request to five: "These are five prayers and they are all (equal to) fifty (in reward)."12
Its closing section meets its critics head on. "Truth has come, and falsehood has departed," and the Quran is "healing and mercy for the believers."8 Asked about the soul, the Prophet ﷺ is told to answer: "The soul is of the affair of my Lord. And you have not been given of knowledge except a little."9 And the challenge is issued in its broadest form: "If mankind and the jinn gathered in order to produce the like of this Quran, they could not produce the like of it, even if they were to each other assistants."10 The surah ends in praise of God, "who has not taken a son and has had no partner in [His] dominion."11
Key themes
The honor of the Prophet and of Jerusalem. The Night Journey ties the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to al-Aqsa, "whose surroundings We have blessed."
Duty to parents. The passage describes it with unusual tenderness: not even a sigh of impatience in their old age.
A code for a community. The commands of 17:23–39 set the ethical foundation of the society about to form in Medina.
The limits of human knowledge. The surah answers questions about the soul and demands for miracles with humility before what only God knows.
Why it matters
Al-Isra is the Quranic source for the Night Journey, which underlies the reverence Muslims hold for al-Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem and the story of how the five daily prayers were prescribed. Its words on parents — "say not to them [so much as], 'uff'" — are among the most quoted in the Quran, and its prayer "My Lord, have mercy upon them as they brought me up [when I was] small" gives every child words with which to pray for their parents. To read Al-Isra in Arabic with translations and recitation, open it on Quran.com.