P1-QUR-14 Major themes of the Qur'an Paper 1, Question 1 · compulsory
Sura 93 — Al-Duha: your Lord has not forsaken you
Sura al-Duha reassures the Prophet ﷺ after distress, recalls Allah’s care throughout his life, and converts received mercy into duties towards the orphan, the petitioner and the wider community.
Compulsory Question 1 Allah's Messengers Makkan
Syllabus connection
- P1.T1.b1 The major theme or themes of the Qur'an that appear in each passage
- P1.T1.b2 The importance of these themes in the lives of Muslims today
- P1.T1.b3 Study the passages in a recognised English translation, with reference to the original Arabic text
- P1.T1.b4 Demonstrate knowledge of the original Arabic as well as the translation
- A1.14 Passage 14: Sura 93 Allah's Messengers
Learn the material
Learning objectives
Key vocabulary
- al-Duha
- The bright morning.
- saja
- To become still or cover quietly.
- yatim
- An orphan.
- ‘a’il
- In need or poverty.
- ni‘ma
- A blessing or favour.
- shukr
- Gratitude expressed through recognition and action.
Before you start
Answer from memory before opening the answers.
- Which prescribed group contains this passage?
- What is the difference between a theme and a paraphrase?
- In Question 1, how are your two chosen passages marked?
- Which phrase or image in this passage best supports the theme Divine reassurance?
Check your answers
- Allah's Messengers.
- A theme names the teaching or idea, then shows it from the passage. A paraphrase merely retells what the passage says.
- Both passage answers are read together and receive one global mark out of 4 for part (a), and one global mark out of 4 for part (b).
- “Your Lord has not forsaken you”.
The lesson
The prescribed passage
وَٱلضُّحَىٰ وَٱلَّيۡلِ إِذَا سَجَىٰ مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَىٰ وَلَلۡأٓخِرَةُ خَيۡرٞ لَّكَ مِنَ ٱلۡأُولَىٰ وَلَسَوۡفَ يُعۡطِيكَ رَبُّكَ فَتَرۡضَىٰٓ أَلَمۡ يَجِدۡكَ يَتِيمٗا فَـَٔاوَىٰ وَوَجَدَكَ ضَآلّٗا فَهَدَىٰ وَوَجَدَكَ عَآئِلٗا فَأَغۡنَىٰ فَأَمَّا ٱلۡيَتِيمَ فَلَا تَقۡهَرۡ وَأَمَّا ٱلسَّآئِلَ فَلَا تَنۡهَرۡ وَأَمَّا بِنِعۡمَةِ رَبِّكَ فَحَدِّثۡ
1. By the glorious morning light, 2. And by the night when it is still, 3. Your Lord has not forsaken you, nor is he displeased. 4. And truly the Hereafter will be better for you than the present. 5. And soon your Lord will give you so that you will be pleased. 6. Did He not find you an orphan and give you shelter? 7. And He found you wandering, and He gave you guidance. 8. And He found you in need, and made you independent. 9. Therefore, do not treat the orphan with harshness, 10. Nor drive the beggar away; 11. But tell about the bounty of your Lord!
Sura 93 · translation: Yusuf Ali (1934)
Place it before you analyse it
Group: Allah's Messengers · Revelation: Makkan. The examination rewards themes and importance, not a long account of the sura’s background.
Working through the passage
Morning and still night
Changing times challenge the feeling that darkness or silence lasts forever.
Not forsaken
Allah directly rejects the claim that the Prophet ﷺ has been abandoned or hated.
Past care as evidence
Orphanhood, guidance and need are recalled as a continuous pattern of providence.
Mercy becomes duty
Because the Prophet ﷺ received shelter, guidance and sufficiency, he must protect the orphan and respond gently to need.
Future hope
The Hereafter and Allah’s future gift place present difficulty inside a larger story.
Theme map
| Theme | Words or image | What it teaches |
|---|---|---|
| Divine reassurance | “Your Lord has not forsaken you” | Apparent silence does not mean abandonment. |
| Hope in the Hereafter | “the Hereafter will be better” | Present hardship is not the final measure. |
| Providence through life | orphan sheltered, wandering guided, need answered | Allah’s care is remembered through concrete experience. |
| Care for the vulnerable | “do not treat the orphan harshly” | Received mercy creates social responsibility. |
| Gentleness to the petitioner | “do not drive the beggar away” | Need must not be answered with humiliation. |
| Gratitude | “tell about the bounty of your Lord” | Blessing is acknowledged rather than claimed as self-made. |
Do not translate instead of identifying themes
A top answer says, for example, “The passage teaches Divine reassurance, shown by “Your Lord has not forsaken you”.” It does not simply rewrite the full English translation.
Context and chronology
The sura is Makkan and is associated with a pause in revelation during which opponents claimed that the Prophet ﷺ had been abandoned.
The exact length and details of the pause vary across reports; the secure point is the divine reassurance and ethical commands.
Source discipline
Use context only where it is securely established and relevant. Do not add popular stories, exact dates or identities that the passage and reliable sources do not support. Context never replaces themes in Question 1.
People, places and events
- The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is addressed directly and reminded of his life.
- The orphan represents a vulnerable child lacking parental protection.
- The petitioner represents those who approach in need.
- Allah is the Lord who shelters, guides, enriches and promises.
Where no person is named, that absence may itself help you see that the passage is focused on Allah, creation or a universal teaching.
Qur'an and Hadith evidence
Learn short evidence that can be placed inside a sentence. Accuracy matters more than length.
مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَىٰ
Your Lord has not forsaken you, nor is He displeased.
Evidence for reassurance and continuing care.
فَأَمَّا ٱلۡيَتِيمَ فَلَا تَقۡهَرۡ
Do not treat the orphan harshly.
Evidence that gratitude becomes protection of the vulnerable.
You may quote in English. A precise short phrase attached to a developed point is more useful than a long quotation left unexplained.
Significance
- It shows that prophetic experience includes distress, patience and renewed reassurance.
- It makes social compassion a response to personal memory and gratitude.
- It offers hope without denying present pain: hardship is placed beside past care and future promise.
Significance answers why the teaching matters. It should move beyond naming a belief and show what that belief protects, changes or makes possible.
Significance in practice
Use the pattern aspect → mechanism → effect. This prevents vague sentences such as “it helps Muslims”.
| Aspect | How it works | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Allah did not abandon the Prophet ﷺ | A believer does not read every delay as rejection | hope and worship continue during uncertainty. |
| The Prophet ﷺ was an orphan | Personal experience becomes empathy rather than bitterness | vulnerable children are protected with dignity. |
| Blessings are remembered | Gratitude is expressed through service and truthful acknowledgement | success is not treated as self-created entitlement. |
Connections with other topics
| Topic | Connection |
|---|---|
| Life of the Prophet ﷺ | The sura draws on his orphanhood, need and early Makkan mission. |
| Hadith on caring for an orphan | Both make care for vulnerable children a path of closeness to the Prophet ﷺ. |
| Sura 108 | Both console the Prophet ﷺ and answer hostile claims with divine promise. |
| Zakat and charity | The command not to repel the petitioner supports dignified care. |
Use comparison to sharpen a theme, not to drift into a different essay.
Common misconceptions
Students often think “Wandering” means the Prophet ﷺ practised disbelief.
In fact The verse concerns Allah’s guidance before prophethood; unsupported accusations must be avoided.
Students often think Telling blessings means boasting.
In fact The command is gratitude to Allah, not self-glorification.
Students often think Hope means ignoring hardship.
In fact The sura names distress and answers it with evidence, duty and promise.
What the examiner wants
AO1: what you must know
- Place the passage accurately in Allah's Messengers.
- Know the Arabic reference and the meaning of the full prescribed extract.
- Recall at least four distinct theme labels, not four paraphrases.
- Attach each theme to a word, phrase, image or movement within the passage.
- Use key vocabulary accurately: al-Duha, saja, yatim, ‘a’il, ni‘ma, shukr.
- Give balanced coverage when this passage is one of your two choices.
Top-band shape
Aim for three to five labelled themes, each briefly elaborated and tied to the passage. There is no need for an introduction or a retelling of every line.
AO2: what you must understand
For part (b), choose one or two strong aspects and reason from them.
Allah did not abandon the Prophet ﷺ
Mechanism: A believer does not read every delay as rejection; therefore hope and worship continue during uncertainty.
The Prophet ﷺ was an orphan
Mechanism: Personal experience becomes empathy rather than bitterness; therefore vulnerable children are protected with dignity.
Blessings are remembered
Mechanism: Gratitude is expressed through service and truthful acknowledgement; therefore success is not treated as self-created entitlement.
A personal view is creditworthy when it is reasoned. “I think this matters most because…” must be followed by a mechanism, example or consequence.
Worked examination example
Weaker response
This passage is about allah's messengers. It says several things and tells Muslims what to believe. It is important because Muslims follow it.
Why it is weak: no theme labels, no passage evidence, no development and a vague statement of importance.
Stronger response
Divine reassurance: apparent silence does not mean abandonment, shown by “Your Lord has not forsaken you”. Hope in the Hereafter: present hardship is not the final measure, shown by “the Hereafter will be better”. Providence through life: allah’s care is remembered through concrete experience, shown by orphan sheltered, wandering guided, need answered. Care for the vulnerable: received mercy creates social responsibility, shown by “do not treat the orphan harshly”.
Why it is stronger: each point names a theme, uses the passage and develops what the evidence teaches.
Practise
Guided practice
- Choose four rows from the theme map. Reduce each to a two-word label.
- Copy only the shortest evidence needed for each theme.
- Say the theme aloud, then evidence it: “The passage teaches ___, shown by ___.”
- Choose one application and rewrite it as aspect → mechanism → effect.
- Compare this passage with Sura 108 in two sentences: one similarity and one difference.
Before you write, answer these
- Which four themes will you use?
- What exact words or image support each one?
- Have you labelled the theme before explaining it?
The examination gives roughly a third of a page for a 4-mark answer. Aim for a short, dense paragraph — no introduction needed. Your work saves automatically in this browser.
Independent practice
- Write a 100–140 word part (a) response on this passage without looking.
- Learn both short quotations from the evidence section.
- Correct all three misconceptions in complete sentences.
- Write one paragraph comparing this passage with Sura 5.110.
- Write a 4-mark part (b) paragraph using one application and a specific contemporary example.
The examination gives roughly a third of a page for a 4-mark answer. Aim for a short, dense paragraph — no introduction needed. Your work saves automatically in this browser.
Check your understanding
Answer each question, then check it. Every option is explained — including the ones that are wrong — so read the feedback even when you were right.
Write a full answer
Exam-style practice question
Practise the real choice before writing. Select the two passages you can develop most evenly.
Passages set for this practice
- Sura 93 — this lesson
- Sura 108
- Sura 5.110
Exam-style practice question
Important: Question 1 is marked as a whole
Question 1 is marked as a whole. Both of your chosen passages are read together and given ONE mark out of 4 for part (a), and ONE mark out of 4 for part (b). This means balance matters: an excellent answer on one passage and a thin answer on the other is limited by the overall impression. Choose two passages you can develop equally well.
(a) Choose any two of the passages above. Briefly describe the main theme or themes in each passage. [4] AO1
(b) Briefly explain the importance of these themes in a Muslim’s life today. [4] AO2
Written by this course to match the style and demand of the examination. It is not a Cambridge question.
Plan your answer
Before you write, answer these
- Which two passages can you develop equally well?
- What three to five labelled themes will you give for each?
- What words from each passage will support the themes?
- For part (b), which aspect has the clearest mechanism and effect?
- Have you divided time and space evenly?
Out of scope here: Long sura background, unsupported revelation stories, a line-by-line translation, or a general essay on the topic.
The examination gives roughly a third of a page for a 4-mark answer. Aim for a short, dense paragraph — no introduction needed. Your work saves automatically in this browser.
Indicative answer
Show an indicative answer Write yours first — you will learn more
Part (a) — Sura 93
Divine reassurance: apparent silence does not mean abandonment, shown by “Your Lord has not forsaken you”. Hope in the Hereafter: present hardship is not the final measure, shown by “the Hereafter will be better”. Providence through life: allah’s care is remembered through concrete experience, shown by orphan sheltered, wandering guided, need answered. Care for the vulnerable: received mercy creates social responsibility, shown by “do not treat the orphan harshly”. Gentleness to the petitioner: need must not be answered with humiliation, shown by “do not drive the beggar away”.
Part (a) — Sura 108
Divine gift: Allah honours and sustains His messenger. Abundance: Prophetic success is measured by divine gift, not hostile social judgement. Gratitude through worship: Blessing should produce devotion. Sacrifice to Allah: Ritual and material offering remain for the Lord alone.
Part (b) — importance today
Allah did not abandon the Prophet ﷺ. A believer does not read every delay as rejection; therefore hope and worship continue during uncertainty.
The Prophet ﷺ was an orphan. Personal experience becomes empathy rather than bitterness; therefore vulnerable children are protected with dignity.
Other answers are equally valid
- Marks are awarded for what is correct. Nothing is deducted for errors or omissions.
- Credit is given for valid answers that go beyond the syllabus and the mark scheme.
- It is entirely possible to reach the highest level using different information or a different argument from the one shown here.
- Answers are judged against the levels of response, not against a checklist of required points.
Marking guidance reference
Important: Question 1 is marked as a whole
Question 1 is marked as a whole. Both of your chosen passages are read together and given ONE mark out of 4 for part (a), and ONE mark out of 4 for part (b). This means balance matters: an excellent answer on one passage and a thin answer on the other is limited by the overall impression. Choose two passages you can develop equally well.
| Level | Marks | What the examiner is looking for |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 4 |
|
| 3 | 3 |
|
| 2 | 2 |
|
| 1 | 1 |
|
| 0 | 0 |
|
What moves an answer up: The clearest difference between Level 3 and Level 4 is comprehensiveness, development, and quotation. Level 3 "may quote"; Level 4 is "likely to quote".
| Level | Marks | What the examiner is looking for |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 3–4 |
|
| 1 | 1–2 |
|
| 0 | 0 |
|
What moves an answer up: The whole AO2 distinction is discussion versus description. A factually excellent but purely descriptive paragraph cannot reach Level 2.
Note that AO2 has two levels, not four. Some older textbooks and revision guides still show a four-level scale for part (b); that scale is out of date.
Self-assessment checklist reference
Judge your answer as a whole against the levels above, not by counting points. An answer can reach the top band using different material from the indicative answer.
Consolidate
Lesson summary
- Allah reassures the Prophet ﷺ that he is not abandoned.
- Past care gives evidence for future hope.
- The Hereafter is better than present difficulty.
- Received mercy creates duties towards orphans and petitioners.
- Gratitude is expressed through acknowledgement and service.
Examination takeaway: label the theme first, prove it from the passage, then stop. Save application and reasoning for part (b).
Retrieval flashcards
Further revision task reference
- Create a one-page sheet with the Arabic reference, group, five theme labels and two quotations.
- Cover the sheet and reconstruct it after 24 hours, one week and one month.
- Complete an eight-minute Question 1(a) practice pairing this passage with Sura 108.
- Complete a separate six-minute part (b) using one less obvious modern application.
- Record your strongest and weakest theme in the box below, then revisit the weak one.
Before you write, answer these
- Which theme can I recall most securely?
- Which theme lacks precise evidence?
- What will I retrieve again next time?
The examination gives roughly a third of a page for a 4-mark answer. Aim for a short, dense paragraph — no introduction needed. Your work saves automatically in this browser.
Your progress is saved in this browser only. Use My progress to export it if you change device.
Why this would reach the top band
The response labels themes, selects passage evidence and develops significance through clear mechanisms. A different selection of accurate themes can reach the same level.