What are the most common words in the Quran?

The 100 most common words in the Quran

By Ayah Explorer · Updated 18 October 2026

Short answer

The most common words in the Quran are small, everyday words: مِنْ (from), ٱللَّه (Allah), مَا (what, not), لَا (no) and فِي (in). By our count, the 10 most common words make up about 24.6% of all the words in the Quran, the top 100 about 58.6%, and the top 365 about 77.4%, counting small attached letters like wa- (and) and al- (the) as known.

A few words go a long way

The Quran has 77,429 words in total, but the same words come back again and again. This is how much of the Quran the most common words make up:

Top 10 words

24.6%

Top 25 words

38.1%

Top 50 words

48.2%

Top 100 words

58.6%

Top 200 words

68.6%

Top 365 words

77.4%

Percentages are of all 77,429 words in the Quran, counting repeats.

The list

Tap any of the first 50 words to see how it is written, an example ayah and related words.

#	Word	Sound	Meaning	Times
1	مِنْ	min	from, of	3,226
2	ٱللَّه	Allāh	Allah	2,699
3	مَا	mā	what; not; that which	2,565
4	لَا	lā	no, not	1,742
5	فِي	fī	in	1,701
6	إِنَّ	inna	indeed, truly	1,682
7	قَالَ	qāla	to say (he said)	1,618
8	ٱلَّذِي · ٱلَّذِينَ	alladhī, alladhīna	who, which, the one(s) who	1,468
9	عَلَىٰ	ʿalā	on, upon, against	1,445
10	كَانَ	kāna	to be (was)	1,358
11	هُوَ · ـهُ	huwa, -hu	he, him, his (also it)	1,118
12	هٰذَا · ذٰلِكَ	hādhā, dhālika	this, that, those	1,058
13	رَبّ	rabb	Lord	975
14	هُمْ · ـهُمْ	hum, -hum	they, them, their	906
15	مَنْ	man	who, whoever	871
16	إِلَىٰ	ilā	to, towards	742
17	إِنْ	in	if (sometimes: not)	703
18	إِلَّا	illā	except, but	659
19	أَنْ	an	to, that (before a verb)	616
20	ءَامَنَ	āmana	to believe, have faith	537
21	أَنتُمْ · ـكُمْ	antum, -kum	you (more than one), your	530
22	يَوْم	yawm	day	475
23	عَنْ	ʿan	about, from	465
24	أَرْض	arḍ	earth, land	461
25	إِذَا	idhā	when	423
26	قَدْ	qad	indeed, already	406
27	قَوْم	qawm	people, nation	383
28	عَلِمَ	ʿalima	to know	382
29	ءَايَة	āyah	sign, verse	382
30	أَنَّ	anna	that	362
31	كُلّ	kull	every, all	359
32	لَمْ	lam	did not	348
33	جَعَلَ	jaʿala	to make, to place	340
34	ثُمَّ	thumma	then	338
35	رَسُول	rasūl	messenger	332
36	عَذَاب	ʿadhāb	punishment	322
37	سَمَاء	samāʾ	sky, heaven	310
38	إِذْ	idh	when (in the past)	309
39	نَفْس	nafs	soul, self	295
40	كَفَرَ	kafara	to disbelieve, to deny	289
41	شَيْء	shayʾ	thing	283
42	أَوْ	aw	or	280
43	جَاءَ	jāʾa	to come	278
44	عَمِلَ	ʿamila	to do, to work	276
45	ءَاتَىٰ	ātā	to give	271
46	رَأَىٰ	raʾā	to see	271
47	بَيْنَ	bayna	between	266
48	أَتَىٰ	atā	to come (with bi-: to bring)	264
49	كِتَاب	kitāb	book	260
50	حَقّ	ḥaqq	truth, right	247
51	قَبْلَ	qabla	before	242
52	نَاس	nās	people, mankind	241
53	شَاءَ	shāʾa	to will, to wish	236
54	أَيّ	ayy	which, any	215
55	مُؤْمِن	muʾmin	believer	202
56	لَوْ	law	if (only)	201
57	بَعْدَ	baʿda	after	199
58	عِندَ	ʿinda	with, near, in the presence of	197
59	هِيَ · ـهَا	hiya, -hā	she, her (also it)	189
60	خَلَقَ	khalaqa	to create	184
61	أَنزَلَ	anzala	to send down, to reveal	183
62	خَيْر	khayr	good, better	178
63	كَذَّبَ	kadhdhaba	to deny, to call a lie	176
64	سَبِيل	sabīl	way, path	176
65	نَحْنُ · ـنَا	naḥnu, -nā	we, us, our	174
66	دَعَا	daʿā	to call, to pray (make dua)	170
67	ٱتَّقَىٰ	ittaqā	to be mindful of Allah, to guard oneself	166
68	أَمْر	amr	command, matter	166
69	لَمَّا	lammā	when; not yet	165
70	مَعَ	maʿa	with	164
71	عَلِيم	ʿalīm	all-knowing	163
72	أَنتَ · ـكَ	anta, -ka	you (one person), your	161
73	بَعْض	baʿḍ	some, part	157
74	كَافِر	kāfir	disbeliever	156
75	ذُو	dhū	owner of, having	156
76	ءَاخِر	ākhir	last; the Hereafter (al-ākhirah)	155
77	غَيْر	ghayr	other than, not	147
78	جَنَّة	jannah	garden, Paradise	147
79	إِلَٰه	ilāh	god	147
80	أَنَا · ـي	anā, -ī	I, me, my	146
81	نَار	nār	fire	145
82	هَدَىٰ	hadā	to guide	144
83	دُونِ	dūni	besides, other than	144
84	حَتَّىٰ	ḥattā	until	142
85	أَرَادَ	arāda	to want, to intend	139
86	أَمْ	am	or (in questions)	137
87	مُوسَىٰ	Mūsā	Musa (Moses)	136
88	ٱتَّبَعَ	ittabaʿa	to follow	136
89	قَلْب	qalb	heart	132
90	عَبْد	ʿabd	servant, worshipper	131
91	أَرْسَلَ	arsala	to send	130
92	لَعَلَّ	laʿalla	so that, perhaps	129
93	ظَالِم	ẓālim	wrongdoer	129
94	أَخَذَ	akhadha	to take, to seize	127
95	بَلْ	bal	rather, but	127
96	أَهْل	ahl	people (of), family	127
97	ٱتَّخَذَ	ittakhadha	to take (as), to adopt	124
98	عَبَدَ	ʿabada	to worship	122
99	يَد	yad	hand	120
100	مُبِين	mubīn	clear	119

Small letters joined to words

Some of the most common pieces of the Quran are not separate words at all. They are short letters joined to the front of other words, so they are counted separately here:

Piece	Sound	Meaning	Times
وَ	wa-	and	9,594
ٱلْ	al-	the	8,377
لِ · لَ	li-, la-	for, to; surely	3,847
فَ	fa-	so, then	3,001
بِ	bi-	with, in, by	2,544
كَ	ka-	like, as	287
سَ	sa-	will (soon)	119

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How we counted

We counted every word in the Quran by its dictionary form, so قَالَ (he said), يَقُولُ (he says) and قُلْ (say!) all count as one word.
Small letters joined to the front of words, like wa- (and) and al- (the), are counted separately in the second table.
Pronouns are grouped: for example, هُوَ (he) and the short word لَهُ (for him) both count towards "he".
Meanings are simple, common English meanings to help learners. A word can have other meanings depending on the ayah.
Other word lists count differently, so their numbers can be a little different. For example, many say about 125 words make up half of the Quran; by our method, the top 125 make up about 61.7%.

Download this list as a spreadsheet (CSV)

Sources

Counts calculated by Ayah Explorer from the Quranic Arabic Corpus (morphology v0.4), using the open quran-morphology dataset.