Memorizing Surah Ar-Rahman: The Refrain Technique

Answer first

Surah Ar-Rahman (Quran 55) is 78 ayat, famously structured around the refrain فَبِأَيِّ آلَاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ (“So which of the favors of your Lord will you both deny?”) which appears 31 times. The refrain is your memorization anchor — and also the biggest trap if you don’t use it intentionally. A focused 6-week plan gets most adults through the full surah.

Why Ar-Rahman is uniquely memorable (and dangerous)

The refrain acts as both scaffolding and quicksand:

Scaffolding: each “block” of material is bounded by the refrain, giving you discrete chunks that are easier to learn.

Quicksand: because the refrain is identical each time, it’s easy to lose track of which block you just finished, or blur two adjacent blocks together.

The technique: treat each inter-refrain block as its own mini-surah. Memorize the block, recite the refrain, move to the next block. Never memorize two blocks without the refrain between them.

The 31 refrain occurrences

The refrain first appears at ayah 13 and continues through the surah. Most blocks are 2–4 ayat long. The final block (ayat 75–78) closes the surah after the last refrain at ayah 77.

6-week plan

Week 1 — Ayat 1–13 (the prelude + first refrain)

The opening names Allah as The Most Merciful, lists initial creation signs, arrives at the first refrain.

Daily target: 2 ayat/day.

Key move: end every practice by reciting the refrain. Your memory needs to bind the refrain to its position, not just its words.

Week 2 — Ayat 14–25 (creation + more refrains)

Creation of man from clay, jinn from fire, and signs in the heavens.

Daily target: 2 ayat/day.

Watch for: the block between refrains can be as short as 2 ayat — don’t rush.

Week 3 — Ayat 26–36 (the everlasting)

“All upon it shall vanish, and the Face of your Lord shall remain…” — one of the surah’s most-cited passages.

Week 4 — Ayat 37–50 (judgment day signs)

Week 5 — Ayat 51–65 (descriptions of the Gardens)

Week 6 — Ayat 66–78 (two more Gardens + the closing)

The final block after the last refrain (ayat 75–78) is one of the surah’s most beautiful passages. Recite it with care.

Practice technique — “refrain first, then content”

Every time you sit to practice:

Recite all the refrains in sequence, imagining the block that comes after each.

Then recite the full surah from the start.

When you stumble, mark which block number you were on, not just which ayah.

This separates “I know the refrain” from “I know where I am in the surah.”

Maintenance

Weekly full-surah recitation — Friday night is a common habit.

Monthly blind-recitation test — no audio, from start to finish.

Mutashabihat flag: the surah’s refrain structure is unique, but descriptions of the Gardens appear in Al-Insan, Al-Waqi’ah, and Al-Mutaffifin. Label carefully.

Related

Mutashabihat explained

Surah Al-Waqi’ah memorization

How to memorize the Quran

Scholar-reviewed by the HafizPrime Scholar Panel.