Al-Muzzammil, "The Enwrapped One," is the seventy-third surah — 20 verses revealed in Mecca, among the very first.1 It addresses the Prophet ﷺ directly: "O you who wraps himself [in clothing] arise [to pray] the night, except for a little — half of it — or subtract from it a little or add to it, and recite the Quran with measured recitation. Indeed, We will cast upon you a heavy word."2
What it is about
The surah prepares the Prophet ﷺ for his mission through prayer. "The hours of the night are more effective for concurrence [of heart and tongue] and more suitable for words," while the day brings "prolonged occupation." He is told to "remember the name of your Lord and devote yourself to Him with [complete] devotion," and to bear what the deniers say with "gracious avoidance."2 It warns of a Day "that will make the children white-haired," and ends its first part: "this is a reminder, so whoever wills may take to his Lord a way."3
The final long verse eases the command. God knows that the Prophet ﷺ and a group with him stand "almost two thirds of the night or half of it or a third of it," and that some will be ill, some traveling for trade, some "fighting for the cause of Allah" — "so recite what is easy [for you] of the Quran."4 'A'isha explained that the night prayer was made obligatory at the beginning of the surah and kept for a year, until God revealed its concluding verses, "which lightened (the burden of this prayer), and the night prayer became a supererogatory prayer."5
Why it matters
Al-Muzzammil shows how the Prophet's ﷺ mission began: not with public preaching but with long nights of prayer and slow, measured recitation of the Quran. It remains the Quranic foundation of the night prayer (qiyam al-layl) and of tartil, careful and unhurried recitation — and its closing verse, easing the demand out of mercy, shows the Quran's attention to what people can actually bear. To read Al-Muzzammil in Arabic with translations and recitation, open it on Quran.com.