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Divine Pronouns
Who speaks in the Qurʾān, and to whom
In about one verse in five, the Qurʾān does not speak about God but as God: in the first person, as “I” or “We.” The search site presents the complete text of the Qurʾān with every such verse marked, so that the divine first person can be read, searched, and studied across the whole text.
What you can do
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Read the full text in muṣḥaf order or in the traditional chronological order of revelation.
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See all 1,276 verses in which God speaks in the first person, marked in place among the 6,236 verses of the Qurʾān.
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Filter by “I” or “We,” by direct or quoted speech, by whether Allāh or Rabb is named in the same verse, by addressee, by commands, and by period of revelation.
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Search the Arabic text with vowel marks ignored, or go straight to any verse by its reference, such as 2:255.
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Share any view as a link, or download the verses as a spreadsheet.
How verses are marked
Verses in which God speaks in the first person appear in blue. Grey marks the nineteen verses where another canonical reading removes the first person, and red the twenty-two where another reading adds it. Seventeen further verses, where a reading alters a first-person verb, are marked with †.
The research behind it
The annotation comes from Divine Pronouns: Unlocking the Definitive Quran, a four-volume study that identifies and classifies every verse in which God speaks in the first person and checks each against the ten canonical readings. A companion study, What He Actually Said, turns to the other voice the Qurʾān commands: the words the Prophet is told to speak with qul, “say.”
Sources
Annotation: Omar Imady. Arabic text: the Uthmani text of the King Fahd Complex (Ḥafṣ ʿan ʿĀṣim), as published by the Noble Qurʾān Encyclopedia (QuranEnc.com). Typefaces: Scheherazade New and Gentium Book Plus, SIL International.
How to cite
Cite as: Omar Imady, The Divine First Person in the Qurʾān (search database), https://quran.divinepronouns.com, accessed [date].