Wikipedia's first sentence called it “the 103rd sura of the qur'an”. Today it says “the 103rd chapter”. Sections present on October 6, 2023 no longer exist: “Commentary”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2005
Surat Al-`Asr (The Declining Day, Eventide, The Epoch, Time) is the 103rd sura of the Qur'an .1It contains 3 ayat , and is believed to be an early Makkan sura (although a few commentators consider it Madinan .) It is said to have sparked the conversion of Amr ibn al-As after he recited it to the self-proclaimed prophet Musaylimah and he responded with a "sura" about the hyrax which Amr ibn al-As rejected as absurd.2Its text (in Shakir's translation, slightly edited for literalism) is: In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful. By the time, Most surely man is in loss, Except those who believe and do good, and enjoin on each other truth, and enjoin on each other patience. The word "asr", translated here as "time", may also refer specifically to the late afternoon (the time of the asr salat .) Certain Shia sources cite a hadith in the Majma' ul-Bayan [1] claiming that Ali recited the following, presumed to be a different form of the same sura: By the age and the misfortunes of time Most surely man is in loss, And he is in it until the end of time. These reports are not considered credible among Sunnis , and are treated with reserve by most Shia .3
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 17030556.
The opening as it stood in 2010 4 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Surat Al-Asr ( ) (The Declining Day, Eventide, The Epoch, Time) is the 103rd sura of the Qur'an . It contains 3 ayat , and is believed to be an early Meccan sura (although a few commentators consider it Madinan .) It is said to have sparked the conversion of Amr ibn al-As after he recited it to the self-proclaimed prophet Musaylimah and he responded with a "sura" about the hyrax which Amr ibn al-As rejected as absurd. The sura teaches that all mankind are in loss, except those who believe in Allah and Muhammad, and those who remind others of the haq (truth) and with patience and constancy.This is the second shortest sura , after Al-Kawthar .By Al-`Asr (the time), (1) Verily, man is in loss, (2) Except those who believe and do righteous good deeds, and recommended one another to truth [i.e. order one another to perform all kinds of good deeds (Al-Ma'ruf) which Allah has ordained, and abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds (Al-Munkar) which Allah has forbidden], and recommend one another to practice patience.Meaning=In the name of Allah, the Beneficial, the Merciful.Time is witness that, surely mankind suffers loss, except for those of faith.Who do good, and become a model of truthful living, and together practice patience and constancy
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 366744188.
The opening as it stood in 2015 6 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Sūrat al-‘Aṣr ( , "The Declining Day, Eventide, The Epoch, Time") is the 103rd sūrah of the Qur’ān , the Muslim holy book.It contains three āyāt .Surat al-‘Asr is the second shortest sura after al-Kawthar .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 664128483.
The opening as it stood in 2020 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Al-‘Aṣr ( , "The Declining Day, Eventide, The Epoch, Time") is the 103rd chapter ( sūrah ) of the Qur’ān , the Muslim holy book. It contains three verses ( āyāt ).Surat al-‘Asr is the second shortest chapter after al-Kawthar .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 960947707.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
103rd chapter of the Quran Al-Asr ( , The Declining Day, Eventide, The Epoch, Time ) is the 103rd chapter ( sūrah ) of the Qur’ān , the Muslim holy book.It contains three āyāt or verses.Surat al-‘Asr is the third shortest chapter after Al-Kawthar and Al-Nasr , being shorter than Al-Nasr by only two words in the 3rd verse. By the afternoon; verily man employeth himself in that which will prove of loss: except those who believe, and do that which is right; and who mutually recommend the truth, and mutually recommend perseverance unto each other.Arabic script in Unicode symbol for a Quran verse, U+06DD, page 3, Proposal for additional Unicode characters George Sale 's translation
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1165717609.
The opening as it stood in 2025
103rd chapter of the Quran Al-Asr ( Arabic : العصر , romanized : al-ʻaṣr , The Declining Day, Eventide, The Epoch, Time ) is the 103rd chapter ( sūrah ) of the Qur’ān , the Muslim holy book. It contains three āyāt or verses. Surat al-‘Asr is the third shortest chapter after Al-Kawthar and Al-Nasr , being shorter than Al-Nasr by only two words in the 3rd verse. By the afternoon; verily man employeth himself in that which will prove of loss: except those who believe, and do that which is right; and who mutually recommend the truth, and mutually recommend perseverance unto each other. Arabic script in Unicode symbol for a Quran verse, U+06DD, page 3, Proposal for additional Unicode characters George Sale 's translation
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1253008444. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “the 103rd sura of the qur'an”. Today it says “the 103rd chapter”. Sections present on October 6, 2023 no longer exist: “Commentary”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
the 103rd sura of the qur'an
Now
the 103rd chapter
Sections that no longer exist
Present on October 6, 2023, absent today, with no near-matching heading in the current article and the article shorter overall, so this is not a renamed heading or a topic absorbed into a fuller treatment. 1 section of 400 characters or more gone since October 6 2023, with the article 4,260 characters shorter.
Commentary
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
