At a glance
countedCounted over the Ḥafṣ/Tanzil text with the QAC morphology.
75×
the root ش-ك-ر
7
verses where shukr meets kufr
10×
the intensive Shakūr
The Qurʾān's word for denial, kufr, means at root to cover — to bury a thing so it cannot be seen. Its opposite in the book is not «belief». It is shukr: to acknowledge what you were given, out loud. The two are set against each other directly in seven verses, and the most famous of them makes the pairing explicit: «if you are grateful, I will surely increase you; but if you deny, My punishment is severe» 14:7. So gratitude in the Qurʾān is not a mood. It is the act of not covering over a debt — which is why its opposite is the same word the book uses for unbelief. And there is a strange reciprocity in the vocabulary: the word for a grateful person is also a name God gives Himself.
The verse the whole theme turns on
interpreted· quran by quranCounted: the clause la-in shakartum la-azīdannakum occurs once in the Qurʾān. Read: that it states a law rather than a promise about a single occasion is the reading.
وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ وَلَئِن كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذَابِى لَشَدِيدٌ
And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, 'If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.' "
Note the asymmetry inside the sentence: the increase for gratitude is stated with a doubled emphatic — la-azīdannakum, «I will most certainly increase you» — while the consequence of denial is left as a bare noun, «My punishment is severe». The verse leans.
فَٱذْكُرُونِىٓ أَذْكُرْكُمْ وَٱشْكُرُوا۟ لِى وَلَا تَكْفُرُونِ
So remember Me; I will remember you. And be grateful to Me and do not deny Me.
And its shorter form: «remember Me, I will remember you; and be grateful to Me, and do not deny Me» — where the opposite of shukr is named as kufr, not as ingratitude.
One root, six lives — and one of them is a name of God
countedAll 75 occurrences of ش-ك-ر, split by derived form (QAC morphology); the six branches sum to the full 75.
One root, several lives
to give thanks — the act, and usually in the imperative or the conditional — in the text
2:152فَٱذْكُرُونِىٓ أَذْكُرْكُمْ وَٱشْكُرُوا۟ لِى وَلَا تَكْفُرُونِ
So remember Me; I will remember you. And be grateful to Me and do not deny Me.
«Be grateful to Me, and do not deny Me» — the command paired with its exact opposite.
The counts and the forms are counted, and the six branches sum to all 75. That the same word applies to God and to a human being in genuinely the same sense is a theological claim, not a count — and the tradition has read Shakūr of God with care, since God receives no benefit to acknowledge.
Where the root ش-ك-ر lives
countedWord occurrences per sūrah, QAC morphology over the Ḥafṣ/Tanzil text. Revelation order is the traditional chronology, not a computed fact.
ش-ك-ر75 occurrences · 35 of 114 sūrahs
Counted from the QAC morphology over the Ḥafṣ ʿan ʿĀṣim (Tanzil) text — hover a bar for the sūrah. The Makkī/Madanī labels and the revelation ordering follow the traditional chronology: an inherited scholarly ordering, not a computed fact.
Before you read on
interpreted· quran by quranTest your reading
In the Qurʾān, what is set as the direct opposite of shukr (gratitude)?
Shukr and kufr — the pairing the Qurʾān makes itself
interpreted· quran by quranCounted: the two roots meet in exactly seven āyāt — 2:152, 5:89, 14:7, 27:40, 31:12, 39:7, 76:3. Read: that they form a single axis rather than two separate vices is the reading, and it is the reading the meeting-verses invite.
Shukr — to uncover
الشُّكْرTo acknowledge a benefit and name its source. The Qurʾān treats it as an act with an effect, not a feeling with a value.
- It is stated as a law of increase: «if you are grateful, I will surely increase you» 14:7.
- It is described as self-benefiting: «whoever is grateful is grateful only for [the benefit of] himself» 31:12.
- It is what Sulaymān says of his own gift, immediately, as a test he might fail 27:40.
- And the Qurʾān says it is rare: «few of My servants are grateful» 34:13.
Kufr — to cover over
الكُفْرThe same debt, buried. The Qurʾān's word for denial begins as an agricultural image — the sower who covers the seed with soil.
- It is the stated alternative in every meeting-verse: «and do not deny Me» 2:152.
- Its self-reference mirrors gratitude's exactly: «and whoever denies — then indeed, God is Free of need» 31:12.
- It is named as the condition God does not accept for His servants — «and He is not pleased with denial from His servants» 39:7.
- The human is called kafūr — deeply ungrateful — using the same intensive pattern as God's Shakūr 17:67.
Gratitude arriving as a test, not a reward
interpreted· quran by quran27:40 is the Qurʾān's clearest scene of someone recognising a gift in the moment. Reading it in sequence shows what the text does with success.
- Before27:40
A throne is moved in an instant
One «who had knowledge from the Scripture» offers to bring the queen's throne before Sulaymān can rise from his place — and it is there 27:40.
- The mention27:40
«This is from the favour of my Lord»
Sulaymān's response is not triumph. He names the source, and then names the purpose: «to test me — whether I am grateful or ungrateful». The Arabic sets a-ashkuru am akfur side by side, the two roots in one breath.
- After27:40
And the reasoning is completed
He finishes the thought himself: «and whoever is grateful, is grateful for [the good of] his own soul; and whoever is ungrateful — my Lord is Free of need, Generous». The benefit of gratitude is placed entirely on the grateful.
What the Qurʾān attaches to gratitude
interpreted· quran by quranEach outcome is stated by the verse it carries; the arrangement is the reading.
Shukr — the benefit acknowledged
«If you are grateful, I will surely increase you» 14:7 — the Qurʾān's one stated law of increase.
Increase — unspecified
14:7The verse says I will increase you and does not say in what. The object is deliberately left open 14:7.
The benefit returns to the grateful
31:12«whoever is grateful is grateful only for himself» — twice stated, of Luqmān 31:12 and of Sulaymān 27:40.
Effort acknowledged in return
17:19«their effort is appreciated» 17:19 — the passive of the same root, with God as the one appreciating.
Named as God's own pleasure
39:7«and if you are grateful, He is pleased with it for you» 39:7.
And the honest counterweight
34:13The Qurʾān twice says most people will not do it: «few of My servants are grateful» 34:13, «but most of the people do not give thanks» 2:243.
One question
interpreted· quran by quranTest your reading
The Qurʾān uses the intensive form Shakūr — «deeply appreciative» — ten times. Who does it describe?
Gratitude, in the Qurʾān's own words
countedA curated set — the verses this page rests on, gathered. Every one is byte-exact from the corpus.
وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ وَلَئِن كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذَابِى لَشَدِيدٌ
And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, 'If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.' "
The law of increase, and the leaning sentence.
قَالَ ٱلَّذِى عِندَهُۥ عِلْمٌ مِّنَ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ أَنَا۠ ءَاتِيكَ بِهِۦ قَبْلَ أَن يَرْتَدَّ إِلَيْكَ طَرْفُكَ فَلَمَّا رَءَاهُ مُسْتَقِرًّا عِندَهُۥ قَالَ هَٰذَا مِن فَضْلِ رَبِّى لِيَبْلُوَنِىٓ ءَأَشْكُرُ أَمْ أَكْفُرُ وَمَن شَكَرَ فَإِنَّمَا يَشْكُرُ لِنَفْسِهِۦ وَمَن كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ رَبِّى غَنِىٌّ كَرِيمٌ
Said one who had knowledge from the Scripture, "I will bring it to you before your glance returns to you." And when [Solomon] saw it placed before him, he said, "This is from the favor of my Lord to test me whether I will be grateful or ungrateful. And whoever is grateful - his gratitude is only for [the benefit of] himself. And whoever is ungrateful - then indeed, my Lord is Free of need and Generous."
Gratitude named as the test inside a success.
وَلَقَدْ ءَاتَيْنَا لُقْمَٰنَ ٱلْحِكْمَةَ أَنِ ٱشْكُرْ لِلَّهِ وَمَن يَشْكُرْ فَإِنَّمَا يَشْكُرُ لِنَفْسِهِۦ وَمَن كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَنِىٌّ حَمِيدٌ
And We had certainly given Luqman wisdom [and said], "Be grateful to Allah." And whoever is grateful is grateful for [the benefit of] himself. And whoever denies [His favor] - then indeed, Allah is Free of need and Praiseworthy.
«Whoever is grateful is grateful only for himself.»
يَعْمَلُونَ لَهُۥ مَا يَشَآءُ مِن مَّحَٰرِيبَ وَتَمَٰثِيلَ وَجِفَانٍ كَٱلْجَوَابِ وَقُدُورٍ رَّاسِيَٰتٍ ٱعْمَلُوٓا۟ ءَالَ دَاوُۥدَ شُكْرًا وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِىَ ٱلشَّكُورُ
They made for him what he willed of elevated chambers, statues, bowls like reservoirs, and stationary kettles. [We said], "Work, O family of David, in gratitude." And few of My servants are grateful.
«And few of My servants are grateful.»
ذُرِّيَّةَ مَنْ حَمَلْنَا مَعَ نُوحٍ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ عَبْدًا شَكُورًا
O descendants of those We carried [in the ship] with Noah. Indeed, he was a grateful servant.
Nūḥ, named «a grateful servant» — the whole of a prophet in two words.
فَٱذْكُرُونِىٓ أَذْكُرْكُمْ وَٱشْكُرُوا۟ لِى وَلَا تَكْفُرُونِ
So remember Me; I will remember you. And be grateful to Me and do not deny Me.
The command, and the denial it is set against.
إِنَّا هَدَيْنَٰهُ ٱلسَّبِيلَ إِمَّا شَاكِرًا وَإِمَّا كَفُورًا
Indeed, We guided him to the way, be he grateful or be he ungrateful.
The fork the Qurʾān leaves open: «either grateful or ungrateful».
فَكُلُوا۟ مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمُ ٱللَّهُ حَلَٰلًا طَيِّبًا وَٱشْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَتَ ٱللَّهِ إِن كُنتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ
Then eat of what Allah has provided for you [which is] lawful and good. And be grateful for the favor of Allah, if it is [indeed] Him that you worship.
Gratitude tied to eating what is lawful — the ordinary register of the word.
The web gratitude sits in
interpreted· quran by quranThe neighbours are those the Qurʾān pairs with the root: the denial it is set against, the provision it responds to, and the remembrance it is repeatedly named beside.
The debt that is not covered
interpreted· quran by quranThe counts here are modest — 75 occurrences against the 525 of the root it opposes. The Qurʾān spends far more words on denial than on gratitude, and says outright that the grateful are few 34:13. It does not present thankfulness as the normal human condition. What it does present is a choice with the two options named in one breath. «Indeed, We guided him to the way, whether he be grateful or ungrateful» 76:3 — and the verse leaves it there, unresolved, which is a decision on the text's part. The map can tell you that the two roots meet in seven verses. It cannot tell you which side of the seven you are standing on. One thing the vocabulary does quietly insist on: the word runs both ways. God is called Shakūr, the Appreciative 35:30 — the one who acknowledges what was done for Him. Whatever gratitude is in this book, it is not only owed upward.