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Quran · 111 cards · Free

Memorize Surah Yusuf (Joseph): recite the Quran by heart

Surah Yusuf (يوسف, "Joseph") is a Meccan surah of 111 verses, a surah you memorize over weeks. One ayah per card, with the Arabic recited aloud and the English kept as a note.

What this deck teaches

Hifz — memorizing the Quran — is done in Arabic, by hearing and repeating the exact wording, ayah after ayah. At 111 verses, Surah Yusuf is a commitment of weeks rather than days. The deck holds one ayah per card so you can set a daily portion and keep the earlier portions in rotation instead of racing the end.

It is a Meccan surah, sitting in the first half of the mushaf at number 12. Meccan surahs tend towards shorter ayat and a strong cadence, which is a help when you are reciting from memory rather than reading.

It is unusual in the Quran for telling a single continuous narrative from beginning to end, which gives the order of the ayat a thread you can follow while memorizing. Each card puts the reference on one side and the Arabic ayah on the other, recited aloud by the app, with the Yusuf Ali English as a note so you know what you are saying without it interrupting the Arabic. Arabic and English sit in separate fields, so the recitation is read cleanly. Arabic text is provided by the Tanzil Project (CC BY 3.0); the English is Abdullah Yusuf Ali's translation (public domain).

How to memorize Surah Yusuf with VoiceCards

  1. Hear the Arabic on a loop. Open the deck in Listen mode and let it play the reference, then the Arabic ayah, on a loop. Hearing Surah Yusuf hands-free — commuting, cooking, walking — builds the cadence before you ever try to recite it.
  2. Recite from the reference. Switch to Speak mode. See only the reference, recite the ayah from memory, then reveal the card and check every word. The English note is there when you want the meaning, and out of the way when you do not.
  3. Set a daily portion. Decide the daily portion before you start — ten ayat a day turns 111 verses into a few weeks — and keep everything already learned in rotation rather than only moving forward.
  4. Loop the ones that slip. Star the ayat that come out shaky and give them their own short Listen loop the next morning. An ayah you can recite cleanly from the reference three days running is one you own.

Sample cards

Yusuf 12:1
الٓرۚ تِلۡكَ ءَايَٰتُ ٱلۡكِتَٰبِ ٱلۡمُبِينِ L. R. These are the symbols (or Verses) of the perspicuous Book
Yusuf 12:2
إِنَّآ أَنزَلۡنَٰهُ قُرۡءَٰنًا عَرَبِيࣰّ ا لَّعَلَّكُمۡ تَعۡقِلُونَ We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur'an, in order that ye may learn wisdom
Yusuf 12:3
نَحۡنُ نَقُصُّ عَلَيۡكَ أَحۡسَنَ ٱلۡقَصَصِ بِمَآ أَوۡحَيۡنَآ إِلَيۡكَ هَٰذَا ٱلۡقُرۡءَانَ وَإِن كُنتَ مِن قَبۡلِهِۦ لَمِنَ ٱلۡغَٰفِلِينَ We do relate unto thee the most beautiful of stories, in that We reveal to thee this (portion of the) Qur'an: before this, thou too was among those who knew it not
Yusuf 12:4
إِذۡ قَالَ يُوسُفُ لِأَبِيهِ يَٰٓأَبَتِ إِنِّي رَأَيۡتُ أَحَدَ عَشَرَ كَوۡكَبࣰ ا وَٱلشَّمۡسَ وَٱلۡقَمَرَ رَأَيۡتُهُمۡ لِي سَٰجِدِينَ Behold! Joseph said to his father: "O my father! I did see eleven stars and the sun and the moon: I saw them prostrate themselves to me

Get this deck

Open VoiceCards, tap Add a deck → From a link, and paste this URL:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yfGd8Hq_6TseVrpf7WFhvYg2itYmnaM8vljsj7QO1Xg/edit

Do not have the app yet? Install it first, then come back and import the deck.

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