Quran verses for wedding invitations: the ones families use, and how to use them well

Almost every nikah invitation carries a verse. Most carry the same one, and for good reason: Surah Ar-Rum 30:21 is the Quran's own description of marriage. But there are others, and there is a question most families ask quietly, which is whether to print the Arabic at all. Here are the verses, the meanings, and a straight answer on the Arabic.

The English below is a translation of the meaning, not the Quran itself. Wordings differ between translators; if your family uses a particular translation, use that one.

The Bismillah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Not a verse about marriage, but the line every Islamic invitation opens with, in Arabic. It is the one piece of Arabic that goes on nearly every card and every page, and it is the one most people are comfortable printing.

Surah Ar-Rum 30:21, the verse of mates and mercy

And among His signs is that He created for you mates from among yourselves that you may find tranquility in them, and He has placed between you affection and mercy. Verily, in that are signs for a people who reflect.

This is the verse. It names the three things a marriage is meant to hold, tranquility, affection and mercy, and it is short enough to read in a breath. If you use one verse, use this one. It sits well after the Bismillah and before the names of the hosts.

Surah Al-Furqan 25:74, the dua of the righteous

Our Lord, grant us from among our spouses and offspring comfort to our eyes, and make us a leader for the righteous.

A verse that is also a dua, so it works as a closing line as well as an opening one. Couples who want to end the invitation with a prayer rather than a request often choose this.

Surah Al-Baqarah 2:187, garments for one another

They are a garment for you and you are a garment for them.

Seven words that say what a marriage is for: covering, warmth, closeness, protection. It is a fragment of a longer verse about fasting, so quote it as a phrase with its reference rather than as a stand-alone sentence of scripture.

Surah Adh-Dhariyat 51:49, created in pairs

And of all things We created two mates, that perhaps you may remember.

Shorter and more cosmic. Good for a design that wants a single line rather than a paragraph.

Surah An-Nahl 16:72

And Allah has made for you from yourselves mates, and has made for you from your mates children and grandchildren, and has provided for you from the good things.

Families who are thinking about the generations, especially when grandparents are hosting, often choose this.

Surah Ya-Sin 36:36

Glory be to Him who created all the pairs: of what the earth grows, of themselves, and of what they do not know.

Another verse on pairs, quieter and more wondering in tone.

Surah An-Nisa 4:1

O mankind, be mindful of your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate, and spread from the two of them many men and women.

This is the verse the imam most often recites in the khutbah at the nikah itself, along with Al-Imran 3:102 and Al-Ahzab 33:70 to 71. Some families put it on the invitation for that reason.

Hadith sometimes used

Two narrations appear on invitations, usually as a single line under the verse.

"The best of you are those who are best to their wives." (At-Tirmidhi)

"When a man marries, he has completed half of his religion." (Reported by al-Bayhaqi; often quoted as "marriage is half of faith".)

Quote a hadith with its collection named, as above, and keep the wording to a well-known rendering.

Should you print the Arabic?

This is the question, and it deserves a plain answer.

The Bismillah in Arabic is on nearly every Islamic invitation and few scholars object to it. The Arabic text of a Quranic verse is different. A printed card is handled by everyone, put down on dinner tables, and eventually thrown away, and many scholars advise against putting the Quran's words on something that will be treated that way. The common guidance is to print the translation of the meaning with its reference, which carries the message without the concern. Some families print the Arabic regardless and ask guests to keep the card; that is a family decision.

A web page avoids the bin, but the same reasoning holds: a page that also carries a map, a dress code and dinner timings is not a mushaf. The safe and respectful choice is the Bismillah in Arabic, the verse in translation with its source, and the Arabic text of the verse only if your family specifically wants it.

How to set Arabic so it looks right

If you do put Arabic on an invitation, a few things make the difference between right and wrong.

• Use a proper Arabic typeface. Amiri, Scheherazade New or a Naskh face with full vowel marks. A Latin font with Arabic glyphs bolted on will drop or misplace the marks.
• Never letter-space it. Arabic letters join; spacing breaks the word. Designers who letter-space headings for style must switch it off for the Arabic line.
• Give it line height. The vowel marks above and below need room; a line height of around double the font size stops them being clipped by the line above.
• Set the direction. On a web page, the Arabic must be marked as right-to-left (dir="rtl") and as Arabic (lang="ar") so it renders and reads correctly.
• Check it on a phone. Most guests will read the invitation on one.

Where the verse goes

The convention is: Bismillah, then the verse (with its reference on the line below in small capitals), then the hosts, then the request, then the couple's names. On a page with a cover, the Bismillah goes on the cover and the verse opens the first section. Our guide to nikah invitation wording shows it in full.

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The Jannah and Noor designs on RSVP Websites set the Bismillah and Surah Ar-Rum 30:21 in Amiri, right to left with the vowel marks given room, each with its English beneath and the source named. Swap the verse for any of the ones above, or clear the Arabic line and keep the translation; the typography takes care of itself.