Sabaq, sabqi and manzil are the three daily parts of the classic Hifz system. Sabaq is today’s new lesson, sabqi is the recent portion you memorized over roughly the last week or the juz you are currently working on, and manzil is the older memorization you revise in a rotating cycle. Every session touches all three, so nothing you memorize is left alone long enough to fade. It is the backbone of almost every structured Hifz program, from traditional madrasas to one-to-one online classes.
The system is simple to describe and easy to get wrong in practice. This guide explains each part, how pages graduate from one stage to the next, how much time each deserves, and the rules teachers use to keep the whole thing balanced.
Key takeaways
- Sabaq = new lines, sabqi = the last 5 to 7 lessons or current juz, manzil = everything older, revised on a cycle.
- A page moves from sabaq to sabqi the next day, and from sabqi to manzil once it is about a week old or the juz is finished.
- As your Hifz grows, manzil takes more of your time, and new memorization often slows. That is a sign of health, not failure.
- Many teachers follow one rule: no new sabaq until sabqi and manzil are clean.
What the Three Words Mean
The terms come from the Hifz tradition of South Asian madrasas, and they are now used by Hifz teachers across the world, including in the UK, North America and South Africa. Students in Arabic-speaking countries often describe the same idea with plainer words: the new portion (al-jadid), the near revision (al-qarib) and the far revision (al-ba’id).
Sabaq: the new lesson
Sabaq simply means “lesson.” It is the portion you memorize fresh each day, anywhere from three lines for a beginner to a page or more for a full-time student. You prepare it, then recite it to your teacher from memory, usually without a single prompt before it counts as passed.
Sabqi: the recent portion
Sabqi is the portion that comes just before today’s sabaq. Teachers define it in slightly different ways: some use the last five to seven lessons, others use everything memorized in the current juz. Some madrasas call it “sabaq para” (the lesson’s juz). Whatever the name, its job is the same: to lock in new memorization during the fragile first days, when it is most likely to slip.
Manzil: the old revision
Manzil literally means a station or stage on a journey. Traditionally the Quran is divided into seven manazil so that a reader can complete one full recitation each week, one manzil per day. In the Hifz system, manzil has come to mean all of your older memorization, which you revise in a fixed rotation. Some teachers also call this “dhor” or “dohraana,” meaning repetition.
| Part | What it covers | Main goal | Typical amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sabaq | Today’s new lines | Memorize accurately | 3 lines to 1 page or more |
| Sabqi | Last 5 to 7 lessons, or current juz | Make new pages stick | Half a page to a quarter juz |
| Manzil | Everything older | Keep the whole Hifz alive | A few pages to 1 juz or more |
How a Page Travels Through the System
Think of every page as moving along a conveyor belt:
- Day 1 (sabaq): you memorize the page and recite it to your teacher.
- Days 2 to 7 (sabqi): the page joins your sabqi. You recite it daily alongside the other recent lessons.
- Day 8 onward (manzil): once it is about a week old, or once you finish that juz, the page moves into your manzil rotation and comes around again every cycle.
Here is a real example. Suppose you follow our plan to memorize Surah Al-Waqi’ah in 3 weeks. Each day’s ayahs are your sabaq. The ayahs from the previous week form your sabqi. When you finish the surah, it leaves sabqi and joins your manzil, where you might revise it once every week or two, depending on how much you hold.
How to Divide Your Daily Time
Most teachers agree that new memorization should take the smallest share of a session once you have more than a few juz. A common starting split for a student with a few juz memorized looks like this:
- Sabaq: about 30 percent of your time
- Sabqi: about 30 percent
- Manzil: about 40 percent
As your Hifz grows, manzil expands. A student with 15 juz may spend more than half of every session on manzil alone, and a hafiz who has finished the Quran spends nearly all of it there. Enter your own numbers into the tool below to see a starting split and how long one full manzil cycle would take.
Revision Scheduler
Split your daily Hifz time between sabaq, sabqi and manzil
The Rules Teachers Use to Keep It Balanced
The three parts only work if each one protects the others. Experienced Hifz teachers usually enforce a few simple rules.
No clean manzil, no new sabaq
If your sabqi or manzil is weak, the teacher pauses new memorization until it is fixed. It can feel frustrating, but adding pages on top of a shaky foundation only multiplies the work later. Our guide to memorizing the Quran without forgetting explains why this matters so much.
Recite to someone, not only to yourself
Sabaq is always recited to the teacher. Ideally sabqi and a good part of manzil are too, or at least to a parent, spouse or study partner. Your own ear forgives mistakes that a listener catches immediately.
Set a mistake limit
Many madrasas use a mistake count. For example, more than two or three errors in a sabqi recitation means that portion is repeated the next day before moving on. A clear limit removes guesswork for both the student and the teacher.
Keep the cycle fixed
Your manzil should come around on a predictable schedule, such as one juz a day for a 30-day cycle, or half a juz a day for a 60-day cycle. A fixed cycle means no portion is neglected for months. For help choosing that rhythm, see our guide on building a Quran revision schedule you can keep.
When manzil grows, sabaq may shrink. Somewhere between 5 and 15 juz, many students hit a point where revision simply takes longer. Teachers often keep the sabaq the same size, or even reduce it, until manzil feels smooth again. Students who fight this and keep pushing new pages are the ones most likely to lose large sections later.
A Sample Day at Three Stages of Hifz
The balance changes as you progress. Here is roughly what a 60 to 90 minute day looks like at different points:
| Stage | Sabaq | Sabqi | Manzil |
|---|---|---|---|
| First juz (beginner) | 5 lines | Previous 5 to 7 lessons | Short surahs memorized before Hifz |
| 8 juz memorized | Half a page | Last week’s lessons | About half a juz per day |
| 20 juz memorized | Half a page or less | Last week’s lessons | 1 juz or more per day |
If you are just starting out, our article on how many lines to memorize per day will help you set a realistic sabaq.
Common Mistakes With Sabaq, Sabqi and Manzil
- Treating sabqi as optional. New pages left alone for a few days are the ones that fade first.
- Revising manzil silently. Read it aloud, at a steady pace, so your tongue remembers as well as your eyes.
- Revising only what feels weak. Strong portions also drift if they are skipped for months.
- Doing manzil only on weekends. A daily dose is far more effective than one long session.
- Changing your mushaf. Use the same printing for all three parts so your visual memory of each page stays consistent.
The most reliable fix for all of these is accountability. In our online Quran memorization course, your teacher hears your sabaq every class, checks your sabqi and tracks your manzil cycle with you, so the system keeps running even in busy weeks.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between sabaq, sabqi and manzil?
Sabaq is the new lesson you memorize today, sabqi is the recent portion from roughly the past week or current juz, and manzil is your older memorization revised on a rotating cycle. Together they make sure every page you memorize is reviewed regularly.
How much manzil should I do each day?
It depends on how much you have memorized and how long you want each cycle to be. Many students revise between a quarter juz and one juz daily. A hafiz often aims for one juz or more per day so the whole Quran is covered within a month.
Can I do Hifz with only sabaq and manzil?
You can, but most teachers advise against it. Skipping sabqi means new pages go straight from memorization to a cycle that may not reach them again for weeks, which is when they are most likely to slip.
What should I do if my manzil becomes weak?
Pause or reduce new sabaq, shorten your manzil cycle temporarily, and recite your weak portions to a teacher or listener. Once they are smooth again, return gradually to your normal sabaq.
Do online Hifz classes use sabaq, sabqi and manzil?
Many do, because the system works just as well online. In our Hifz classes with daily follow-up, a teacher hears your new lesson and checks your revision in each 30-minute class, and you can begin with a free trial class.
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