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Portrait of The Quran

General knowledge · Religion & belief

The Quran

revealed c. 610–632 CE; authorised text compiled c. 650

Islam — the central scripture, held to be the speech of God

The scripture of Islam, which Muslims hold to be the literal word of God, revealed in Arabic to the Prophet Muhammad through the angel Jibril over some twenty-three years, and preserved unaltered since. It consists of 114 chapters, or suras, made up of verses called ayat, arranged broadly from longest to shortest rather than in the order of revelation. An authorised written text was established under the third caliph, Uthman, within about twenty years of the Prophet's death.

How to spot them

  • ▸114 suras, each made up of ayat; the chapters run roughly longest to shortest
  • ▸Meccan suras (earlier, shorter, on God and judgement) and Medinan suras (later, longer, on community and law)
  • ▸Every sura but the ninth opens with the Bismillah
  • ▸Divided into 30 roughly equal parts, a juz' each, so it can be read through in a month

Key facts

'Recite!' — the first words heard by a man meditating in a cave on Mount Hira (c. 610)

Sura 96, al-Alaq; the night is commemorated as Laylat al-Qadr, the Night of Power, in Ramadan

One hundred and fourteen chapters, ordered roughly from the longest to the shortest

The exception is the short opening chapter, placed first

Seven verses recited in every one of the five daily prayers

Al-Fatiha, 'The Opening'

An authorised single text established under the third caliph, and rival copies withdrawn (c. 650)

Uthman ibn Affan; the resulting codex is called the Uthmanic recension

Maryam, mother of Isa, is the only woman named in it, and has a chapter to herself

Sura 19; Jesus is named as a prophet, and the virgin birth affirmed

Thirty roughly equal parts, so that a reader can finish it in a month

The ajza, singular juz'; read in nightly tarawih prayers through Ramadan

Someone who has committed the whole of it to memory earns a title of honour

A hafiz (feminine hafiza)

Every chapter but the ninth opens 'In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate'

The Bismillah; Sura 9, at-Tawba, is the exception

Key ideas

  • Islamic doctrine holds the text to be inimitable — i'jaz — so that its Arabic cannot be matched and, strictly, cannot be translated. Versions in other languages are described as interpretations of the meaning rather than as the Quran itself.

Quick-fire facts

  • •It has 114 suras (chapters), made up of verses called ayat
  • •The longest sura is al-Baqara, 'The Cow', with 286 verses; the shortest, al-Kawthar, has three
  • •The opening sura, al-Fatiha, has seven verses and is recited in every unit of the five daily prayers
  • •Revelation is traditionally dated from about 610 CE, beginning in the cave of Hira on Mount Nur near Mecca, and continued for some 23 years
  • •The angel of revelation is Jibril — Gabriel
  • •Chapters are classed as Meccan or Medinan according to where they were revealed
  • •The standard written text was compiled under the caliph Uthman around 650 CE
  • •It is divided into 30 ajza for recitation, typically over the month of Ramadan
  • •Mary — Maryam — is the only woman mentioned by name, and Sura 19 bears her name
  • •A person who memorises the entire text is called a hafiz; the art of correct recitation is tajwid

Drill it — 8 cards

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Sources