Koran

(Qur’ân)

(610–632)

   The most important text in the Arabic-speaking world and the ultimate inspiration for all literature written in Arabic, the Koran (al-Qur’ân or Qur’an) is the sacred Scripture of Islam and the direct revelation of God through his prophet Muhammad. Revealed to Muhammad over a 23-year period, the Koran was preserved orally by the Prophet’s followers, who committed various portions to memory, and also in written form by some, like his secretary Zayd ibn Thabit, who became known as “scribe of the revelation.” In 651, the various verses of the Koran were gathered together and put into their current arrangement for wider circulation: The text of the Koran consists of 114 chapters or suras, arranged not in any continuous narrative but rather according to length, roughly from the longest sura (286 verses) to the shortest (three verses).

   For Muslims, the Koran is not merely a revelation of the word of God; it is in fact the literal word of God, revealed to Muhammad through the intermediary angel Gabriel. The earthly Koran is a duplicate of a divine Koran that exists for all eternity in the Seventh Heaven, uncreated and co-eternal with God himself. It is God’s final revelation to human beings, spoken in Arabic through an Arab prophet. Thus the Koran cannot be translated. Although its sense might be rendered into another language for purposes of instruction or interpretation, the translated text is not the Koran in the sense that, for example, an English version of the Christian Bible is thought to be the true Bible. In general, the suras can be categorized according to where they were written. The earlier suras, generally shorter, were written in Mecca, during the period when Muhammad was preaching and converting people to his new faith in that city. There are 85 Meccan suras, and typically they exhort people to believe in the one God. They speak of the coming day of judgment and the heavenly reward of those who believe in God, and damnation for those who do not. They also call for social justice, instructing believers to help those in need, like outcasts, widows, and orphans, and to give generously to the poor. The 29 Medinian suras, generally later than the Meccan ones, were written during the period of a growing Muslim community in Medina after Muhammad’s flight to that city. They are generally legalistic and are concerned with the ethical organization and the daily life of the Muslim political and social community. Literally, al-Qur’an means “the Recitation,” a title that suggests the oral nature of the text. For the most part, the text has the rhythm of an oral dialogue, between God and Muhammad or one of the earlier prophets, and between the prophet and his often uncooperative community. Extended narratives are the exception in the Koran. The story of Noah in sura 71 gives a short narrative, but the acknowledged narrative masterpiece of the Koran is sura 12, the story of Joseph (Yusuf). The most important sura in the Koran is probably the Exordium of sura 1—a short poem praising God’s power and mercy and asking for his guidance— that, according to Muslim law, must appear at the head of every formal document and every oral presentation.

   The Koran, as the foundational document of Muslim education and the spiritual authority of Islam, ensures that written Arabic is identical throughout the Muslim world.Written in a kind of rhymed prose, the Koran set a stylistic standard for literature in Arabic that is imitated in poetry and prose throughout the Middle Ages and even to the present day. The Koran has also exercised a profound influence on the content of Arabic literature: Condemning poets and storytellers as purveyors of untruth, the Koran encouraged literature that was generally didactic, concerned with morality and spirituality, and denigrated fiction and folk literature within Islamic countries.

   Bibliography

   ■ Cook Michael. The Koran: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

   ■ Quran: The Final Testament. Authorized English version, with the Arabic text translated from the original by Rashad Khalifa. Tucson, Ariz.: Islamic Productions, 1992.

   ■ Rahman, Fazlur. Major Themes of the Qur’ân. Minneapolis, Minn.: Bibliotheca Islamica, 1980.

   ■ Turner, Colin, ed. The Koran: Critical Concepts in Islamic Studies. New York: Routledge, 2004.