Qur'an

The cover page for the Qur'an, as available on Amazon.

The Prophet Muhammad received and preached revelations from whom Muhammad considered to be an angel, Gabriel. Some of these revelations were communicated just through a sound, like a ringing bell, while others were spoken directly to the Prophet. They were later written down by his followers and comprised to create the Qur'an. Put into writing around the seventh century, the Qur'an became the central religious test of Islam. It contained 114 chapters, or suras, and was first written as a codex, not in scroll form like many other texts of that time. In this way, the Qur'an was revolutionary in the world of publishing because it confirmed the codex's value by using its format for an extremely notable publication. The Qur'an had no poetic writing or hymns, but when it is read aloud in Arabic (the Qur'an's native language) the rhythm and rhyme within the suras is evident.

Evolution of the Qur'an in Practice

Originally, the Prophet's revelations were only preached orally, so believers were expected to memorize the Qur'an. This is a tradition that prevailed even after the revelations were formally written down. Influenced by religion, literacy quickly became a valued skill in Islam because of the importance of reading and reciting suras. Eventually, copying the Qur'an in one's own hand became a religious practice, too. The more time and effort one put into copying the text, the deeper one connected to one's faith.

Koran vs Qur'an

Over the years, the way words using other alphabets are rewritten to fit the Latin-script alphabet—a process called "transliteration"— has changed several times. This evolving process has led to some confusion over the correct English spelling of the holy book's title. In the 19th century, it was more common to be written in English as "Koran," but that spelling has since changed to the modern "Qur'an."