verses that vary in length from one letter (Q 50:1)
or word (Q 89:1) to several sentences (Q 5:40).
All chapters but one (Q 9) begin with the basmala,
a liturgical citation of God’s name, but only in the
first sura is it counted as a verse. Other oft-cited
verses in the Quran have also acquired their own
names, such as the Throne Verse (Q 2:255), the
Light Verse (Q 24:35), and the Sword Verse (Q
9:5). Verses in the shorter chapters, many of them
counted among the early revelations received by
Muhammad, often share an end-rhyming pattern
of prose known as saj, but in the longer chapters
they usually do not rhyme. The physical divisions
between verses are usually marked by circles or
florets in Quran manuscripts, but in modern print
editions they are numbered due to the influence of
the modern Euro-American practice of numbering
verses in print editions of the Bible.
Manuscript and print editions of the Quran
also show other kinds of organization. One of
these is to distinguish chapters revealed when
Muhammad lived in mecca (610–622 c.e.) from
those associated with the Medinan phase of his
career (622–632 c.e). The classification of Meccan
and Medinan suras can usually be found at the
head of each sura, next to its title. However, Mus-
lim commentators and jurists have also recognized
that a chapter classified as Medinan may contain
Meccan verses in it, which suggests editing of the
quranic text at some time after it was first com-
posed. To facilitate memorization and recitation
of the entire Quran, Muslims have also divided it
into 30 portions (sing. juz) of equal length, which
they have further subdivided into two equal parts
(sing. hizb). The markings for these divisions
can be found in Quran manuscripts and in most
printed editions in Arabic.
Muslims believe that the Quran, the speech
of God, provides guidance in all matters of Faith,
action, and the attainment of eternal salvation. In
support of this belief, the Quran declares,
That is the book in which there is no doubt,
a proper guide for those who fear God, whobelieve in the unseen, perform prayer, and
disburse (in charity) what he has granted to
them. (It is the book) of those who believe in
what has been revealed to you (Muhammad),
what was revealed before you, and who are
certain about the hereafter. They are the ones
who are guided rightly by their lord and who
are prosperous. (Q 2:2–5)The Quran’s leading theme is the declaration
that there is only one all-powerful, all-knowing,
and merciful God (allah) who alone created the
universe and governs all that is in it. Another
theme is that as the creator of human beings, God
makes his will known to them through signs and
revelations delivered by prophets sent throughout
history in order to guide them to salvation and
warn them away from damnation. The Quran
tells this religious history by referring to biblical
stories about figures such as abraham, Joseph,
moses, david, and JesUs and how their communi-
ties, called the people oF the book, often rejected
them. In doing so it placed Muhammad directly or
indirectly among these former prophets and iden-
tified its message with theirs. Indeed, Muslims
have regarded the Quran as the culmination of
these earlier revelations, correcting the errors that
people have introduced to them. In addition to
biblical figures, the Quran also mentions Arabian
prophets such as Salih (Q 7:73–79) and Shuayb
(Q 7:84–93).
In the Quran the theme of salvation is linked
to the idea that human beings are divided into
believers and disbelievers, the righteous and the
wrongdoers, who are all to be held accountable
for their beliefs and actions at the end of the
world on JUdgment day, when all the dead will
be resurrected. Those judged to be among the
righteous will be rewarded with a blissful life in
paradise, and sinners will suffer the agonies of
the hell-fire. The Quran provides graphic descrip-
tions of the blessings and punishments that
people will receive in the aFterliFe, and, like the
Bible, it also gives an accounting of the rewardsQuran 571 J