The Qur’an is the central religious text in Islam. Muslims believe that the Koran was verbally revealed by God, through the angel Gabriel, to the Prophet Muhammad over the course of 23 years.
The Qur’an was revealed in Arabic and comprises: 30 sections, 114 chapters, 6,236 verses and 77,432 words.
The first verse of the Qur’an translates as: “Read, in the Name of your Lord Who created…” [Al-’Alaq: 1]
Muslims are encouraged to continually read and memorize the Qur’an, which has been preserved verbatim in its original form since it was revealed more than 1,400 years ago.
Among the oldest extant Qur’anic manuscripts are the Sanaa Quran and University of Birmingham Koran, both of which date from the 7th century.