Author: Will Durant
The word “Koran” (or “Qur’an”), meaning a reading or discourse, is used by Muslims to refer to their sacred scriptures in whole or in part. Like the Jewish-Christian Bible, the Koran is a compilation, with orthodox belief asserting its every syllable as divinely inspired by God. Unlike the Bible, it is largely the work of one individual, Muhammad, making it arguably the most influential book ever authored by a single hand.
Over the last 23 years of his life, Muhammad dictated fragments of this revelation at various times. These were recorded on parchment, leather, palm-leaves, or bones, read to assemblies, and stored with earlier revelations in various receptacles, without particular attention to logical or chronological order. No comprehensive collection was made during his lifetime; however, several Muslims memorized the texts and served as living repositories.
In 633 CE, after many of these memorizers had passed away without adequate successors, Caliph Abu Bakr tasked Muhammad’s chief scribe, Zaid ibn Thabit, with compiling the Koran. Tradition holds that Zaid gathered these fragments “from date leaves and tablets of white stone, and the breasts of men.” From Zaid’s completed manuscript, multiple copies were produced. However, lacking vowels, these copies led to varied interpretations by public readers, resulting in differing texts across the expanding Muslim territories.
To address this inconsistency, Caliph Uthman commissioned Zaid and three Quraish scholars in 651 CE to revise the manuscript. Copies of this official version were distributed to Damascus, Kufa, and Basra, and the text has since been preserved with remarkable purity and care. The book’s nature, however, led to repetition and a lack of orderly arrangement.
Each passage serves a distinct purpose—stating a doctrine, dictating a prayer, announcing a law, denouncing an enemy, directing a procedure, telling a story, calling to arms, proclaiming a victory, formulating a treaty, appealing for funds, or regulating ritual, morals, industry, trade, or finance. Yet, it’s uncertain whether Muhammad intended these fragments to form a single volume. Many were context-specific, tailored to particular individuals or moments, and require historical and traditional commentary for full understanding, appealing primarily to the faithful.
The Koran comprises 114 chapters, or suras, arranged not by composition order—which remains unknown—but by decreasing length. Since early revelations were generally shorter than later ones, the text reads as history in reverse. The Medina suras, practical and prose-like, appear first, while the Mecca suras, poetic and spiritual, come last. This structure suggests starting at the end for a more coherent experience.
With the exception of the first sura, all chapters take the form of discourses by Allah or Gabriel to Muhammad, his followers, or his adversaries—a style borrowed from Hebrew prophets and evident in parts of the Pentateuch. Muhammad believed that a moral code would only gain widespread adherence if seen as divinely ordained, lending the text an impassioned grandeur and eloquence that rivals Isaiah at its peak.
The style blends poetry and prose, featuring pervasive rhythm and rhyme, though irregularly applied. The early Mecca suras stand out for their sonorous cadence and bold style, fully appreciated by those fluent in Arabic and aligned with the faith. Written in the purest Arabic, the Koran is rich with vivid similes, though its florid nature may not suit Western tastes. By consensus, it is regarded as the finest, as well as the earliest, work in Arabic prose literature.
Excerpts from Will Durant's The Age of Faith Pages 162-186 Pub. 1950
