The Koran (Penguin Classics)

'God is the light of the heavens and the earth . . . God guides to His light whom He will.'

The Koran is universally accepted by Muslims to be the infallible Word of God as first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by the Angel Gabriel fourteen hundred years ago. Its 114 chapters, or surahs, recount the narratives central to Muslim belief, and together they form one of the world's most influential prophetic works and a literary masterpiece in its own right. But, above all, the Koran provides the rules of conduct that remain fundamental to the Muslim faith today: prayer, fasting, pilgrimage to Mecca and absolute faith in God.

N. J. Dawood's masterly translation is the result of a lifelong study of the Koran's language and style, and has been assiduously revised over the years; it presents the English reader with a clear, fluent and authoritative rendering, while reflecting the flavour and rhythm of the original. It includes an introduction, a brief chronology and an exhaustive index.