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The reading of the Quran is considered a
pious duty by every Muslim and is actually performed is practice
by every literate person -- man, woma, and child. For the
converience of those who wish to complete the whole reading in a
given time, the whole Text is divided ito thirty equal parts.
the thirtieth Part is call "Juz'" in Arabic. and "Siparah" or
simply "Parah" in Persian and Urdu. If you read a Juz' every
day, you complete the whole reading in a month of thirtydays.
Usually the arithmetical quarters of a Juz' (one-fourth,
one-half, three-quarters) are also marked in the Arabic copies
as "al rub', al nisf, and al thalathah arba'";
According to subject matter, the division is different. The
whole of the Quran is arranged in 114 Surahs of very unequal
size. The Surahs are numbered and the consecutive number is
shown just before the title of the Surah in English. In Arabic,
the number of the Juz' and the title of the Surah are given at
the head of every page in the Surah. Each Surah consistes of a
number of "Ayat". Surah 1 contains 7 Ayat and Surah 2 contains
286. The most convenient form of quotation is to name the Surah
and the Ayat: thus 2:120 means the 120th Ayah of the second
Surah. A Surah is usually spoken of as a Chapter in English, but
that translatio is hardly satisfactory. If you examine the order
you will find that Surah |
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