Some Details of Interest

• This page comes from a translation of the Koran authorized by “The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
• This official translation comes complete with an official commentary.
• The Koran is made up of 114 suras (=chapters).  These 114 appear in the book from longest to shortest (!).  So: where they are in the Koran has nothing to do with whether that chapter was revealed early or late.  In fact, on the whole, the shorter suras (those at the end of the book) were revealed earlier in time than the longer ones at the beginning.
• Every chapter (bar one) begins with the words: “In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.”
• For centuries the Koran was not officially translated, and therefore not officially available to the western world, because Muslims considered the Koran to be too holy for general usage, and the Arabic God’s own language which alone is fitting for the Koran.  In the last while, this policy has changed due to the migration of many Muslims to the western world (with subsequent loss of Arabic) plus an eagerness amongst Muslims to proselytize infidels to the Muslim faith. 
• Muslims hold the Koran in such high regard that they will not touch the book unless they have washed their hands.  They also will not place it on a shelf below eye-level (let alone lay it on the floor); people must always look up to the Koran.