What is the Quran? [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

In the name of Allah, the Beneficient, the
Merciful

The Qur'an comprehends the complete code for the Muslims to live a good,
chaste, abundant and rewarding life in obedience to the commandments of
Allah, in this life and to gain salvation in the next. It is the "chart of
life" for every Muslim, and it is the "constitution" of the Kingdom of
Heaven on Earth.

The Qur'an is the eternal contemporary of the Muslims. Each generation
of Muslims has found new sources of strength, courage and inspiration in
it. It is also, for them, a "compass" in the turbulent voyage of life, as
it has explained itself in the following verses:

. . . Indeed, there has come to you light and a clear book
from Allah; With it Allah guides him who fill follow His pleasure into
the ways of safety and brings them out of utter darkness into light by
his will and guides them to the right path. (V: 15-16)

It has created an all but new phase of human thought and a fresh type
of character. It deserves the highest praise for its conceptions of Divine
nature in reference to the attributes of Power, Knowledge, and Universal
Providence and Unity--that its belief and trust is one God, creator of
Heaven and Earth is deep and fervent, and that it embodies much of a noble
and moral earnestness. It is Qur'an which transformed the simple shepherds
and wandering Bedouins of Arabia into the founders of empires, the
builders of cities, the collectors of libraries. If a system of religious
teachings is evaluated by the changes which it introduces into the way of
life, the customs and beliefs of its follower, then Qur'an as a code of
life is second to none. It is not strange then, that more translations and
more commentaries of the Holy Qur'an have been published than that of any
other book claimed to be the Divine Revelation.

By Anwer Ali. Preface to the Holy Qur'an. Published by Tahrike Tarsile
Qur'an, Inc.