Ever since its revelation over fourteen hundred years ago, the Qur'an has been the focus of considerable scholarly research. The present work represents one of the finest contemporary examples of Qur'anic scholarship written by a scholar who has spent a lifetime studying and teaching Qur'anic studies. In the course of five rich sections, Professor Adnan Zarzour considers an incredible range of topics including the nature of Qur'anic revelation, the history of the Qur'an's compilation, an exploration of the Qur'an's language, style, and the nature of its stylistic inimitability and artistic features.
Other themes explored here include the impact of the Qur'an on Islamic civilization, as well as the various classical subdisciplines of Qur'anic studies, including the study of the variant readings (qira'at), the reasons for revelation (asbab al-nuzul), and abrogation (naskh).