The Quran
A text believed to be dictated verbatim by God, and the standard of the Arabic language.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 24 years
- Known to
- ± 2 years
- Era
- Post-Classical, Holocene
The Quran is compiled from oral recitation and written fragments shortly after Muhammad's death, with a standard text established under Uthman. Because Muslims hold it to be God's own speech rather than an inspired human account, it is not regarded as translatable — a rendering into another language is a commentary, not the Quran. Its language becomes the yardstick of literary Arabic, which is why Arabic has changed so little in 1,400 years.