The Koran, literally meaning The Recitation it is the central religious text for Muslims. Muslims believe the Koran was verbally revealed by God to the Prophet Muhammad in Arabic through the angel Gabriel over a period of approximately 23 years Muslims regard koranic revelations as the sacred word of God, intended to correct any errors in previous holy books such as the Old and New Testaments. The Koran is accepted as the foundation of Islamic law, religion, culture and politics. Some Koranic fragments have been dated as far back as the eighth, and possibly even the seventh, century. The oldest existing copy of the full text is from the ninth century. Although early variants of the Koran are known to have existed, Muslims believe that the text we have today was established shortly after the death of the Prophet by the Caliph Uthman. This superb translation by E.H.Palmer brings an appealing clarity to this ancient and revered text.