The Qur’an is a sacred book for Muslims, revealed to Prophet Muhammad and written in Arabic. The Qur’an, the central scripture of Islam, begins with al-Fatihah, literally “the Opening”:

in the name of God, The Lord of Mercy, The Giver of Mercy! Praise belongs to God, Lord of the Worlds,
The Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy,
Master of the Day of Judgment.
It is You we worship; it is You we ask for help.
Guide us to the straight path:
The path of those You have blessed
those who incur no anger
and who have not gone astray.

ARABIC:
Bismillaah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem
Amanar-rasulu bima unzila ilayhi min rabbihi wal-muminun
Kullun amana billahi wa mala ikatihi wa kutubihi wa rusulih
La nufarriqu bayna ahadin min rusulih
Wa qalu sami’na wa a-ta’na ghufranaka rabbana wa ilaykal masir
La yukallifullahu nafsan illa wus’aha
Laha ma kasabat wa alayha maktasabat
Rabbana la tu akhidhna in nasina au akhta’na
Rabbana wa la tahmil alayna isran kama
Hamaltahu alalladhina min qablina
Rabbana wa la tuhammilna ma la taqata lanabih
Wa’fu anna, waghfir lana, warhamna
Anta maulana fansurna alal-qaumil-kafirin

ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
The Apostle, and the believers with him,
believe in what has been bestowed upon him from on high
by his Sustainer: they all believe in God, and His angels,
and His revelations, and His apostles,
making no distinction between any of His apostles; and they say:
“We have heard, and we pay heed. Grant us Thy forgiveness, O our Sustainer,
for with Thee is all journeys’ end!
“God does not burden any human being with more than he is well able to bear:
in his favor shall be whatever good he does,
and against him whatever evil he does.
“O our Sustainer! Take us not to task if we forget or unwittingly do wrong!
“O our Sustainer! Lay not upon us a burden such as Thou didst lay upon those
who lived before us!
O our Sustainer! Make us not bear burdens which we have no strength to bear!
“And efface Thou our sins, and grant us forgiveness, and bestow Thy mercy upon us!
Thou art our Lord Supreme: succor us, then, against people why deny the truth!”

Allah, the Most High, speaks the truth.
The word Qur’an literally means “recitation.” The words of the Qur’an were originally revealed to Muhammad in Arabic; he then recited them to his followers. While it is possible to translate the message of the Qur’an into other languages, Muslims consider translations to be interpretations and not the Qur’an itself. The Qur’an is arranged in 114 surahs generally in decreasing order of length, with each surah representing a chapter or division of the book. Readers find prayers and praise, a recounting of God’s signs in creation, stories of prophets before Muhammad, passages about the Day of Judgment, legal matters, and right behavior.