Quran

Quran in Arabic: how to choose your mushaf

• What you will find here: editions of the Quranic text in Arabic, from pocket to large format, all new.
• The riwayat: chiefly Hafs from Asim, the most widespread, and Warsh from Nafi, widespread in the Maghreb. The riwaya is stated on every listing.
• The layouts: the Medina edition in fifteen lines per page, where every page ends on the end of a verse, and the Eastern layouts, more variable.
• Specialised editions: tajwid mushaf with the rules in colour, editions designed for memorisation, editions with word glosses or explanation in the margin.
• The formats: pocket for carrying, medium for daily reading, large for settled reading and for tired eyes.
• Information on every listing: riwaya, format in centimetres, number of lines per page, type of paper, binding, edges, presence of tajwid colouring.

The riwaya: what to know before buying

This is the first criterion, and the one that causes the most returns when it is overlooked.

The Quranic text is transmitted according to several readings, themselves carried through routes called riwayat. They do not change the text but bear on points of pronunciation and, for a few words, on spelling and vocalisation. The riwaya of Hafs from Asim is by far the most widespread in the Muslim world, and it is the one found by default. The riwaya of Warsh from Nafi is that of most of the Maghreb, and the riwaya of Qalun is widespread in Libya and Tunisia.

The consequence is practical. Someone who memorised in Warsh and buys a mushaf in Hafs will meet differences on every page, and the reverse holds. Choose the riwaya you learnt in, or the one practised in your mosque. Every listing in this section states it plainly.

The layout matters as much as the format

Two mushaf of the same size can read very differently, and that comes down to the page.

The so-called Medina edition, in fifteen lines per page, has one particularity: every page begins and ends on a whole verse. That is what makes it the reference edition for memorisation, because the page becomes a unit of revision, and because the visual position of a verse on the page helps to retain it. Anyone memorising does well to keep to it, and not to change afterwards.

Eastern layouts, in thirteen lines or more, follow other divisions. They suit reading perfectly, and memorisation less well if one changes edition midway.

The number of lines per page is stated on every listing, because it, more than the format in centimetres, determines the real size of the characters.

Tajwid, memorisation, reading: three uses, three editions

The tajwid mushaf shows the rules of recitation in colour: prolongations, assimilations, points of pause. It is an aid to learning, useful while the rules are not yet settled. Some readers then prefer to return to a text without colours, less busy to the eye.

Editions for memorisation take up the Medina layout, sometimes with a widened margin for annotation or a page numbering by juz. They are often more solidly bound, because they are opened every day.

For plain reading, the main criterion is comfort: size of the characters, opacity of the paper, suppleness of the binding. A pocket mushaf slips in anywhere but tires the eyes over a long reading, and the reverse holds of the large format.

Paper, binding, edges: what makes a mushaf last

It is a book opened every day for years, and these details are paid for in use.

Thin paper allows a compact volume but lets the text of the reverse show through. More opaque paper, slightly cream, reads better and tires less. A sewn binding lasts where a glued binding eventually gives way in the middle, usually at the most opened pages. Gilt edges and sewn ribbons are not idle luxury on a book handled daily.

Every listing in this section states the paper, the type of binding and the finish, so that the choice turns on the intended use rather than on the cover photograph alone.

What goes with the mushaf

This section also holds partial editions and companions: juz Amma for the last suras, often the first book of children and beginners; collections of frequently recited suras; mushaf with word glosses in the margin, which stands midway between the Quran alone and a work of tafsir.

For a continuous explanation of the verses, the tafsir section is where to go: a mushaf with explanatory margins gives the sense of the words, not the commentary on the passage.

Buy a Quran in Arabic from My Maktaba

Every copy in this section is new, in its original edition. For each mushaf, the listing states the riwaya, the dimensions in centimetres, the number of lines per page, the type of paper, the binding, the finish and whether tajwid colouring is present. Mushaf are shipped protected and flat, to prevent soft covers from warping and corners from being crushed.

If you are hesitating, write to us stating the riwaya you read in, your use, daily reading, memorisation or learning tajwid, and whether you need large characters. We will suggest two or three references, no more. And if the edition you are looking for does not appear in the catalogue, send us its name and its printer: our network of booksellers covers most of the editions in circulation.