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Treasures of our Memorial Library THE MAGNIFICENT KORAN Your scribe has long wanted to write about treasures of our library consisting of individual books or sets of books. Hence, while I was prowling around in the Library's sanctum sanctorum, my gaze was riveted by the largest - and one of the most beautiful - books I have ever seen. This magnificent volume measures 23 by 17 inches, and is about three-quarters of an inch thick. Its cover is faced with fine brown leather, which is richly embossed with decorative gold. It is a copy of the Muslim Holy Book, the Koran. The name "Koran" may be translated as "Recitation". "Koran" seems to be gradually changing to the more correct spelling, "Qur'an". Though this volume is certainly huge, I am told there is another Koran in Iran which weighs 70 kilograms! The language of this Koran is Arabic. The calligraphy is precise, apparently type-set, and is mainly in black, though many characters are red or green. The red is used solely for the name of Allah. Each page of script is attractively bordered in colours. There are no illustrations as such. The book contains 245 pages of text. The frontispiece states it was published in Egypt, in 1993. This magnificent volume was donated to the library by Mr. Farouk Elesseily, who is Chairman of the B.C. Muslim Association. I offer thanks to him, to our Farsi-speaking Librarian, and to the ever-helpful Encyclopedia Britannica, for much of the following. The text of the Koran runs to about 80,000 words, about the same as the Christian New Testament, and the wording is said to have remained unchanged since it was recorded by Mohammed, or under his direction. Mohammed was illiterate, but Muslim dogma holds that the Angel Gabriel miraculously make him literate and supplied the text of the holy book. He died at Medina at the age of 64 and was there entombed in AD 632. The Koran is considered the first book ever to be published in Arabic. Its first chapter is addressed to Allah (God). The remaining chapters are in the form of addresses from Allah. Of contemporary interest is the fact that its text in many instances mirrors ancient Jewish lore. It is recorded that Mohammed had visions and "heard voices". Much of the Koranic text is addressed to Mohammed. Each chapter of the Koran, except the ninth, begins with the formula, "In the name of Allah, the merciful and compassionate.....". The text is in prose, though there are many instances of apparently deliberate rhyming. The subject matter is very varied, dealing with the majesty of God, earlier "prophets", divorce, orphans and even the defeat of the Romans (Byzantines). It is a privilege and a memorable experience to be able to see and even handle this splendid volume. It will shortly be available to all our Library's patrons through the Reference section. My thanks to our Librarian Fereshteh Kashefi for her help with the translations. Ted Hill