What does the name of the Holy Qur’an mean?

The word Qur’an comes from the Arabic root qara’a, which means to read and to recite. The name means the book that is read the most and the most widely.

The word Qur’an comes from an Arabic root of three letters. Its basic form, qara’a, means to read. It refers first of all to reading something written, the way one reads a sheet of paper lying in front of oneself. But the word is also used for reciting, for example from memory.

Revelation began with this word. When the angel Gabriel came to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) for the first time, he said “Iqra”, which means “Read”. The Holy Prophet (saw) could neither read nor write, so he replied that he could not read. Only when the angel repeated the word and held him tightly did he understand what was meant, and he repeated the words. So “Read” became the first word of revelation.

The name is derived from this word. Qur’an means something that is read, and read more than anything else. Of everything that can be read, the Holy Qur’an is the book that is read the most and the most widely. The name al-Qur’an carries every superlative that has to do with reading.

So the book carries its purpose in its very name. It was revealed to a man who could not read, and it calls itself the book that is read more than any other.