and Gabriel received it directly from Him, then brought it down to the heart of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Allah the Exalted says: “Indeed, it is surely the speech of a noble messenger, possessed of strength, secure with the Lord of the Throne, obeyed there and trustworthy” (Q 81:19-21). He is trustworthy—that is, Gabriel, peace be upon him—who delivered it to the most trustworthy of humankind. Gabriel is the custodian among the angels, and Muhammad is the custodian among mankind; both of them are entrusted with Allah’s revelation.

This Qur’an enjoys tremendous virtues: some are general, while others belong to certain verses and surahs in particular. Al-Fatiha is the Seven Oft-Repeated and the Mother of the Book; Ayat al-Kursi is the greatest verse in the Book of Allah; and so on, for there are verses and surahs that possess their own distinctive merit. Yet the Qur’an as a whole also has its universal merits. This obliges us to be exceedingly diligent in reciting the Book of Allah day and night, for when a person recites the speech of Allah he receives, for every single letter, ten good deeds. One letter of any word is worth ten good deeds. Thus, the word qul (Say) earns twenty good deeds, because it is made of two letters—qaf and lam—while aʿudhu (I seek refuge) has four letters and therefore yields forty good deeds. Such an immense reward is beyond what a person can fathom when he reads this mighty, noble Book—“falsehood cannot approach it, neither from before it nor from behind it; a revelation sent down by One who is All-Wise, Praiseworthy” (Q 41:42).

When reciting the Qur’an, one should recite slowly and distinctly, without rushing in a way that causes some letters to be dropped, for some people hurry through it so quickly that