Then turned she to the rest of the learned men present and said'O masterswhich of you is the readerversed in the seven readings and in syntax and lexicography？'Thereupon the professor arose and seating himself before hersaid'Hast thou read the Book of God the Most High and made thyself throughly acquainted with its verses and its various parts，abrogating and abrogatedequivocal and unequivocalMeccan and Medinan？ Dost thou understand its interpretation and hast thou studied itaccording to the various versions and readings？'
'Yes，'answered she；and he said'Whatthenis the number of its chaptershow many are Meccan and how many Medinan？ How many verses and decades does it containhow many words and how many letters and how many acts of prostration and how many prophets and birds are mentioned in it？'It contains a hundred and fourteen chapters，'replied she'whereof threescore and ten were revealed at Mecca and forty and four at Medinasix thousand three hundred and thirty-six versessix hundred and twenty-one decadesseventy-nine thousand four hundred and thirty-nine words and three hundred and twenty-three thousand and six hundred and seventy letters；and to the reader thereoffor every letteraccrue ten benefits. The acts of prostration it contains are fourteen in numberand five-and-twenty prophets are named thereinto witAdamNoah，AbrahamIshmaelIsaacJacobJosephElishaJonahLot，SalihHoudShuaibDavidSolomonDhoulkiflIdrisEliasYehyaZachariasJob，MosesAaronJesus and Mohammedthe peace of God and His blessing be on them all！ Moreovernine birds [or flying things] are mentioned in the Korannamelythe gnatthe bee，the flythe antthe hoopoethe crowthe locustthe bustard and the bird of Jesus（on whom be peace）to witthe bat.'（Q.）'Which is the most excellent chapter of the Koran？'
（A.）'That of the Cow.'（Q.）'Which is the most magnificent verse？'（A.）'That of the Throne；it has fifty wordsin each fifty blessings.'（Q.）'What verse hath in it nine signs [or wonders]？'（A.）'That in which quoth God the Most High'Verily，in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day and the ship that runneth in the sea with what profiteth mankind and in what God sendeth down from heaven of water and quickeneth therewith the earthafter its dearthand spreadeth abroad therein all manner cattleand the shifting of the winds and the cloudspressed into service betwixt heaven and earthare signs for folk who understand.'（Q.）
'Which is the most just？'（A.）'That in which God saith'Verily，God commandeth to justice and beneficence and giving to those that are near unto us and forbiddeth from profligacy and iniquity and oppression.'（Q.）'Which is the most yearnful？'（A.）
'That in which quoth God'Shall every man of them yearn to enter a garden of delight？'（Q.）'Which is the most hopeful？'（A.）'That in which quoth God the Most High'Say'O ye my servantsthat have transgressed against your own souls，despair not of the mercy of God！ IndeedGod forgiveth sins，all of themfor He is the Forgivingthe Compassionate.'
（Q.）'By what version dost thou read？'（A.）'By that of the people of Paradiseto witthe version of Nafi.'
（Q.）'In which verse doth God make prophets lie？'（A.）'In that wherein He saith'They [the brothers of Joseph] brought lying blood upon his shirt.'（Q.）'In which doth He make infidels speak the truth？'（A.）'In that wherein He saith'The Jews say'The Nazarenes are [grounded] on nought，'and the Nazarenes say'The Jews are [grounded] on nought；'and [yet]
they [both] read the Scripture.'And [in this] both speak the truth.'（Q.）'In which doth God speak in His own person [in the singular]？'（A.）'In that in which He saith'Neither have I created Jinn and menbut that they should worship.'
（Q.）'In which do the angels speak？'（A.）'In that which saith，'We celebrate Thy praises and hallow Thee.'（Q.）'What sayst thou of the formula'I seek refuge with God from Satan the Stoned'？'（A.）'It is obligatoryby commandment of God，on all who read the Koranas appears by His saying'When thou readest the Koranseek refuge with God from Satan the Stoned.'（Q.）'What are the words and variants of the formula？'（A.）'Some say'I take refuge with God the All-hearing and knowingetc.，'and others'With God the Strong；'but the best is that of which the noble Koran and the Traditions speak. The Prophet was usedwhenas he was about to open the Koranto say'I take refuge with God from Satan the Stoned.'And quoth a Traditionreported by Nafi on the authority of his [adopted] father'The apostle of God used，when he rose in the night to prayto say aloud'God is Most Greatwith [all] greatness！ Praise be to God abundantly！ Glory to God morning and evening！'Then would he say'I seek refuge with God from Satan the Stoned and from the instigations of the Devils and their evil suggestions.'And it is told of Ibn Abbas（of whom God accept）that he said'The first time Gabriel came down to the Prophet [with a portion of the Koran，] he taught him [the formula of] seeking refugesaying，'O Mohammedsay'I seek refuge with God the All-hearing and knowing；'then say'In the name of God the Compassionatethe Merciful！'And readin the name of thy Lord who created men from clotted blood.''（Q.）'What sayst thou of the verse'In the name of Godthe Compassionatethe Merciful'？
Is it one of the verses of the Koran？'（A.）'Yes；it is a verse of 'The ant'and occurs also [at the head of the first and] between every two [following] chapters；and there is much difference of opinionrespecting thisamong the learned.'
