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The Qur'an as the Embodiment of Sacredness: The Qur'an is the ultimate expression of the divine in Islamic theology. Muslims assimilate the revelation in absolute seriousness,1 for it is the indisputable word of God, full of wisdom and guidance, that addresses a host of spiritual and worldly concerns from the human relationship with God to manners of social greetings. It provides axioms for interpreting every affair, reminds them of the divine throughout the day by means of various rituals, attests to the divine presence, and provides precepts for meditation.2 Muslims pursue the holy word with the utmost esteem, be it perceived meaning, written word, or confining book. The idea of the revelation's sacredness permeates numerous Qur'anic verses. Such verses reveal a variety of majestic attributes pertaining, among many respects, to the source, favors, and challenge of the Qur'an. The source of revelation is a key percept of Islamic theology. The divine nature of revelation is asserted bluntly as being from God, the exalted in power and full of wisdom (Qur'an 46:2). Receiving divine mercy is one of the innumerable favors that the sacred word engenders. But the divine reminds the community that obtaining mercy is contingent upon righteous behavior as revealed in the Qur'an (Qur'an 6:155). Similarly, receiving the divine guidance leading to peace, safety, and light is a favor of the sacred word afforded only to those who seek God's pleasure (Qur'an 5:16). The challenge of the Qur'an resides in its unmatched beauty. Armed with unprecedented linguistic efficacy, it dealt a decisive blow to the pride of the Makkan community. At the time of the revelation, the Makkan community and Arabia in general spoke the language eloquently, and orators and poets derived dignity from their distinctive performances. Speech and poetry had developed into the most prominent art forms. The stature of the language prompted the Prophet's clan (the Quraysh) to defy his call, for the clan chieftains demanded a written book from heaven that they could read. The revelation, in support of the Prophet, affirmed the divine source of the Qur'an by challenging any doubter to produce even one suµrah that developed those in the Qur'an: "And if ye are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our servant, then produce a suµrah like thereunto" (Qur'an 2:23). Representing the highest form of rhetorical achievement in Arabic, the Qur'an was indeed unchallengeable.3 Viewing the Qur'an as "the most beautiful literary composition the Arabic language has ever known" is not an outcome of zealous faith; rather, it is a "critical judgment reached through literary analysis" by discriminating intellects acquainted with the language's literary elegance.4 As acquaintance with the language is clearly a prerequisite, it is no wonder that the Qur'an's beauty did not resound in the minds of some western scholars. The assimilation of such beauty is hard to come by without familiarity with the genius of the Arabic language.5 The Muslim's conception of the Qur'an's sacredness also derives from the prescribed divine rules for listening to and reciting the revelation. When one is in a setting where the Qur'an is read, one ought to listen to it with the utmost attention, which is a reaction that would possibly bring mercy (Qur'an 7:204). When one recites the Qur'an, one should do so in slow and measured rhythmic tones in order to ponder the words' deep meaning (Qur'an 73:4). Probably nothing is more meticulously descriptive of the value of reciting the Qur'an than the name of the book itself: "Qur'an" has the literal meaning of "recitation." Seeking God's blessings, Muslims show the utmost dedication to the art of Qur'anic recitation,6 which has persisted over time through tilaµwah and tajwEµd, the two prominent styles of recitation. The divinely prescribed manners of listening and reciting the Qur'an transcend through several suµrahs into the glorification of reading and writing and the love of knowledge that such activities entail. This emphasis shows clearly from the very first revelation: "Proclaim (or Read) in the name of the Lord and Cherisher" (Qur'an 96:1). Another suµrah symbolized the revelation with the pen and the record: "Nuµn. By the pen and by the (record) which (men) write" (Qur'an 68:1). The divine message delivered through the Prophet in the form of a book laid the foundation for the high intellectual and emotional esteem in which the Qur'an has been held ever since. This attitude resulted in two major developments: writing the text of the Qur'an in a manner compatible with its sacred status and the love of knowledge and the propagation of books as the milieu of knowledge. Indeed, "the holiness of the Qur'an extended to lend a special aura to all forms of the written word, which thus became in essence the 'sacred symbol.'"7 This development, in particular, concerns us here, for it had a direct effect on applying the sacred qualities of the book to the sacred qualities of mosque surfaces. 
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