The reading of the Qur’an is considered a pious duty by every Muslim and is actually performed in practice by every literate person, man woman, and child.
Juz/Para[]
For the convenience of those who wish to complete the whole reading in a given time, the whole Text is divided into 30 equal parts. Each of the thirty parts is called Juz in Arabic and Sipara or simply Para in Persian and Urdu. If you read a Juz every day, you can complete the whole reading in a month of 30 days. A hizb is one half of a juz. The quarters of a juz are also marked in the Arabic copies as Ar-rub’ (one-fourth), An-nisf (one-half), and Ath-thalatha (three quarters).
| Juz | Name | Hizb | Surahs |
| 1 | آلم | 1 | Al-Fatiha (1:1) - Al-Baqarah (2:74) |
| 2 | Al-Baqarah (2:75) - Al-Baqarah (2:141) | ||
| 2 | سَيَقُولُ | 3 | Al-Baqarah (2:142) - Al-Baqarah (2:202) |
| 4 | Al-Baqarah (2:203) - Al-Baqarah (2:252) | ||
| 3 | تِلْكَ ٱلْرُّسُلُ | 5 | Al-Baqarah (2:253) - Āli ‘Imrān (3:14) |
| 6 | Āli ‘Imrān (3:15) - Āli ‘Imrān (3:92) | ||
| 4 | كُلُّ الطَّعَامِ | 7 | Āli ‘Imrān (3:93) - Āli ‘Imrān (3:170) |
| 8 | Āli ‘Imrān (3:171) - An-Nisā’ (4:23) | ||
| 5 | وَٱلْمُحْصَنَاتُ | 9 | An-Nisā’ (4:24) - An-Nisā’ (4:87) |
| 10 | An-Nisā’ (4:88) - An-Nisā’ (4:147) | ||
| 6 | لَا يُحِبُّ ٱللهُ | 11 | An-Nisā’ (4:148) - Al-Mā’idah (5:26) |
| 12 | Al-Mā’idah (5:27) - Al-Mā’idah (5:81) | ||
| 7 | وَإِذَا سَمِعُوا | 13 | Al-Mā’idah (5:82) - Al-An‘ām (6:35) |
| 14 | Al-An‘ām (6:36) - Al-An‘ām (6:110) | ||
| 8 | وَلَوْ أَنَّنَا | 15 | Al-An‘ām (6:111) - Al-An‘ām (6:165) |
| 16 | Al-A‘rāf (7:1) - Al-A‘rāf (7:87) | ||
| 9 | قَالَ ٱلْمَلَأُ | 17 | Al-A‘rāf (7:88) - Al-A‘rāf (7:170) |
| 18 | Al-A‘rāf (7:171) - Al-Anfāl (8:40) | ||
| 10 | وَٱعْلَمُواْ | 19 | Al-Anfāl (8:41) - At-Tawbah (9:33) |
| 20 | At-Tawbah (9:34) - At-Tawbah (9:92) | ||
| 11 | يَعْتَذِرُونَ | 21 | At-Tawbah (9:93) - Yũnus (10:25) |
| 22 | Yũnus (10:26) - Hūd (11:5) | ||
| 12 | وَمَا مِنْ دَآبَّةٍ | 23 | Hūd (11:6) - Hūd (11:83) |
| 24 | Hūd (11:84) - Yūsuf (12:52) | ||
| 13 | وَمَا أُبَرِّئُ | 25 | Yūsuf (12:53) - Ar-Ra‘d (13:18) |
| 26 | Ar-Ra‘d (13:19) - Ibrāhīm (14:52) | ||
| 14 | رُبَمَا | 27 | Al-Hijr (15:1) - An-Naḥl (16:50) |
| 28 | An-Naḥl (16:51) - An-Naḥl (16:128) | ||
| 15 | سُبْحَانَ ٱلَّذِى | 29 | Al-Isrā’ (17:1) - Al-Isrā’ (17:98) |
| 30 | Al-Isrā’ (17:99) - Al-Kahf (18:74) | ||
| 16 | قَالَ أَلَمْ | 31 | Al-Kahf (18:75) - Maryam (19:98) |
| 32 | Ṭā Hā (20:1) - Ṭā Hā (20:135) | ||
| 17 | ٱقْتَرَبَ لِلْنَّاسِ | 33 | Al-Anbiyāʼ (21:1) - Al-Anbiyāʼ (21:112) |
| 34 | ِAl-Ḥajj (22:1) - Al-Ḥajj (22:78) | ||
| 18 | قَدْ أَفْلَحَ | 35 | Al-Muʼminūn (23:1) - An-Nūr (24:20) |
| 36 | An-Nūr (24:21) - Al-Furqān (25:20) | ||
| 19 | وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ | 37 | Al-Furqān (25:21) - Ash-Shu‘arā’ (26:110) |
| 38 | Ash-Shu‘arā’ (26:111) - An-Naml (27:55) | ||
| 20 | أَمَّنْ خَلَقَ | 39 | An-Naml (27:56) - Al-Qaṣaṣ (28:50) |
| 40 | Al-Qaṣaṣ (28:51) - Al-‘Ankabūt (29:45) | ||
| 21 | أُتْلُ مَاأُوْحِیَ | 41 | Al-‘Ankabūt (29:46) - Luqmān (31:21) |
| 42 | Luqmān (31:22) - Al-Aḥzāb (33:30) | ||
| 22 | وَمَنْ يَّقْنُتْ | 43 | Al-Aḥzāb (33:31) - Saba’ (34:23) |
| 44 | Saba’ (34:24) - Yā Sīn (36:27) | ||
| 23 | وَمَآ لي | 45 | Yā Sīn (36:28) - Aṣ-Ṣāffāt (37:144) |
| 46 | Aṣ-Ṣāffāt (37:145) - Az-Zumar (39:31) | ||
| 24 | فَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ | 47 | Az-Zumar (39:32) - Ghāfir (40:40) |
| 48 | Ghāfir (40:41) - Fuṣṣilat (41:46) | ||
| 25 | إِلَيْهِ يُرَدُّ | 49 | Fuṣṣilat (41:47) - Az-Zukhruf (43:23) |
| 50 | Az-Zukhruf (43:24) - Al-Jāthiyah (45:37) | ||
| 26 | حم | 51 | Al-Aḥqāf (46:1) - Al-Fatḥ (48:17) |
| 52 | Al-Fatḥ (48:18) - Adh-Dhāriyāt (51:30) | ||
| 27 | قَالَ فَمَا خَطْبُكُم | 53 | Adh-Dhāriyāt (51:31) - Al-Qamar (54:55) |
| 54 | Ar-Raḥmān (55:1) - Al-Ḥadīd (57:29) | ||
| 28 | قَدْ سَمِعَ ٱللهُ | 55 | Al-Mujādilah (58:1) - Aṣ-Ṣaff (61:14) |
| 56 | Al-Jumu`ah (62:1) - At-Taḥrīm (66:12) | ||
| 29 | تَبَارَكَ ٱلَّذِى | 57 | Al-Mulk (67:1) - Nūḥ (71:28) |
| 58 | Al-Jinn (72:1) - Al-Mursalāt (77:50) | ||
| 30 | عَمَّ | 59 | An-Nabaʼ (78:1) - Aṭ-Ṭāriq (86:17) |
| 60 | Al-Aʻlā (87:1) - An-Nās (114:6) |
Manzil[]
Similarly, each of the seven parts is called a Manzil. If one is read everyday, the whole Qur'an can be completed in a week.
1st Manzil Surah Al-Fatihah (chapter 1) to An-Nisa' (chapter 4) consisting of 4 chapters (Surah).
2nd Manzil Surah Al-Ma'ida (chapter 5) to At-Tawba (chapter 9) consisting of 5 chapters.
3rd Manzil Surah Yunus (chapter 10) to An-Nahl (chapter 16) consisting of 7 chapters.
4th Manzil Surah Al Isra' (chapter 17) to Al-Furqan (chapter 25) consisting of 9 chapters.
5th Manzil Surah Ash-Shuara' (chapter 26) to Ya-Seen (chapter 36) consisting of 11 chapters.
6th Manzil As-Saaffat (chapter 37) to Al-Hujurat (chapter 49) consisting of 13 chapters.
7th Manzil Surah Qaf (chapter 50) to An-Nas (chapter 114) consisting of 65 chapters.
Surah[]
According to subject-matter, the whole of the Qur’an is arranged in 114 chapters (Surahs) of unequal size. Each Surah consists of a number of verses (Ayats). The Ayat or verse division is usually determined by the rhythm and cadence in the Arabic Text. Sometimes an Ayat contains many sentences. Sometimes a sentence is divided by a break in an Ayat. But usually there is a pause in meaning at the end of an Ayat.
Ruku[]
A Ruku' (paragraph) is a group of related verses in a Surah. The end of a Ruku’ is marked by the Arabic letter ﻉ in superscript. There are 558 Rukus in the Quran. These are logical sections according to similar theme/objective or meaning. The bigger Surahs have been split into a number of Rukus, so that we would recognize when to do Ruku' (bowing) in Salat without interrupting a proceeding subject of the Quran.
Additionally, on the margins of the Quran, usually three figures are written with ﻉ. The top figure shows the number of Rukus completed in that Surah. The middle figure shows the number of Ayats in the Ruku just completed. The bottom figure shows the number of Rukus completed in that Juz.
(Picture: Ruku numbering on Qur'an margins. Page taken from 16 Line Quran)