A Thirtieth of the Recitation Cycle

A juz (plural ajza), also called a para in South Asia, is one of thirty roughly equal divisions of the written Quran. The division is made by length rather than by meaning, so a juz usually begins and ends in the middle of a surah; each is further split into two hizb and each hizb into quarters. Reciting one juz a night completes the whole Quran across a lunar month, a rhythm tied above all to Ramadan, when the entire text is recited in the nightly tarawih prayers. This portion spans Al-Fatiha 1:1 through Al-Baqara 2:141. It opens the Book with Al-Fatiha, the seven-verse prayer for guidance recited in every unit of the ritual prayer, then carries the long early stretch of Al-Baqara: the threefold typology of believers, disbelievers and hypocrites; the creation of Adam and the prostration of the angels; and the extended address to the Children of Israel recalling the Exodus, the covenant and the golden calf.