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-Kahf 18:75 through Ta-Ha 20:135. The close of Al-Kahf tells of Dhul-Qarnayn and the barrier against Gog and Magog. Maryam ('Mary') follows with the births of John and Jesus and Mary's ordeal, and Ta-Ha retells the mission of Moses to Pharaoh.

The account of Dhul-Qarnayn and the barrier raised against Gog and Magog that closes Al-Kahf in this juz has occasioned centuries of debate over the identity of the figure and the location of the barrier, with candidates ranging from Alexander the Great, an identification already current among some early commentators, to later Near Eastern or Central Asian rulers, a question the Quran itself leaves unresolved. Maryam's account of the births of John and Jesus, read next, gives Mary the most extended treatment of any woman named in the Quran, and the surah bearing her name is unique among the 114 in being named for a woman.