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 Fussilat 41:47 through Al-Jathiya 45:37. A sequence of Meccan surahs on revelation and accountability: Ash-Shura ('Consultation'), Az-Zukhruf ('Ornaments of Gold'), Ad-Dukhan ('The Smoke') with its Night of blessing, and Al-Jathiya ('The Kneeling') picturing every nation kneeling at the Judgement.
The celebrated verse of hope in Az-Zumar, 'do not despair of the mercy of God, He forgives all sins' (39:53), read at the start of this juz, is regularly cited in later Islamic pastoral and devotional literature as scripture's strongest single statement against theological despair, addressed explicitly to those who have 'transgressed against their own souls.' Ghafir preserves the speech of an otherwise unnamed 'believing man' from Pharaoh's own court who argues, at personal risk, for sparing Moses (40:28-45), a rare Quranic instance of extended reported speech given to a minor figure rather than to a prophet.