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“The Verse of the Throne.” This (which is often engraved on seal rings in the East) is so called from the word Koorsîy, the “chair or throne” of Allah, which occurs in the sublime passage cited. In the judgment of Muhammedans the “Throne-Verse” is one of the noblest portions of the Korân, surpassing in majesty of diction all other human compositions. It is taken from the 2d Sûra, verse 256, and is rendered very exactly, as below, by Mr. Redhouse (to whose most learned and laborious article in the “Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,” January 1880, my indebtedness has been extremely great):—

“God, save whom there is no God, is the Living, the Selfexisting One. Drowziness overcometh Him not, nor sleep. Unto Him belongeth whatever is in the heavens, and whatever is in the earth. Who is he that shall make intercession with Him, save by His permission? He knoweth whatever is before them, and whatever is behind them; and they comprehend not a single matter of His knowledge, save only that which He hath willed. His firmament spans the heavens and the earth, the preservation whereof doth not distress Him. And He is the Most High, the Most Supreme.”

N.B.—Each chapter of the Korân is called a Sûra, a term signifying a course of bricks in a wall; and the Sûras are divided into 'âyât, verses, or more literally “signs.”