The Qur’ān (Arabic: القرآن al-qur'ān, literally "the recitation"; also sometimes transliterated as Qur'an, Koran, or Al-Qur'an) is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe that the Qur'an is the book of divine guidance and direction for mankind, and consider the text (in the original Arabic) to be the final divine revelation of God. Islam holds that the Qur'an was revealed to Muhammad by Gabriel over a period of 23 years.