The holy Quran
The Quran, which name literally means "the recitation" is the central religious text of Islam, which is a revelation from God Almighty to Prophet Muhammad. It is widely regarded as the finest piece of literature in Arabic.
Muslims maintain that the Quran to be the book of heavenly guidance revealed from God to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel over a period of 23 years and view the Quran as God's final revelation to humanity.
In Islamic and Quranic contexts, revelation means the act of God addressing an individual, conveying a message for a greater number of recipients.
Muslims regard the Quran as the most important miracle of Muhammad, a proof of his prophethood, and the culmination of a series of divine messages that started with the messages revealed to Adam and ended with Muhammad. The word "Quran" is mentioned some 70 times in the text of Quran, though different names and words are also said to be references to the Quran.
According to the traditional narrative, several friends and followers of Muhammad served as scribes and were responsible for writing down the revelations. Shortly after Muhammad's death, the Quran was compiled by his companions who wrote down and memorized parts of it. These codices had differences that motivated the Caliph Uthman to establish a standard version now known as Uthman's codex, which is generally considered the archetype of the Quran we have today. However, the existence of variant readings, with mostly minor and some significant variations, and the early unvocalized Arabic script mean the relationship between Uthman's codex to both the text of today's Quran and to the revelations of Muhammad's time is still unclear.
The Quran assumes familiarity with major narratives recounted in the Jewish and Christian scriptures. It summarizes some, dwells at length on others and, in some cases, presents alternative accounts and interpretations of events. The Quran describes itself as a book of guidance. It sometimes offers detailed accounts of specific historical events, and it often emphasizes the moral significance of an event over its narrative sequence. The Quran is used along with the hadith to interpret sharia law. During prayers, the Quran is recited only in Arabic.
The Nahj al-Balagha
The Nahj al-Balagha, meaning "The Peak of Eloquence" is the most famous collection of sermons, letters, tafsirs and narrations attributed to Ali ibn abi Talib, cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad the prophet of Islam. It was collected by Sharif Razi, a Shiite scholar in the tenth century. Known for its eloquent content, it is considered a masterpiece of literature in Shia Islam, third only to the Quran and Prophetic narrations.
The Nahj al-Balaghah comprises various issues that cover major problems of metaphysics, theology, fiqh, tafsir (interpretation of the holy Quran), hadith (narrations), prophetology, imamate, ethics, social philosophy, history, politics, administration, civics, science, rhetoric, poetry, and literature. The book not only reflects the spirit of early Islam and the teachings of the Qur'an and the Islamic prophet Muhammad ibn Abdullah, but also serves as a guide to traverse the future in the light of these teachings.
The Kitab al-Kafi (Book of Kafi)
The book Al-Kafi is a Twelver Shiite hadith (narration) collection compiled by Muhammad ibn Yaghoob al-Koleini. It is divided into three sections: Usool al-Kafi, which is concerned with epistemology, theology, history, ethics, supplication, and the Quran, Foroo al-Kafi, which is concerned with practical and legal issues, and Rawdat (or Rauda) al-Kafi, which includes miscellaneous traditions, many of which are lengthy letters and speeches transmitted from the Shiite Imams. In total, al-Kafi comprises 16 thousand and 199 narrations.
The Transcendent theosophy in the Four Journeys of the intellect
The Transcendent theosophy in the Four Journeys of the intellect, or simply Four Journeys is the best-known book by Mulla Sadra, Iranian Shia Islamic philosopher, theologian and polymath who led the Iranian cultural renaissance in the 17th century. According to Oliver Leaman, Sadra is arguably the single most important and influential philosopher in the Muslim world in the last four hundred years.
Though not its founder, he is considered the master of the Illuminationist school of Philosophy, a seminal figure who synthesized the many tracts of the Islamic Golden Age philosophies into what he called the Transcendent Theosophy.
According to Sadra, "existence precedes the essence and is thus principal since something has to exist first and then have an essence." It is notable that for Sadra this was a question that specifically applied to God and His position in the universe, especially in the context of reconciling God's position in the Qur'an verses cosmological philosophies of Islam's Golden Era.
The Tabari History
The Tabari History (frequently referred to as the History of the Prophets and Kings, is an Arabic historical chronicle written by Persian author and historian Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari died 310H (838-923) from the Creation to AD 915, and contains detail concerning Muslim and the history of the Middle East.
The Tarikh-e Beyhaqi
The Tarikh-e Beyhaqi is a history of the Ghaznavid Empire written by Abul-Fazl Bayhaqi, in Persian, in the 11th century CE.
The work is believed to have consisted of thirty books, of which only six books remain.
The main topic of the remaining books is the reign of Mas'ud I, sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire. In addition to reporting political events, Tarikh-e Bayhaqi reports on geographical places and on the history of the Persian literature by mentioning notable writers and poets of the time. It is also well known for its rich use of language.
The Canon of Medicine
The Canon of Medicine (Qanoon) is an encyclopedia of medicine in five books compiled by Persian philosopher Avicenna (Ibn Sina) and completed in 1025. It presents an overview of the contemporary medical knowledge, which had been largely influenced by Galen.
The Canon of Medicine remained a medical authority for centuries. It set the standards for medicine in Medieval Europe and the Islamic world, and was used as a medical textbook through the 18th century in Europe.
