The Qur'?n is the primary religious text for one-sixth of the world's population. Understood by Muslims to contain God's own words, it has been an object of reverence and of intense study for centuries. The thousands of volumes that Muslim scholars have devoted to qur'?nic interpretation and to the linguistic, rhetorical and narrative analysis of the text are sufficient to create entire libraries of qur'?nic studies. Drawing upon a rich scholarly heritage, Brill's "Encyclopaedia of the Qur'?n (EQ)" combines alphabetically-arranged articles about the contents of the Qur'?n. It is an encyclopaedic dictionary of qur'?nic terms, concepts, personalities, place names, cultural history and exegesis extended with essays on the most important themes and subjects within qur'?nic studies. With nearly 1000 entries in 5 volumes, the "EQ" is the first comprehensive, multi-volume reference work on the Qur'?n to appear in a Western language. "Cross-referencing and indices" Frequent cross-references will draw readers to related entries and each article will conclude with a citation of relevant bibliography. The final volume of the "EQ" will contain indices of transliterated terms, of qur'?nic references and of the authors and exegetes cited in the entries and essays. "Fully international work" The "EQ" is a fully international work supported by an international board of advisors. Scholars from many nations have written articles for the encyclopaedia. Projected Publication Dates: Volume One (A-D): In print Volume Two (E-I): In print Volume Three (J-O): In print Volume Four (P-Sh): In print Volume Five (Si-Z): In print Volume Six (Indices): Summer 2006