The Qur’an is the last of the sequence of holy books.  It was received by Muhammed over a period of about 23 years; it was spoken to him through the angel, Gabriel and is meant to depict God’s words to Mohammed.  The word “Qur’an” means “the recitation” because it was first only spoken; it was later written down after the death of Mohammed, in order that the ideas be preserved.  It was first written in Arabic, then translated into Persian and other languages.  It was meant to be the final book and therefore the final ideas and commandments of God’s will.  In The Qur’an, there is a big influence on gardens and feasts.  This is because God wishes to reveal that, if you follow his rules and are good, you will have good things return to you, such as gardens and happiness.  The feasts represent laws and rules that God gives–about what people can and cannot eat, how to eat the food, etc.–but the deeper meaning seems to be to again threaten followers that, if they do not follow rules and be good, that there will be bad consequences.  Essentially, “God has the power to do all things” (5. The Feast, page 9).  Essentially, those who do good, and follow God’s rules, and do good deeds, will be spared and forgiven.  He uses the ideas of the rules of the food (the feast) as an example of how to earn justice and mercy.  He keeps going back to the idea of being just and merciful to those who follow his rules and, by contrast, that those who do not follow his rules will be hurt in the end.  The retelling of the Joseph story is another example of God showing us right from wrong.  Joseph’s brothers were jealous and tried to get rid of Joseph and they were ultimately punished for doing this.  By contrast, because Joseph was a good man, no matter what terible events happened to him, he was able to overcome, succeed and in the end was saved, adored, revered and worshipped.  This shows us that people who do bad things or act on bad ideas, like jealousy, will only get hurt, whereas people who follow God’s law will ultimately be saved.