The Koran is always kept and handled very reverently, and when not in use it is wrapped in several cloths, and the person who intends reading it washes his hands before taking it out of its wrappings. The Koran is written in Arabic only, and when I wondered why it was not translated by competent moullahs into Persian, so that all who could read might understand, I was told that the language of the Koran was such that no one could copy or imitate it, and therefore any translation must necessarily be full of errors, and the word of God violated. For this reason also, those who read it are taught to pronounce each word exactly, for the short vowels are not written in Arabic, and it would be easy for a beginner to wrongly pronounce a word, because there are many words which are similarly written and differ only in the pronunciation of the unwritten short vowels, and therefore the meaning would become confused, and they say that there is no greater sin than misconstruing the words inspired by God. Very few, with the exception of the moullahs, can read the Koran, and the latter apparently give very free translations when it suits their purpose; such, for instance, as that of killing unbelievers, on which is built up the principles of Jihad, holy war, and the Amir has had printed in pamphlet form and distributed throughout the country of late. I have been assured by Mussulmans of other countries that the meaning of the Koran has been twisted in this, for true Mussulmans are exhorted in the Koran to live with unbelievers for neighbours in such manner that all may know them for good and upright men, and when the time comes to fight against them, then to fight to the utmost of their power.