World's longest copy of Quran by an Iraqi

Hussein Al-Kharsan while writing longest Qur'an

NAJAF: A 25-year-old Iraqi, Hussein al-Kharsan, aims to writes the longest copy of the Qur'an in the world with a traditional wood and feather pen.

Hussein says the scroll is to be between 5,500 and 6,000 meters long and his aim is to set a Guinness World Record. 

Hussein Al-Kharsan is graduated from Baghdad University’s college of fine arts and works from inside a religious school in Najaf. 

“At the beginning, the agreement was to finish the work in six months, on the basis of writing three pages out of 503 pages of the Qur'an every day,” Kharsan said.

“I succeeded at the beginning and worked for 16 hours a day for more than two weeks until I started suffering pains,” he said. “The doctor asked me to stop working for about a month but I refused and told him that I work with the blessings of the Qur'an. 

Now I take pain-killing pills and work for five hours a day, which means I need about a year to finish.” 

Hussein Kharsan has began participating in Arabic calligraphy competitions when he was just nine years old, writes on four pieces of white paper that are each 1,500 meters long. 

He has succeeded in copying 13 pages of the Qur'an since he started his work about a month ago. 

Arabic calligraphy is one of the most prominent forms of Arab and Islamic art. He added that Kharsan’s work will be displayed in Najaf, even if the Capital of Islamic Culture project does not go ahead. 

Guinness World Records does not have any entries for the longest Qur'an, but the largest printed copy measures two meters (6.5 feet) high and 1.52 meters (4 feet, 11 inches) wide, and was unveiled in Russia last November. 

The smallest copy, printed in Cairo in 1982 and owned by a Pakistani man, is 1.7 by 1.3 centimeters (0.66 by 0.5 of an inch), but still 571 pages long. 

The biggest book in the world was written on the life and achievements of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), measures five by 8.06 meters and weighs some 1,500 kilograms and was unveiled in Dubai in February. 

Hussein says that he will not take any salary for his work, although there is an agreement that he will get a percentage of the budget of the project, which is about 100 million dinars ($83,300).