The Quran

102

قُل نَزَّلَهُ روحُ القُدُسِ مِن رَبِّكَ بِالحَقِّ لِيُثَبِّتَ الَّذينَ آمَنوا وَهُدًى وَبُشرىٰ لِلمُسلِمينَ

Muhammad Asad

Say: "Holy inspiration¹ has brought it down from thy Sustainer by stages, setting forth the truth, so that it might give firmness unto those who have attained to faith, and provide guidance and a glad tiding unto all who have surrendered themselves to God."

As in the three other places in which the expression ruh al-qudus occurs (2:87 and 253, and 5:110),1 am rendering it here, too, as "holy inspiration" (see surah 2, note 71), a term which, to my mind, is a Qur'anic synonym for "divine revelation". However, a literal rendering-"spirit of holiness" - is also possible if one applies this term to the angel who communicates God's revelations to the prophets. (See also verse 2 of this surah and the corresponding note 2.)