Pictured: The Louisville grave site where Muhammad Ali will be buried… as it emerges he revised his meticulous plans for his funeral – laid out in a two inch thick book - just days before he died 

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Muhammad Ali and his closest friends and family started a document years ago planning his funeral in minute detail including the location where the former world champion will be buried on Friday. 

As the document grew in size, it became known as 'The Book'. 

Despite suffering from Parkinsons Disease since the early 1980s, Ali and his family were making revisions to the book as late as last week, before he was admitted into hospital with respiratory distress. 

It is understood that the book is approximately two inches thick and outlined how exactly the former heavyweight champion wanted his memorial service to be run.  

Muhammad Ali will be laid to rest at this site following his funeral service in Louisville, Kentucky on Friday 

Fans of Muhammad Ali waited in line outside Freedom Hall in Lousiville, Kentucky for free tickets to the funeral

Ali and his entourage arranged a multi-denominational service to include as many people as possible

The tickets for the funeral will go to the people who cue up outside the arena as well as the VIPs flying in 

Thousands of pepole are expected to line the route of the funeral which is due to take place on Friday 

People have been queuing up in the streets for several days to pay tribute to Ali who died last Friday 

Muhammad Ali's younger brother Rahman, center, hugs mayor of Louisville Greg Fisher, second right

Rahman, right, pictured with his brother in June 1963 shortly before they converted to Islam

Friends and relatives gathered in Muhammad Ali's home neighbourhood to discuss the legend's passing 

A pedestrian passes the KFC Yum! Center where Muhammad Ali's public funeral service will be held on Friday

A pedestrian passes a mural of Ali painted on the side of a building in the champ's hometown of Louisville

An image of the champ and a pair of boxing gloves are left at a makeshift memorial to the late great 

Ali jokingly holds up two fingers behind the head of his daughter, Laila Ali, as they and his wife, Lonnie Ali, pose for cameras during a news conference before a tribute to him coinciding with Black History Month in Atlanta

'The message that we'll be sending out is not our message — this was really designed by the champ himself,' said Timothy Gianotti, as Islamic studies scholar who helped for years to plan the services. 

'The love and the reverence and the inclusivity that we're going to experience over the coming days is really a reflection of his message to the people of planet earth.'

The 74-year-old three-time heavyweight champion wanted the memorial service in an arena.

He wanted multiple religions to have a voice while honoring the traditions of his Muslim faith. And he wanted ordinary fans to attend, not just VIPs.

He was never downcast when talking about his death, said Bob Gunnell, an Ali family spokesman. 

He recalled Ali's own words during meetings planning the funeral: 'It's OK. We're here to do the job the way I want it. It's fine.'

The final revisions were made days before Ali died Friday at an Arizona hospital, his family by his side.

For years, the plan was to have Ali's body lie in repose at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Gunnell said. 

That tribute was dropped at the last minute because his wife, Lonnie, worried it would cause the center to be shut down, and knew people would want to gather there in grief.

In its place, a miles-long procession was added that will carry Ali's body across his beloved hometown. It will drive past the museum built in his honor, along the boulevard named after him and through the neighborhood where he grew up, raced bicycles and shadowboxed through the street.

In a city accustomed to capturing the world's attention for just two minutes during the Kentucky Derby each year, Ali's memorial service Friday looms as the most historic event in Louisville's history. 

Former presidents, heads of nations from around the globe, movie stars and sports greats will descend upon Louisville to pay final respects to The Louisville Lip.

'It's been a really bittersweet time for our city,' Mayor Greg Fischer said. 'We've all been dreading the passing of the Champ, but at the same time we knew ultimately it would come. It was selfish for us to think that we could hold on to him forever. Our job now, as a city, is to send him off with the class and dignity and respect that he deserves.'

Community activist Christopher 2X leads a procession down the street where Ali was born in Louisville

Friends, fans and relatives have gathered in Louisville, Kentucky, in advance of the great man's funeral 

Neighbours gathered to remember the late boxing champion who will be laid to rest later this week

Floral tributes were left near where Ali was born as well as a pair of boxing gloves 

Muhammad Ali family spokesman Bob Gunnell speaks at a news conference regarding Ali's funeral plans. The president of Turkey and king of Jordan joined the long line of world leaders, religious figures and superstars set to speak at Ali's funeral on Friday

Ali (left) steps out of a Muslim mosque in Tokyo in June 1976. The day before his star-studded funeral, members of Muhammad Ali's Islamic faith will get their chance to say a traditional goodbye to the Champ

Malaysian Muslims reach out to shake hands with world heavyweight champion in 1975

A for sale sign stands outside Muhammad Ali's boyhood home in Louisville, Kentucky 

President Bill Clinton, a longtime friend, will deliver the eulogy at the funeral at the KFC Yum! Center, where the 15,000 seats are likely to be filled.

Others speakers will include representatives of multiple faiths, including Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Mormonism and Catholicism. They will be followed by Ali's wife, daughter Maryum Ali, actor Billy Crystal and sportscaster Bryant Gumbel. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and King Abdullah II of Jordan were both due to speak but have been removed from the roster. 

The day before his star-studded funeral, members of Ali's Islamic faith will get their chance to say a traditional goodbye to Ali. A Jenazah, a traditional Muslim funeral service, will be held at Freedom Hall in Louisville at noon Thursday, Gunnell said. It will be open to all.

They chose the venue because it seats 18,000 and holds historical significance for the hometown hero. Ali fought, and won, his first professional fight there in 1960.

Mayor of Louisville Greg Fischer, spoke to the crowds gathered at a community memorial for Muhammad Ali

Ali was insistent that not only the great and the good should be able to attend his funeral 

Members of the public will be able to commemorate Ali at the venue where he made his professional debut

Gianotti said Monday the Muslim funeral service was 'critically important for the global Muslim community to say goodbye to their beloved champ.'

The inner circle that helped the Alis with funeral preparations included his attorney and a business associate, Gunnell said.'Muhammad, over the course of about a week, went through the entire plan and signed it and certified it and approved it,' Gunnell said.

Ali's burial will be in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, the final resting place for many of the city's most prominent citizens of the 19th and 20th centuries. 

The luminaries include Colonel Harland Sanders, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Sanders' granite memorial features a bust of the goateed entrepreneur.

Ali's gravesite will far more subdued, in contrast to his oversized personality and life. A modest marker, in accord with Muslim tradition, is planned, his attorney, Ron Tweel, said Monday. He would not say what words will be inscribed on the marker.