In Search of the Original Koran: The True History of the Revealed Text (9 page)

The surah (sara) is a term universally accepted, since the time of most ancient writings on the history of the Koran, to designate the major divisions of the Koranic text, that is to say, its chapters. However, this term is used in the Koran with a meaning that scarcely covers the idea of a textual division, but rather only a text. Let us take two examples: "Those who believe say: If only a surah were revealed! But when a forthright surah (muhkama) is revealed and the order to make war is mentioned in it ..." (47:20). "The Hypocrites are afraid lest a surah should be revealed to them proclaiming what is in their hearts" (9:64), and so on.

With only one exception, the nine occurrences of the word "sura" in the Koran are associated with the term for "descending" (of a revelation, i.e., `unzila) and involve the idea of written text. This definition perfectly conforms to its Syriac origin, "surta," which is translated as "Scripture, reading of Scripture." 14 Thus, in Koranic usage, "sura" designates an "aya," but only in its textual aspect. In fact both refer to a unit of revelation: a text communicated in the course of a revelation. For in effect, the original division of the Koranic text is constituted by a series of texts revealed during oracular experiences, in the course of which God communicates (during each one) a revelation on a precise theme and for a precise purpose. We could say that therein lies the only textual unity that is natural and original to the Koran as revelation. It was only later that people contemplated aggregating these revealed texts-either in order to complete prior revelations or for editorial reasons by gathering them into chapters.

Thus, each chapter generally encompasses a multitude of revelations with different themes. But each of these revelations was originally called a "sura," that is to say, a unit of revelation received in the course of one of the oracular experiences from which the Koranic texts sprang. It was only at a much later date that "surd" began to designate a chapter. Let us take the example of chapter 24, "al-Nur" ("The Light"). Its preamble gives this information: "[Here is] a sura which We have revealed and sanctioned, wherein We have revealed explicit signs [aya], so that you may take heed" (24:1). As we see, the placement here of the word "surd" gives the current reader the illusion that it refers to the whole chapter concerned, with its subdivision into ayat, or verses. But this is only an illusion. This introduction tells us that this sura is "sanctioned (faraznaha)," an explicit allusion to the penal arrangements laid out in the nine verses that immediately follow it. Consequently, it appears that the sura refers only to these nine verses. And the "explicit aya (bayyinat)" that this sura is supposed to contain does not refer to the verses in general, but precisely to the decrees announced in this introduction, which is one of the original meanings of aya. Thus, here we see clearly the meaning given to sura: a unit of oracular revelation and not a chapter, that is, an editorial unit.

After the series of decrees announced in the preamble to surah 24 comes a thematic development on the affair in which AIsha, the Prophet's wife, was accused of adultery (verses 11-26). But the decrees 2 to 10, announced in the preamble, concern precisely the punishments awaiting false accusers of adultery. We see here a thematic addition with respect to the historical context for the decrees. There follow some injunctions about social conduct. And then, a first preamble explains a parable on the divine light, followed by a hymn to Allah. Still another preamble launches a polemic against the opponents of Medina. Finally, once again come instructions on good conduct. It is clear that the term "surd" in the first introductory verse concerns, at least originally, not the surah in its current composition-that is, an ensemble of revelations gathered into a specific chapter-but precisely one revelation, this one here, concerning the decrees cited in verses 2-10.

Here in fact we are touching on some elements that will enlighten us about the emergence of chapters as collections of these units of revelations.

The composition of the surah "al-Nur" that we have just detailed shows that the actual surah as we have it is an aggregate of revelations, whether or not they are introduced in the form of an announcement. The question that might be posed now is whether there are preambles designed to cover the whole of the actual surah. This question amounts to asking if certain of the introductory formulas were introduced after the formation of the series of revelations gathered into a surah.

First let us look more closely at these preambles that serve to introduce certain chapters of the Koran. Immediately we see that some of these introductions begin with a series of letters of the alphabet that we will study later.

A good number of these introductory formulas are announcements about the nature of the revelation: a text called "Qur'an" (Preaching/ Recitation) is drawn from a "kitab" (celestial original). "A.L.M. This Scripture (dhalika al-kitab) is not to be doubted. It is a guide for the Righteous" (2:1-2). "A.L.M.S. [This is] a Book (kitab) that has been revealed to you . . ." (7:1-2). "A.L.R. These are revelations/verses (aya) of the wise Book (kitab)" (10:1; 31:1-2 also carries "A.L.M."). "A.L.R. A Book (kitab) whose verses (aya) are perfected and then expounded by He who is wise and all-knowing" (11:1). "A.L.R. These are the aya of the glorious kitab, which We have revealed in a recitation (qur'an) in Arabic, so that you may understand it" (12:1-2). "H.M. [This is] a kitab revealed by the Compassionate and Merciful. A kitab whose aya are expounded. It is an Arabic Qur'an for people of knowledge" (41:1-3). "T.S.M. These are the aya of the glorious kitab" (26:1-2 and 28:1-2). "T.S. These are the aya of the Qur'an and a glorious kitab" (27:1). "H. M. By the glorious kitab! We have revealed a Qur'an in the Arabic language so that you may understand its meaning. And it is found in the Mother of Scripture in our keeping. [Allah] is sublime and full of wisdom" (43:1-4). "A.L.M.R. These are the aya of the kitab. What has been revealed to you by your Lord is the Truth, yet most people do not believe" (13:1). "A.L.R. [This is] a kitab that We have revealed to you so that, by their Lord's will, people will escape from Darkness into Light, and come to the path of the Mighty One worthy of Praise" (14:1). These preambles, explaining the heavenly provenance of the recitationlqur'on, function as certificates of authenticity of the revelations in general, and of the ones they introduce in particular.

Another type of preamble announces the theme tackled immediately thereafter. We have seen an illustration of this in surah 24 (alNur) that we have just examined. Other preambles have the same characteristic: "[This is all reminder of your Lord's goodness to his servant Zachariah" (19:2). And in fact surah 19 (called Maryam) deals with the story of the annunciations made to Zachariah and to Mary of the coming of Jesus. This portion (in forty verses) is followed by another twenty-two verses devoted to Abraham, Moses, Ishmael, and Idris. The rest of this chapter is formed of thirty-four verses that respond to arguments from nonbelievers. Here again, the preamble concerns only the first revelation of the surah. It is clear that the original sura has been augmented a posteriori by several other suras (in the first meaning of this term). In this case, we can no longer know if these additions were made in Muhammad's lifetime or afterward.

And as in surah 24, this nineteenth surah called "Maryam" is interrupted midway through by a fresh preamble. In effect, the last group of thirty-four verses is introduced by this preamble: "We descend [or, according to a variant, "And the kitab descended"] only at the bidding of your Lord. To Him belongs all that is before Us, what is behind Us, and what is between the two. Your Lord is not forgetful. He is Lord of the Heavens and the Earth and all that is between them. Therefore worship Him and be constant in adoring Him! Do you know any other worthy of His name?" (19:64-65).

This is incontestably a typical preamble, comparable to those placed at the beginning of certain chapters. This is all the more true because this introductory formula of revelation contains the two themes specific to preambles: 1) the announcement of a qur'an deriving from a celestial kitab, which is 2) followed by the mention of the omnipotence of God, and especially of His power to create the world and humankind, or the mention of His quality of possessing the world or of providing the subsistence of beings living on Earth, or else His capacity for destruction, and so on.

These two themes are recurrent in most of the preambles, as in: "T.H. We have not revealed the Qur'an to distress you [but] only [as] a reminder to the one who fears Allah [and as] a revelation coming from Him who created the earth and the lofty heavens" (20:1-4). "A.L.M. [This] Scripture is revealed-beyond all doubt-by the Lord of the Universe. Do they say: `He has invented it'? Not at all! It is the Truth emanating from your Lord so that you may forewarn a nation whom none has warned before you, that they may be rightly guided. Allah it is who created the heavens and the earth . . ." (32:1-4). "H.M. By the glorious kitab! We revealed it on a blessed night. We are ever warning, and on this night, every decree is made plain ... God of the Heavens, of the earth and all that is between, if only you knew this" (44:1-4, 7). "H.M. I.S.Q. Thus He has inspired [you] and those who came before you. To God the Mighty and Wise belong what is on heaven and on earth" (42:1-4). Sometimes, the creative power of Allah is expressed without mention of "heaven and earth": "H.M. This kitab is revealed by God the Mighty and Omniscient" (39:1). "This kitab is revealed by God the Mighty, the Wise" (45:1-2, 46:1-2).

Regarding preambles, let us note that the case of surah 3 (The Family of Imran) begins with this formula: "A.L.M. Allah-there is no God but Him-who is Living and Eternal. He has revealed to you the kitab with the Truth ..." (3:1-2). Here the formula is inverted, since it begins with an invocation of divine attributes. And we may observe that this formula-"Allah-there is no God but him-who is Living and Eternal"-is a reproduction of the introduction to verse 2:255, called the Verse of the Throne, one of the verses most revered by Muslims. Is this a clue that might show that certain preambles were composed on the model provided by previous revelations?

These preambles are not the only tangible elements that mark the start of suras. Other and even more significant elements exist. These are the famous and mysterious letters that we have just read above at the beginning of the preambles. Tradition designates these letters as fawatih or awa'il al-suwar (incipit of surahs), or al ahruf al-mugatta`a (isolated letters). Many hypotheses have been put forth, both by Muslim Tradition and in the West, in order to explain these letters. Some have recognized in them precedents from numerology. Others see them as abbreviations of divine names, or of historical and geographical names, or even of the titles of surahs.

But what is important for our argument is that studying the recurrence of different groups of letters, especially "A.L.M.," "A.L.R.," "T.S.M.," and "H.M.," shows an evident link with the current order of the surahs, on the one hand, and with the presence of preambles at the start of certain surahs, on the other. It is impossible to deny in these conditions the role played by these mysterious letters in the process of the elaboration of surahs as subdivisions of the Koran. These letters, for us as for those who elaborated the definitive text of the Koran, amount to criteria for the classification of surahs.

Whatever the reasons that governed the choice of these letters, they were not designated by any such appellation in the Koranic text, like the concepts of aya and sura, as elements of the Koranic text. Moreover, it does not seem to me that the Koran alludes to them in the preambles, contrary to the opinion of A. T. Welch,'s who wrote an excellent summary of the question in The Encyclopedia of Islam. Welch stands alongside Loth, Noldeke, Schwally, Bell, and Alan Jones in considering that the mysterious letters are an integral part of the revelation.

In fact, these letters, as we have seen, are linked to a process of classification of verses, as even Welch himself well demonstrates. But, in my opinion, originally these letters were not designed to identify the surahs.