The Language of Quran: Easier than English

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Traditionally great emphasis was put on children memorizing the 6,200+ verses of the Quran, those succeeding being honored with the title Hafiz. "Millions and millions" of Muslims "refer to the Koran daily to explain their actions and to justify their aspirations," [xiii] and in recent years many consider it the source of scientific knowledge. [81] [82]

Translations of the Qur'an exist in over 40 languages but Muslims are still taught to learn and recite it in Arabic, even if this is not their native language and they cannot converse in it.xv] In reality, these anwā‘ form one chapter, on which basis we may say the book contains 75 rather than 80.

xiii] See my paper ‘The Shahin Affair’ concerning this gap. In my PhD thesis ‘Intraquranic Hermeneutics’ (and the forthcoming book from Edinburgh University Press, Explaining the Qur’an Through the Qur’an), I show how chapters from this work can contribute to a full hermeneutical account. This ARABIC LANGUAGE COURSE will provide you the knowledge to understand the Qur’an in its ORIGINAL MATN (original Arabic Text). Chapter 41, more explicitly based upon Mughnī l-Labīb, contains not only a handy list of twelve rules for successful grammatical analysis ( i‘rāb), but also a treasure trove of instructive errors from even the greatest linguistic minds such as al-Zamakhsharī. Translating this material allows us to caution Qur’an translators of the same pitfalls in a new domain. The classical discussions highlight the role of i‘rāb in describing and distinguishing meanings; the same can be said for the process of translation, which expresses what was understood from the text. The grammatical descriptions of the possibilities within the kalāla verse (4:12), for example, can be compared to the translations provided in the endnotes.iii] Al-Durr al-Manthūr was based on al-Suyūṭī’s earlier work Turjumān al-Qur’ān after removing the isnāds. It is available in a 17-volume edition by Markaz Hajr, among others, and its material has been subsumed in the recent Mawsu‘at al-Tafsīr al-Ma’thūr (24 vols. Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 2017).

xxix] It could be to create an image of people accumulating through time and being led to a shared final destination which is the standing on that Day. The Quran is divided into 114 chapters of different topics and lengths, known as surah. Each surah is made up of verses, known as ayat (or ayah). The shortest surah is Al-Kawthar, made up of only three verses; the longest is Al-Baqara, with 286 verses. The chapters are classified as Meccan or Medinan, based on whether they were written before Muhammad's pilgrimage to Mecca (Medinan), or afterward (Meccan). The 28 Medinan chapters are mainly concerned with the social life and growth of the Muslim community; the 86 Meccan deal with faith and the afterlife.

What can unite and progresshumanity?

Chapter 36 also throws up the problem of synonymy. While it is a point of debate, there is a common view that there are no true synonyms in the Arabic language, particularly in the vocabulary of the Qur’an. [xxi] This is the basis for one of the sections in Chapter 42 in this volume. In contrast, Ibn ‘Abbās is seen here to explain one word through another, as though they are equivalent. These could be understood simply as approximations to the meanings, which in turn implies that other explanatory glosses could be as good, or better. [xxii] We should also compare the contents of this chapter to alternative explanations for the same words and verses, in other chapters. Is hayta/ hi’tu lak (12:23) to be understood as an Arabic root as we would understand in Chapter 36, or as a loanword as claimed in Chapter 38? Consolidation and further research are required. Other sources which al-Suyūṭī lists in his introduction [x] as having been eclipsed by his new compendium include Funūn al-Afnān by Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597/1201), Jamāl al-Qurrā’ by al-Sakhāwī (d. 643/1245) and al-Murshid al-Wajīz by Abū Shāma (d. 665/1267). Unlike these published works, many of the sources cited by al-Suyūṭī are now lost – a point which underscores the value of his efforts. A serious study of the Itqān also reveals the unfairness of those among his contemporaries, and some modern scholars, who characterised him as “a compiler without originality”! [xi] Fortunately, some of the author’s key sources for the chapters in the present volume (whether accessed directly or via al-Zarkashī’s Burhān) are extant and published, so I consulted them whenever possible to clarify points in the Itqān: not least Mughnī l-Labīb by Ibn Hishām (d. 761/1359).

The final verse of the Quran was revealed on the 18th of the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah in the year 10 A.H., a date that roughly corresponds to February or March 632. The verse was revealed after the Prophet finished delivering his sermon at Ghadir Khumm. Please remember if you are dedicated, serious and hardworking, you will achieve something most beautiful and rewarding in your life (i.e. the understanding of the Qur’an directly when you recite it or when the recitation is heard). The Quran's message is conveyed with various literary structures and devices. In the original Arabic, the suras and verses employ phonetic and thematic structures that assist the audience's efforts to recall the message of the text. Muslims [ who?] assert (according to the Quran itself) that the Quranic content and style is inimitable. [116] An important issue underlying this chapter is the relationship between grammar and meaning. The maxim has it that i‘rāb is a function ( far‘) of meaning, i.e. it follows from it and is secondary to it. This may be understood by charting the communicative process as one in which the speaker conceives of a meaning and constructs a grammatical utterance; then the hearer processes this grammatically to derive meaning. Therefore, while meaning at the last stage depends on grammar, the grammatical analysis seeks to describe the meaning intended by the Divine Speaker. This is why, at times, the imperatives of meaning (especially when theological stakes are high) overrule the dictates of formal grammar. The Qur'an is sometimes divided into 30 roughly equal parts, known as juz'. These divisions make it easier for Muslims to read the Qur'an during the course of a month and many will read one juz' each day, particularly during the month of Ramadan. Translations

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This chapter contains an extensive discursion concerning the possibility – expressed in some narrations – that some Quranic verses contain grammatical errors or mistranscriptions. As well as analysing the reports in terms of their transmission and possible meanings, al-Suyūṭī lists the range of explanations which have been provided for these difficult verses. This exemplifies the practice of tawjīh or takhrīj (explaining and defending verses and readings) at its most necessary juncture, but these are the skills which a serious student of this volume will hone more broadly.