Of Ṣirma and Sura, II - A partial response to Ilkka Lindstedt, “The issue of pre-Islamic Arabic Christian poetry revisited” (original) (raw)
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Ṣirma is credited with some poems collected into the Madinan sira / maghazi. The third poem is in parallel with a pro-Anṣârî work in Hassân bin Thâbit’s diwan. Ṣirma’s plusses refer to sura 10’s Noah and 27’s Moses, avoiding other Qurânic parallels. Ṣirma’s version is secondary. It parallels Marwânid use of those suras, as the family documented at (sura 10) or about (sura 27) Jerusalem. The Ṣirma poem although not of Jerusalem should be assumed another such propagandum, part of that earlier caliphal project.
2014
It is a universally established fact that effective speech and writing comprise some basic and interconnected components such as preface, central theme, contextual flow, and conclusion. Absence of any of these elements may mar the beauty and effect of speech and writing. There is unanimity among Muslims, masses as well as scholars, over the Qur'an as the most effective speech revealed by Allah. The main reason for this quality of the Qur'an, as agreed by all Muslim scholars, is its inimitability (i'jaz al-Qur'an). Yet, it is unbelievably surprising that most of the mufassirun (commentators of the Qur'an) right from the early periods of Islamic history until today ignored the task of identifying various components of Qur'anic Surahs and establishing link among them. Some commentators like Qazi Abd al-Jabbar, al-Haralliyy, al-Razi, al-Biqa'i, Syed Qutb, Syed Mawdudi, al-Farahi, and Islahi did attempt in their commentaries of the Qur'an to interpret the Surahs as thematically coherent by identifying link among various components of each and every single Surah. Some of them simply tried to show the link among all the verses of Qur'anic Surahs; and some others identified various themes in a Surah and suggested possible link among them. It appears that no commentator paid attention to identifying preface in Qur'anic Surahs, particularly large ones. It may not be imaginable that the Qur'anic Surahs do not have introductory part. The claim that preface does not exist in Qur'anic Surahs controverts the belief that the Qur'an is the most effective speech. This paper represents a humble attempt to research that each and every single surah, short or large, contains one or the other preface, at times, spreading over several verses in the beginning and, at times, covering only the first one or two verses. With the identification of preface in a Surah, the task of interpretation may become easier than ever before. This paper is divided into two main parts: (1) framework and role of preface in the interpretation of the Qur'an, and (2) identification of preface in some Surahs and its link to the rest of the verses in the particular Surah.
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Journal of Arabic Literature, 2004
The crucial verses in the Qur'an (XXVI, 224-227) for understanding the theme of Islam and poetry have been re-examined in the light of recent publications and have reinforced the conclusion that the key word " al-ghawuna " in verse 224 signifies not erring human beings, but demons, " shayatin." More importantly, verse 227 has been shown to involve not the poets' mendacity as such, but their inability to produce anything that can compare with the Qur'an, declared inimitable, " mu'jiz ." The traditional interpretation of verse 226, that poets are liars, has been traced through Islamic cultural history.
The Structure and the Categorization of the Quranic Surahs
The Quranic text consists of 114 surahs (chapters). The objective of this paper was to explore if there is any inherent structure within the surahs. A survey of these surahs suggests that they follow a structure. They start with an opening statement, followed by the main text, and end with a closing statement. The survey also suggests that, based on the opening statements, the surahs can be divided into nine categories: praise of Allah (ST) , a reference or oath to the Quran, starting with an oath, addressing the Prophet (SAW) , addressing people, Referring to certain events, mostly to the Hereafter, certifying certain events, condemnation of certain kind or characteristics of the people, seeking refuge with Allah (ST) , Ma'oodhatayn.
Abant İzzet Baysal Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 2019
This article discusses Qutb's literary approach to the Qur'an in the context of his analysis of some early Meccan sûrahs. First of all, it is clear that Qutb analyzes the sûrahs as whole units. In addition, the mufassir supports his interpretations via thematic and stylistic relations among sûrahs. Moreover, the following three literary features highlighted by Qutb have been revealed: Firstly, he draws attention to the interrelations between theme and style while analyzing a sûrah. Secondly, Qutb usually presents the oath-clusters as a feature which enhances the literary quality. Thirdly, he has the opinion that some certain words having phonetically-stressed tones are particularly preferred to contribute to convey the meaning better. As a result, it has emerged that Qutb prioritizes a "literary" and "holistic" approach over the "historical" and "atomistic" one preferred by the Western scholars of his time.
Manuscripta Orientalia, 2022
The article analyses two suras of the Qur'an (Q. 105 and Q. 106) within the scope of the hypothesis that they initially constituted a textual unity. This assumption was presented by some reports of early Muslim traditions. Several modern researchers also mentioned the thematic coherence of these two suras. Structural analysis of the rhyming endings in both suras and distribution of their thematic units give new insights about supposed previous initial composition of the text. Rhetorical side of the revelation was also analysed according to the concept of emotional plots. These new arguments reinforce the idea that Q. 105 and Q. 106 were revealed as one distinctive piece of the Qur'anic text.
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The Oxford Handbook of Qur'anic Studies, 2020
This chapter reviews recent scholarship on the interface between the Qur’an and Arabic Poetry, from pre-Islamic times to the modern period. It shows that Arabic poetry has for long been engaged in an inter-textual dialogue with the Qur’an which has taken numerous forms, subject to changing historical and cultural circumstances. At the core is the dual status of the Arabic language as bearer of a divinely created message and as cherished medium of poetic invention. The chapter shows that the resulting tension between the competing and mutually reinforcing claims of poetry and prophecy can be observed throughout the history of Arabic poetry up to the present day.