of the
Authorized
English translation of the Quran by
Dr.
Rashad Khalifa
We made the
Quran Easy [54:17]
Verse
11:1
informs
us that the
Quran's
Miracle
involves [1] the superhuman
mathematical design of its physical structure and
[2] the simultaneous composition of a literary
work of extraordinary excellence.
One may be able to meet
the numerical distribution requirements of
a simple mathematical pattern.
However, this is invariably
accomplished at the expense of the literary quality.
The simultaneous control
of the literary style and the intricate mathematical distribution of individual
letters throughout the Quran
(Appendix 1)
is evident
in the fact that the Quran is made easyto memorize, understand, and
enjoy. Unlike a human-made book, the
Quran is
enjoyable to read over and over, infinitely.
The title of this Appendix
is repeated in
Sura
54, verses 17, 22, 32, and
40.
As it turns out, the Quran's Arabic text is
composed in such a way as to remind the reader or the memorizer of the next
correct expression, or the next verse. God
created us and He knows the most efficient way for fixing literary materials
into our memory. Memorization of the
Quran has played a vital role in preserving the original text generation
after generation at a time when written books were a rarity.
Without even realizing
it, the person who memorizes the
Quran
is divinely helped by
an intricate literary system as he utters the sounds of the Quranic
words. Almost every verse in the Quran
contains what I call "Memory Bells." Their function is to remind the reader
of what comes next. This system is so vast, I will give only
two illustrative
examples:
1.
In Sura 2, Verses 127,
128, and 129 end with two different names of God each.
These pairs of names
are "Al-Samee` Al-`Aleem (The
Hearer, the Omniscient),"
"Al-Tawwaab Al-Raheem
(The Redeemer, Most Merciful)", and
"Al-`Azeez Al-Hakeem (The
Almighty, Most Wise)," respectively.
If this were a regular
book, one would easily mis-match these six names. Not so in the Quran. Each
one of these pairs is preceded in the same verse by a
"Memory
Bell" that reminds us of the
correct pair of names. Thus, Verse 127 talks about Abraham and Ismail raising
the foundations of the Ka`abah.
The verse ends with the
names "Al-Samee` Al-`Aleem."
The prominent sounds here are the
"S," "M," and "
`Ayn."
These three letters are
prominent in the word "Ismail."
We find that this word
is conspicuously delayed in the sentence, while improving its literary quality.
Thus, we find that the verse goes like this:
"When Abraham raised the
foundations of the Ka`abah, together with Ismail ..."
Normally, a human writer
would say, "When Abraham and Ismail
raised the foundations of the Ka`abah...."
But delaying the sounds
in "Ismail" brings them closer to the end of the verse, and thus reminds
us that the correct names of God in this verse are
"Al-Samee`
Al-`Aleem."
Verse 128 has the prominent
word "Tubb" just before the names "Al-
Tawwaab Al-Raheem." The
word "Tubb" thus serves as the memory bell.
The names of God at the
end of 2:129
are "Azeez, Hakeem."
The prominent sounds here
are "Z" and "K." Obviously, the memory bell in this verse is the word
"Yuzakkeehim."
2. Another good example
is found in
3:176, 177,
& 178, where the retribution for disbelievers is described
as "Azeem
(Terrible)," "Aleem (Painful),"
and "Muheen (Humiliating),"
respectively.
In a human-made book,
the memorizer could easily mix up these three descriptions. But we find that
each of these adjectives is preceded by powerful memory bells that prevent
such a mix-up. The word "Azeem"
of Verse 176 is preceded
by the word "Huzzun,"
which is characterized by a stressed letter
"Z."
This serves to remind
us of the particular adjective at the end of this verse.
The word
"Aleem" of Verse 177 is preceded
by the sound of the word "Iman"
to serve as a memory bell, and the
word "Muheen"
of
3:178 is preceded
by an abundance of "M" and "H" throughout this verse.
Other examples of memory
bells include:
the ending of
3:173
and
the beginning of
3:174,
the ending of
4:52
and
the beginning of
4:53,
the ending of
4:61
and
the beginning of
4:62,
the ending of
18:53
and
the beginning of
18:54,
and many
more.
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