Quran

After the Quran, and the general rise of Islam, the Arabic alphabet developed rapidly into an art form.[56]

Wadad Kadi, Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at University of Chicago, and Mustansir Mir, Professor of Islamic studies at Youngstown State University, state:[193]

Although Arabic, as a language and a literary tradition, was quite well developed by the time of Muhammad's prophetic activity, it was only after the emergence of Islam, with its founding scripture in Arabic, that the language reached its utmost capacity of expression, and the literature its highest point of complexity and sophistication. Indeed, it probably is no exaggeration to say that the Quran was one of the most conspicuous forces in the making of classical and post-classical Arabic literature.
The main areas in which the Quran exerted noticeable influence on Arabic literature are diction and themes; other areas are related to the literary aspects of the Quran particularly oaths (q.v.), metaphors, motifs and symbols. As far as diction is concerned, one could say that Quranic words, idioms and expressions, especially "loaded" and formulaic phrases, appear in practically all genres of literature and in such abundance that it is simply impossible to compile a full record of them. For not only did the Quran create an entirely new linguistic corpus to express its message, it also endowed old, pre-Islamic words with new meanings and it is these meanings that took root in the language and subsequently in the literature...

1. ^ The English pronunciation varies: , , , , , ;[1] especially with the spelling quran , ;[2] especially in British English .[3][4]
   


2. ^ The Arabic pronunciation can be transcribed phonemically as /al.qurˈʔaːn/. The actual pronunciation in Literary Arabic varies regionally. The first vowel varies from [o] to [ʊ] to [u], while the second vowel varies from [æ] to [a] to [ɑ]. For example, the pronunciation in Egypt is [qorˤˈʔɑːn] and in Central East Arabia [qʊrˈʔæːn].
   


3. ^ (English spelling) The form Alcoran (and its variants) was usual before the 19th century when it became obsolete.[5][6] The form Koran was most predominant from the second half of the 18th century till the 1980s, when it has been superseded by either Qur'an or Quran.[6][7][8][9] Other transliterations include al-Coran, Coran, Kuran and al-Qur'an. The adjectives vary as well and include Koranic, Quranic and Qur'anic (sometimes in lowercase).[10]
   


4. ^ opening page.

   "Its outstanding literary merit should also be noted: it is by far, the finest work of Arabic prose in existence."[14]

   
   


5. ^

   "It may be affirmed that within the literature of the Arabs, wide and fecund as it is both in poetry and in elevated prose, there is nothing to compare with it."[15]

   
   


6. ^ In a small number of denominations, only the Quran is used as a source, an approach called Quranism.
   


7. ^ Hadith are primarily from Muhammad but some are from those closest to him. Muslim scholars have worked carefully to authenticate them.
   


8. ^ According to Welch in the Encyclopedia of Islam, the verses pertaining to the usage of the word hikma should probably be interpreted in the light of IV, 105, where it is said that "Muhammad is to judge (tahkum) mankind on the basis of the Book sent down to him."
   


9. ^ "God's Apostle replied, 'Sometimes it is (revealed) like the ringing of a bell, this form of Inspiration is the hardest of all and then this state passes off after I have grasped what is inspired. Sometimes the Angel comes in the form of a man and talks to me and I grasp whatever he says.' ʻAisha added: Verily I saw the Prophet being inspired Divinely on a very cold day and noticed the Sweat dropping from his forehead (as the Inspiration was over)."[43]
   


10. ^ "Few have failed to be convinced that … the Quran is … the words of Muhammad, perhaps even dictated by him after their recitation."[55]
    


11. ^ For both the claim that variant readings are still transmitted and the claim that no such critical edition has been produced, see Gilliot, C., "Creation of a fixed text" [60]
    


12. ^ "Few have failed to be convinced that the Quran is the words of Muhammad, perhaps even dictated by him after their recitation."[55]
    


13. ^ professor emeritus of Islamic thought at the University of Paris, Algerian Mohammed Arkoun.[73]
    


14. ^ Scholars disagree on the exact number but this is a disagreement over "the placing of the divisions between the verese, not on the text itself."[90][91]
    


15. ^ "The final process of collection and codification of the Quran text was guided by one over-arching principle: God's words must not in any way be distorted or sullied by human intervention. For this reason, no serious attempt, apparently, was made to edit the numerous revelations, organize them into thematic units, or present them in chronological order... This has given rise in the past to a great deal of criticism by European and American scholars of Islam, who find the Quran disorganized, repetitive and very difficult to read."[112]
    


16. ^ Samuel Pepys: "One feels it difficult to see how any mortal ever could consider this Quran as a Book written in Heaven, too good for the Earth; as a well-written book, or indeed as a book at all; and not a bewildered rhapsody; written, so far as writing goes, as badly as almost any book ever was!" [113]
    


17. ^ "the major Ottoman printing houses published a combined total of only 142 books in more than a century of printing between 1727 and 1838. When taken in conjunction with the fact that only a minuscule number of copies of each book were printed, this statistic demonstrates that the introduction of the printing press did not transform Ottoman cultural life until the emergence of vibrant print media in the middle of the nineteenth century" [171]
    


18. ^ "at imperial expense, a 'Tatar and Turkish Typography' was established in St. Petersburg; a domestic scholar, Mullah Osman Ismail, was responsible for the manufacture of the types. One of the first products of this printing house was the Qur'ān. Through the doctor and writer, Johann Georg v. Zimmermann (d. 1795), who was befriended by Catherine II, a copy of the publication arrived in the Göttingen University library. Its director, the philologist Christian Gottlob Heyne (d. 1812), presented the work immediately in the Göttingische Anzeigen von gelehrten Sachen (28 July 1788); therein he pointed especially to the beauty of the Arabic types. To the Arabic text marginal glosses have been added that consist predominantly of reading variants. The imprint was reproduced unchanged in 1790 and 1793 in St. Petersburg (cf. Schnurrer, Bibliotheca arabica, no. 384); later, after the transfer of the printing house to Kazan, editions appeared in different formats and with varying presentation [172]
    For the 1803 Kazan edition:
    Chauvin, V.C. Bib. des ouvrages arabes, vol. X, 95;
    Schnurrer, C.F. von. Bibliotheca Arabica, 385.
    Original held by Bayerische Staatsbibliothek – Munich, Germany, shelfmark BSB A.or.554.
    


19. ^ Gerd Puin is quoted in the Atlantic Monthly, January, 1999:«The Koran claims for itself that it is 'mubeen' or 'clear'. But if you look at it, you will notice that every fifth sentence or so simply doesn't make sense... the fact is that a fifth of the Koranic text is just incomprehensible...«[65]