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From Alwāḥ to Ziyārā :

the literary forms and nature of the scriptural writings of the Sayyid `Alī Muhammad the Bāb (d. 1850) and Mīrzā Ḥusayn `Alī Nūrī, Bahā’-Allāh (d. 1892).

THIS OLD PAPER IS CURRENTLY BEING REVISED AND UPDATED

2006-7

◆ Introductory Note

     The extensive Persian and Arabic writings of Sayyid `Alī Muhammad the Bāb (1819-1850) and Mīrzā Ḥusayn `Alī Nūrī, Bahā’-Allāh (1817-1892) are extant in a variety of languages and literary forms believed by their authors and by their followers (the Bābīs and Bahā’īs) to encapsulate waḥy (divine revelation). These revelations are sometimes identifed by means of such time-honored terms as kitāb ("book", "letter" ..), lawḥ ("Tablet"), Surah (loosely `unit', `chapter’) and Ṣāḥīfah ( `Sheet’ `Epistle’, `tract..’), etc. which often have their roots in Abrahamic scriptural terminology and literatures. Born out of the Shī`ī Islamic universe of discourse Bābī-Bahā’ī scripture is most centrally and directly rooted in this Islamic literary heritage.

0.1   The variety and richness of the Bābī-Bahā’ī terminology is to some extent the result of the many terms derived from the Abrahamic-Islamic religious terminology. Since ancient times the major Abrahamic-Israelite and related religions employed a wide range of terms for writing material and scriptural texts. The Islamic terminology is especially rich. There are, for example, "many words for writing and written materials recorded in Arabic sources in reference to pre-Islamic Arabia" (Manquaret, 1999: ADD)

        In this paper the Islamic and sometimes Abrahamic ("Semitic") background of each of the major categories of Bābī-Bahā’ī scripture will be analyzed and examined. Some examples within the vast corpus of Bābī-Bahā’ī scripture will be set down with select supplementary

        After a general overview of the magnitude, importance, centrality and role of sacrd scripture, we shall now examine the background, Bābī-Bahā’ī use and significance of the following key categorizations of Bābī-Bahā’ī scripture and the: Arabic/Persian terms which define them

1) Bayān     =    Exposition, Clarification...

2) Lawḥ      =    Scriptural "Tablet" (pl. alwāḥ)...

3) Kitāb      =     "Book", "letter"...

4) Sūrah     =    Scriptural "Unit", "chapter"..

5) Ṣaḥīfaḥ   = "Page", "Scroll", `Sheet’, ...

6) Tafsīr      = "Commentary"

7) ADD

8) Risālah  = "Trestise.."

9) Khuṭbahs = ("Sermons", "Orations"..)

10) Dala'il, Istidlaliyya = "Proof" and "Testimony")

11) Poetical Writings    = Qaṣīdas, Mathnawīs, Ruba'i

12) Esoterica: Haykal, Gematria and associated Talismanic writings.

13) Ṣalat, Du`a, Munajat & `Prayers, Supplications’

14) Zīyārah ("Visitation"): A commemorative prayer usually to be recited on visitation to the grave or shine of a given individual

15) Pseudepigraphical Revelations

The Bāb and the five fold division of his writings.

Among other terms the word sha’n (pl. shu’ūn, `modes’, `grades’) was used by both the Bab and Bahā'-Allāh to express the divisions into which they categorized their writings. They not infrequently gave specific designations and titles to clusters of revealed texts within their multi-faceted writings. While the Bāb divided his writings into 5 modes Bahā'-Allāh divided them into 9. This number is probably based upon the abjad values of the words Bab (=5) and Baha' (=9).

According to Persian Bayan    X:III this fivefold, pentadic division of the Bāb is as follows:

[1] Arabic Verses

[2]

[3] Commentary -- Tafsīr

[4] Devotional Writings

[5] Persian Writings

Modes

Bāb likewise categorized is different `grades’ or ` modes’ and divided his `revelations’ up in several different ways. E.g. surahs (chapters) within Books or Wāhids (`Unities’) and -- as in numerous Islamic texts -- bāb’s (`lit, `Gates’ or `sections’)..

It was in various recensions of his Sūrat al-haykal (c. 1873) that Bahā’-Allāh divided his writings into various "modes".

"Say: We indeed sent down the verses according to nine modes (shu’ūn, "grades"), every mode (sha`n) of which establisheth the Sovereignty of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting."

Though there is not as far as I am aware any spelling out of these "modes" in primary Baha'i sacred scripture Faḍil-i Mazandarānī has speculated in the following manner:

[1] Voice [Melody] of Divinity and Amr and Firman

[2] Voice of Servitude and prayerfulness

[3] Voice of Mufassir:Tafsīr and Ta’wil of the words of the past and of religious gnosis

[4] .........Law and abrogation

[5]

[6]

[7] ` ilm +ḥikmah + Philosophy + Explanation of Mysteries of Creation+Medicine+ Alchemy, etc

[8]

[9] Peace, oneness of the world of humanity..

(Mazandarani, AA., āyā vol.1:24-4).

0.2 Languages of Bābī-Bahā’ī Scripture.

Bābī-Bahā’ī scripture is voluminous. It exists in several languages; most notably Arabic, Persian and perhaps secondarily, Turkish. The majority of Babi-Baha'i sacred writings are in Arabic and secondarily in Persian.

[1] Arabic -- language of God

[2] Persian -- language of Paradise

0.3 The magnitude of the Babi-Baha' scriptural revelations

        In the Qur’an and Islam the phrase ahl al-kitāb, meaning "people of the book", describes those recognised, sanctioned religious communities who follow and revere a divinely revealed, sacred Book: primarily, Jews who follow the Torah, Christians who follow the Gospel (Evangel = Ar. Injīl) and secondarily perhaps, Zoroastraims who follow the Avesta and Sabeans who, some would have it, also follow a sacred (but lost) book. In the Abrahamic religions the "Book" can be viewed as the source and centre of divine guidance; though in Christianity, as had often been pointed out, Jesus as the "Word" made flesh (as [subordinate] God incarnate, see Jn 1:1) is often viewed as the to focus and locus of adoration and guidance.

        The followers of the Bāb and Baha’u’llāh could be reckoned new or neo-"people of th Book", ahl al-kitāb par excellence in that they give tremendous weight to the vast body of writings communicated by Bāb and Bahā’-Allāh during the course of the 19th century. The archetypal or "mother book" in Islam is basically the single volume Qur’ān which has 114 chapters and some 6,500 verses. This has been superceded or supplemented, as it were, by a "mother library" (umm al-maktab); the numerous Arabic and Persian revelations of the Bāb and Baha’u’llah. For Baha’is the religious path and its intellectual-doctrinal basis is set forth in the collective revelations of the central figures of their Faith.

Baha'is, the ahl al-bahā’ (people of Baha') could also be designated the `Community of the Library'

Library: From ahl al-kitāb to ahl al-maktab

The authoratative interpretations of its teachings are again primarily contained in the writings of the successors of the Bahā’-Allāh, namely `Abdu’l-Bahā (d. 1921) and Shoghi Effendi (d. 1957). 1

            The extent of the writings of the Bāb have several times been spelled out by the Bāb himself. In Persian Bayān II.1 he mentions c.100,000 (made available? Mac 15 ) verses and 6.11 he estimates 500,000 verses "on various subjects". He interestingly, also had occasion in the same work to define what is meant by a bayt or verse of divinely revealed scripture, namely 30 ḥurūf (Letters) or 40 with i`rāb (voweling).: not always possible to to work out how .e.g QA.

`Length of items’

Some items of scripture are short or very short, others are long or very lengthy.

Khutbas brief..

Qayyūm al-asma’ , Arabic ms. in hand of Mulla Ḥusayn = XXXX pp (trans. XXX?)

Bayān Persian pp. The Arabic is considerably shorter pp.

Seven Proofs Persian Pp. And the Arabic version, again much shorter, spanning some fifteen pages (perhaps, 20-25 in translation). .

The revelations of Bahā’-Allāh have been estimated to amount to some 15,000 Persian and Arabic revelations of varying length. Bahā'-Allāh like the Bāb also divided up his works in various ways.

0.4 Name [s] of Totality of the wahy (revelations)..

The Abrahamic, pre-Islamic roots of Babi-Baha'i scriptural terminology.

Biblical

        The totality of Bābī-Bahā’ī revelation could loosely be called a `Bible’ (lit. = `collection of books’) especially since the Christian Bible (XX+XX= XX`books’) is very largely in two parts which are especially sacred to two religious communities, Jews and Christians. The Bible thus encompasses [1] the Hebrew Bible and [2] the Greek New Testament. It is in a Semitic (Hebrew) and an Indo European (Greek) language. Bābī-Bahā;ī scripture is likewise, largely in two languages [1] Arabic, a Semitic language and [2] Persian an Indo-European language. The writings of the Bāb and Bahā’-Allāh are largely in Arabic and Persian.

Pre-Islamic in Islam

[Suhūf] Tawrat Injīl Qur’ān Furqān

Bābī-Bahā’ī

Interestingly then theredoes not exisy any one writing ofthe Bāb or Bahā'-Allāh which is the sole or complete repository of (Babi-) Bahā’ī scripture. The Bayān is incomplete - for Man yuẓhiruhullāh to finish (=KI cf. Yaḥyā `Completion of Bayān); Kitāb al-Aqdas a `synopsis of Bahā’ī law and much else besides.

Best known of the Bāb’s terms denoting the totality and/or portions of his literary output is the word Bayān which, among other things, can mean `Exposition,’ `Clarification...’..... Speaking with the voice of God, the Prophet Muhammad in the Quran itself, refererred to his occasional revelations and to their collected form as the Kitāb "Book"

(1)

Bayān = "Exposition, Clarification.."

1.1

1.2

2.3 Bāb

[1] Bayān fi `ilm al-jawāmid wa’l-mushtāqāt (Exposition of knowledge of )

[2] Bayān `illat[i] taḥrīm al-maḥārim (Clarification of the cause of things forbidden and sacrosanct’ )

[3] Bayān jabr wa tafwīy (Clarification of Pre-ordination and Authorization)

[4] Bayan mas`ilat al-qadr (Clarification of the question of fate)

2.4 Bahā

Sūrat al-Bayān

(2)

Lawḥ (pl. alwāḥ), Scriptural "Tablet".

1.0 Of Aramaic origin the Arabic lawḥ has again been variously translated.

Commonly under Biblical influence translated "tablet" the Arabic word lawḥ has a variety of senses in such Semitic languages as Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac and Ethiopic. Its Arabic senses include "board, plank" and "tablet, table" (see Jeffery, Foreign Vocabulary; ).

The Arabic word lawḥ (Tablet; pl. alwāḥ) basically indicates (among other things) a panel or sheet on which writing may be inscribed. `something written upon', a slate, slab, board, or tablet. It occurs five times in the Qur'

Lawh

The word lawḥ means 'board, plank, `tablet'. In general it refers to any kind of material tablet on which one could write. The Arabic word lawḥ is of Aramaic origin. It is attested several times in the Qur'an,177 and the Qur'an itself is said to have been written on tablets (alwaḥ).178 Moreover, it occurs in the ḥadīth 179 and in pre-lslamic poetry. These tablets were usually made of wood, bronze, stone or bone. They were employed for writing different subjects, for example, votive inscriptions. The South Arabian term ṭf `(votive) tablet, plaque',180 which is related to Acadian ṭuppu, 'tablet', should also be noted.

Arabic sources provide no information as to whether the wooden tablets were coated with stucco or not. However, such tablets were used in Egypt 181 and wooden tablets coated with wax were used all over the ancient Near East.182 especially in the New Assyrian period and later in the Classical world. Oiptvcila or polvdiptvch were made from Wooden tablets. In Arabia ADD wooden tablets are attested in the sources. No Wooden tablets have survived in North Arabia. but some small ones have been found in the Yemen. Stone tablets have been discovered all over Arabia. and bronze tablets in several pieces. e.g. at 'Amran (see above).

3.1 Hebrew hWl, tojl (pl) = `(usually) a tablet of stone or wood' on which things may be written.

The Tablets of the Law (Heb.                ).

        In the Hebrew Bible the phrase             was translated into English in the 1611 AV version as 'Tablets of the Law'. It indicates two stone Tablets on which the Law inscribed and which Moses smashed after seeing the .golden calf which the people had fashioned during his ascent of the mountain and receipt of the Tablets. In the Anchor Bible Dictionary there is an excellent article on this subject by Christopher T. Begg who also wrote an article on this subject in 1983 for the periodical series Vetus Testamentum entitled `The Tablets (Deut. x) and the Lawbook (Deut. xxxi)'. VT 33: 96–97 (1983).

"The phrase designates the two stone tablets inscribed with a set of laws and given by God to Moses on Mt. Horeb/Sinai. References to the tablets are concentrated in the parallel texts of Exodus (24:12; 31:18; 32:15, 16, 19; 34:1, 28) and Deuteronomy (4:13; 5:22; 9:9, 10, 15, 17; 10:1, 2, 4, 5); they are mentioned elsewhere in the OT only in 1 Kgs 8:9. The Bible itself does not use the above phrase as such, employing rather the equivalent expressions “tablets of the covenant” (Deut 9:9, 15) and “tablets of the testimony” (Exod 31:18; 32:15). According to both Exodus (31:18; 32:16) and Deuteronomy (5:22; 9:15), the writing on the tablets was done by God himself; as such the tablets’ content has an authority even greater than that accorded the human written word in the ANE [ Ancient Near East]. On the other hand, the biblical record is ambiguous as to just which body of laws stood on the tablets. In Exod 24:12 Yahweh tells Moses “. . . I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction.” Here, it seems the tablets are to bear the whole body of laws previously communicated to Moses in Exodus 20–23, i.e., the “ten words” or Decalogue of Exod 20:1–17 as well as the prescriptions of the “Book of the Covenant” in Exod 20:23–23:19 (20–33). Deut 5:22 (cf. 4:13; 9:10), on the contrary, clearly and emphatically limits the inscribed text to the “ten words” of Deut 5:6–21 (= Exod 20:1–17). Finally, Exod 34:27–28 suggests that the “ten words” set down on the tablets comprised rather the cultic laws recorded in Exod 34:11–26, the so-called Ritual Decalogue. The uncertainty on the point left by the biblical documentation likely reflects divergent traditions as to which body of Israelite laws could claim preeminent authority in virtue of its having been written by God himself.

In any event, according to the parallel accounts of Exod 32:19 and Deut 9:17, Moses smashed the original set of tablets upon seeing the golden calf the people had made during his absence on the mountain to receive the tablets. Against the background of ANE practice, his gesture, destructive of the covenant document, signifies the abrogation of the covenantal relationship between God and Israel. Subsequently, God initiates the making of a new set, thereby intimating his readiness to reactivate the disrupted relationship (Exod 34:1; Deut 10:1–2). This second set of tablets receives permanent shelter in a wooden “ark” which Moses, on Yahweh’s orders, prepares for them. As a container of the “tablets of the covenant/testimony,” this object is designated as “the ark of the covenant” (Deut 10:8), or alternatively, as “the ark of the testimony” (Exod 25:16) (1 Kgs 8:9 affirms that the tablets were the sole content of the ark; contrast Heb 9:4 according to which it also contained a sample of the manna and the rod of Aaron). The ark with its tablets eventually was installed in the “holy of holies” of Solomon’s Temple, 1 Kgs 8:6. The Bible does not record what finally happened to either the ark or the tablets. Presumably, they were carried off in one of the successive despoilations of the Temple—either that of 587 or an earlier one.

In Deut 31:9, 26 one finds a new feature not recorded in the parallel material of Exodus, i.e.. “the book of the law” (= some form of our book of Deuteronomy) written by Moses is placed “beside” the ark bearing the tablets of the covenant. This notice signifies that the former—while clearly subordinate to the Decalogue recorded on the tablets since written by Moses rather than God himself—nevertheless belongs closely together with it as its authoritative interpretation and application."

Bibliography

Begg, C. T. 1983; Dohmen, C. 1985. Das Bilderverbot. BBB 62. Königstein-Bonn. ; Loretz, Q. 1977. Die steinernen Gesetzestafeln in der Lade. UF 9: 159–61. ; Zenger, E. 1972. Psalm 87, 6 und die Tafeln von Sinai. Pp. 97–103 in Wort, Lied und Gottesspruch. Würzburg.

Deuteronomy 10:1-2 (AV):

"At that time the LORD said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood. ² And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark. ³

3.2 Qur’ān + Ḥadīth

The word Lawḥ is found five times in the Qur’ān:

SEE TEXTS

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

Lawḥ maḥfūẓ ("The Preserved Tablet")

Lawḥ = the heavenly Tablet on which the Qur'ān is inscribed, the lawḥ maḥfūẓ ("preserved tablet") 85:22

cf. Pen and Primordial Tablet + "Mother Book

Summing up one dimension of Muslim opinion as to the significance of law it has been written,

"The decisions of the divine will are also written on the lawḥ with the pen, qalam.. and the particulars contained as a whole in God's consciousness are transmitted by this last, so that on the lawḥ are inscribed the archetypes of all things, past, present and future. The popular mind represented by al-Bayhaqī, as created from a white pearl, with its upper and lower surfaces of jacynth" ( Wensinck-Bosworth EI2 5:698 [translit. altered]).

In this latter connection we read at the beginning of the Qiṣaṣ al-`anbiyā' of al-Kisā’ī,

"Ibn Abbas said: The first thing God created was the Preserved Tablet, on which was preserved all that has been and ever shall be until the Day of Resurrection. What is contained thereon no one knows but God. It is made of white Pearl." ( al-Kisā'ī trans. Thackston 1978:5).

Noah’s Ark

Lawḥ also referes to the planks (dhāt alwāḥ) from which Noah's ark was built ( 54:13 cf. Ezekiel 27:5 [Hebrew]).. cf. Jubilees chapters 3 & 5).

Tablets of the Law of Moses.

-- the ten commandments, see Exodus 24:12; 31:18; 32:16ff; 34:1f, etc

The law' of Moses (for some details see A.J. Wensinck art. LAWḤ in SEI: 287-8 and In Qur'

The Q. refers to divine revelations to Moses as alwāḥ (sing. lawḥ, scriptural “Tablets”, Q. 7:145-151 cf. Exod. 24:12), kitāb (“Book”) and al-Furqān (“the Criterion”, Q. 21:49). Muslim commentators have given rich interpretation to the “Tablets” given to Moses on Sinai. The wide‑ranging Fihrist (Bibliographical Compendium) of the probably Persian Shī`ī, Baghdadī book dealer, Abū’l‑Faraj Isḥāq b. Warrāq al‑Nadīm (d.380/ 990) records a great deal relating to the Bible and related traditions including the fact that a certain Aḥmad had it that the alwāḥ (tablets) revealed to Moses on Sinai were "green" in color with the writing on them "red like the rays of the sun" (Fihrist, 38/Dodge, 43).

            In his seminal al-Insān al-kāmil... (The Perfect Human...) the Shī`īte Sufī `Abd al-Karīm al-Jīlī (d. c. 832/1428) [1] writes “God sent down the Tawrāt unto Moses on nine alwāḥ (“Tablets”; cf. Q. 17:101). He commanded him to communicate seven of them and abandon two... the [seven] alwāḥ contained the scienes (`ulūm) of the ancients and moderns”. In view of the description of the Tawrāt in Q. 5:46, al-Jīlī also has it that the first two alwāh   were characterized by “Light” and “Guidance” (Insān, 1:114).

            In the section on the tawrāt   it is stated that this is a revelation which God sent down to Moses in "nine Tablets" (tis`ah alwāh) but he was commanded to divulge only seven of them. Two were made of "Light", the Lawḥ al‑rubūbiyya (Tablet of Lordsdhip) and the Lawḥ al‑qadr (Tablet of Destinty) and were set aside. The other seven were made of marble (ḥajar al‑marmar) each exemplifying a particular divine quality, save the seventh which had to do with guidance on the religious path:

Tablet 1 = al‑nūr (Light).

Tablet 2 = al‑hudā (Guidance) (cf. Q. 5:44)

Tablet 3 = al‑ḥikma (Wisdom)

Tablet 4 = al‑taqwā   (Piety-the Fear of God)

Tablet 5 = al‑ḥukm (Justice)

Tablet 6 = al‑`ubūdiyya (Servitude)

Tablet 7 = "The explication (wuḍūḥ) of the way of felicity (tarīq al‑sa`āda) as opposed to the way of misfortune [distress] (tarīq al‑shaqāwā) and the clarification of what is foremost" (1:114‑115). This, al-Jīlī asserts, is the substance of what God commanded Moses to instruct the people

             The huge and widely‑respected early 19th century commentary of the `Alīd Sunnī Abū al‑Thanā’, Shihāb al‑Dīn al‑Ālūsī (d.1270 /1854) entitled Rūḥ al‑ma`āni fī tafsīr al‑qur’ān al‑`aẓīm... (The Spirit of the Meaning in Commentary upon the Mighty Qur’ān) [2] also provides. detailed comments upon the alwāḥ (Tablets) which God gave to Moses on Sinai (al‑ṭūr).   Expounding the words, "And We wrote from him [Moses] upon the alwāḥ (Tablets) something of everything (min kulla shay’, Q. 7:145a) Alūsī records various opinions as to the number of alwāḥ, their jawhar (substance), their miqdār (measure, scope) and their kātib (inscriber):

"[Regarding] their number, it is said that there were ten and [also that there were] seven or two... the alwāḥ were [made of] green emerald. The Lord... commanded Gabriel and he brought them from [the Garden of] Eden... Others say that they were [made] of ruby... I say that they were of emerald... It is related from the Prophet, `The alwāḥ which were sent down unto Moses were from the Lote‑Tree of Paradise (sidr al‑jannat) and the length of the Tablet(s) was twelve cubits" (Rūḥ al‑ma`ānī   V:55).

1 An important commentator on the al‑Futūḥāt of Ibn al‑`Arabī, `Abd al‑Karīm al‑Jīlī authored around thirty books, the best known being his al‑Insān al‑kāmil.. ("The Perfect Human..."). This work includes interesting sections about the significance of Tawrāt, Zabūr and Injīl   (see Insan, II:114‑127).

2 Written in the 1200s/ 1800s this work was been published in Egypt in six volumes (Cairo: al‑Maṭba`at al‑Amīrah, 1870; Bulaq 1301‑10/1883‑92) and more recently reprinted and included on a CD Rom of Tafsir volumes..

_______________________________________________________________________

Lawḥ in Hadīth +Shi`ism.

Lawḥ (Ṣaḥīfah and Jafr)

In the book of Ibn Bābuwayh entitled [Kitāb] Kamāl al-dīn (`The Perfection of Religion’), section 37, pp.290ff is entitled, `Section on the record of the designation of the Qā’im... in the Lawḥ with which God gave guidance unto the Apostle of God who passed it on to Fātimih who entrusted it to Jābir ibn `Abdu’llāh al-Anṣarī... to Imām Muḥmmad Bāqir..'

Hadīth from Imām Ja`far al-Ṣādiq...

"O Jābir inform me of the Lawḥ which I saw in the hands of my mother Fāṭimah, daughter of the Apostle of God..." contains name of Imams, etc. Jābir gives text:

In the Name of God, the Merciful the Compassionate

This Book is from God, the Mighty, the All Wise unto Muhammad, His Light...."

Cf. Trad’ re: Qā’im has bahā’ of Jesus...

Another Hadīth of Imam Ja`far+ Jābir;

(p.294)

"I entered unto Fāṭimah and between her two hands was a Tablet (Lawḥ) in which the names of the chosen ones (asmā’ al-awṣiyā’), they numbered 12 names, the last being that of the Qā’im. Three were Muhammad and four were `Alī..."

Q Jafr -- see appendix

"A lamb or calf four months old (when it begins to ruminate); doe-skin parchment for writing; the art of divining from certain characters written by `Al' upon a camel's skin, which contains all events, past present and future; according to others the art of making amulets or charms, said to oriinate from Ja`far al-Sādiq.." (see Steingass, 365-6).

Lawḥ in later Islam

        The word lawḥ was used of post-Qur'ānic written works prior to the nineteenth century Bābī-Bahā'ī usage. Certain, for example, of the short Arabic / Persian treatises of Shihāb al-Dīn Yaḥyā Suhrawardī (executed 1191 C.E.; the founder of the Ishrāqī "Illuminationist" schoo) dedicated to `Imād al-Dīn, are referred to in this way. They are four "Tablets" of the Kitāb al-alwāḥ al-`Imādīya / alwāḥ-i `Imādī). Such post-Qur

Indeed the Dharī`a of Tehrānī lists a few items under lawh (vol. 18:374-7) 7 items; several several called Lawḥ al-maḥfūẓ one on the Shī`ī dawn Prayer (No.524 by Sayyid `Abd-Allah ibn Nūr al-Dīn ibn Muḥaddith al-Jazāirī al-Tustarī d.1173.

Lawḥ al-Mastūr No. 527 Navīdī Shīrāzī d. 988 AH...

+ vol. 2:300, No. 1210f = Alwāḥ item here are a risālah in the artistry of some of the alwāḥ and talismans for some of the comnpanions (aṣḥāb) seen by Tehranī compilation of Rasā’il some composed by a certain Muẓaffar ibn Muhammad al-Jināb[a]dhī -- 1003 (AH) c. 1665 mss in Najaf.

17th cent.

Item 1211 = Alwāḥ al-Jawāhir (`The Tablets of the Gems/Essences’)

Item 1212 = Alwāh al-samāwiyya (`Heavenly Tablets’) 17 cent CE.author d. 1151.

Commenting on the significance of lawḥ in Sufi mysticism C.E. Bosworth writes

"In Ṣūfī mysticism and in esoteric philosophy and cosmology, the lawḥ has an important place...`Abd al-Karīm al-Jīlī ... explains in his al-insān al-kāmil how God's creation is first given shape occultly in the divine knowledge, and only later given objective individualization by the pen of divine intelligence, which distinguishes the created from the Creator and imprints its form of existence on the Tablet as the mind imprints ideas on the soul... Esoteric works identified various forms of the Tablet with the primal intelligence (as above), the aql al-awwal; with the expressive, universal soul (al-nafs al-nāṭiqa al-kulliya) = the preserved tablet: with the particularizing soul; with the lawḥ al-ḥayūlā or material tablet, which receives the forms of the supersensory world..." (EI 2 5:698 [transliteration altered]).

        In mystical language the archetypal reality of "man" (members of the human race; the `Perfect Man’) is pictured as a "tablet"; an area upon which eternal mysteries were inscribed by God.

The great `Ibn `Arabī in his Iṣṭilāh al-ṣufiyyah ("Sufi Lexicon" ) understands al-lawh as "The place of writing down (tadwīn) and recording (tasṭīr) what is fixed in time until a known limit." (Jurjānī, 295 trans. p.46). In the light of this definition it could be suggested that something of the mysteries of human capacity, fate, destiny or spirituality were set down by God in primordial times.

Lawḥ (pl. alwāḥ), in Babi and Baha'i scripture.

Many of the writings of the Bāb and Baha'Allah are referred to as alwāḥ ("Tablets") primarily after the Biblical-Qur'ānic usage. Baha'-Allah himself did this frequently, as in the following Tablet to a certain Habīb, which has the prescript,

He is al-bahiyy al-abhā’ (The Splendid, the All-Glorious)

"O Habīb, Of a certainty did We send Tablets (alwāh ^an) aforetime, containing therein that which would enable thee to be independent of all the worlds.There was not received from thee even a trace! Thus did We take firm, compete hold of the Pen until the alotted time of thy Lord. And when the time was completed We sent down verses for thee from the elevated and sacred Empyrean (jabarūt quds).

O Habīb! Be oriented (`-r-j II) for the Mi`rāj and fear not anyone. Rather, at every moment [of thine ascent] have trust towards a Mighty, Impregnable Beauty (jamāl). Burn away the veils though a directive that cometh from Us and rise up between earth and heaven through this Word (al-kalimat) which is recorded [mentioned] (madhkūr an) in the vicinity of the Throne (al-`arsh). Then burn up [also] the veils of the people in the light of what God hath given thee, perchance they be enkindled thereby through the Fire of God which is in all that is other than Him and the Spirit cry out in all things, `He, verily, no God is there except I, powerful to accomplish whatsoever He willeth’. And I am assuredly, independant of the worlds ..." (La'ali 1:41 No. 13).

They are written sacred revelations and more besides. At one point in his Tablet of Wisdom (Lawḥ-i ḥikmat) Bahā'u'lāh refers to the visionary appearance of divine inspiration in the form of an all-encompassing "tablet" (lawḥ). He also indicates the transcendental nature of the Tablet of Wisdom as a "document" (lawḥ) upon which all knowledge is inscribed,

"This is a Tablet (lawḥ) wherein the Pen of the Unseen hath inscribed the knowledge of all that hath been and shall be" (trans. TB:149; For further details see Mazandarani ADD

Bab examples:

After the basmalah at the beginnning of his Risāla nubuwwa Khāṣṣah the Bāb states,

"Praise be to God who made the ornament of the Tablets (ṭaraz al-alwāḥ) the Book of authorization (kitāb al-idhn) which is the ornament of the Point (ṭaraz al-nuqṭa) singled out after Thou willed and Thou decreed. This before Thou consummated and authorized at the moment in which Thou elevated and determined the deliverance (falāḥ) which causeth the radiant essences of existing things (jawharīyāt kaynūnīyāt al-mutasha`sha`āt) to sparkle in realities of the denizens of the Divine Realm (ahl al-lāhūt). This to the end that all existing things might come to know the station of the gnosis of the Divine Attributes (maqām al-`irfān al-ṣifāt) in the light of God's manifesting Himself (tajalli) in the station of the gnosis of manifestation of the Divine Essence (maqām `irfān ẓuhūr al-dhāt). He, verily, no God is there except Him...."

ADD Baha examples

        In the opening paragraph of the prolegomenon of his Haft vadī ("Seven Valleys") Bahā'-Allāh uses the expression "Tablet of man[kind] (lawḥ insān) which appears to refer to the archetypal essence of human beings and / or the pre-existent Being of the Manifestation of God referred to as a "Tablet". In SV [2] God is said to have written on the "Tablet of Man" in a similar manner to which He is reckoned to have written all mysteries on the "Mother Book" (umm al-kitāb) or "Preserved Tablet" (lawḥ maḥfūẓ) in various Islamic traditions and literatures. The human reality is the writing material on which the essential, the eternal characteristics of the human being, are set forth. Something of the divine mysteries were written upon the locus, the reality of man .

In the light of the Bahā’-Allāh’s own numerous references to specific revelations as lawḥ (= "Tablet"; pl. alwāḥ) contemporary Bahā’īs most frequently refer to their sacred scripture as consisting of revealed "Tablets". This designation has its ancient roots in various semitic languages and in various of the Abrahamic religious traditions.

Al-Lawḥ al-Maḥfūẓ (Per. Lawḥ-i Maḥfūẓ; "The Preserved Tablet")

Bāb’s commentary

INBA 6006C: 69-70

Reply to a question about the al-lawḥ al-maḥfūẓ REVISE THIS TRANS.

"He asked Thee, the petitioner, regarding the Preserved Tablet. He taught it/ him the in accordance with what God, the All-Surrounding (al-muḥīt), hath taught Thee. It is----- of what unto thee of the sprinklings of these Tablets which emit briliance .... God assuredly made that Book the Greatest Tablet (lawḥ al-akbar) and decreed therein what is consonant with what He assuredly originated in the begining [origin] and the seal end [alpha and the omega] (al-bada` wal-khatm). And God decreed two sections [ gates] (babayn) for that Book (kitāb) expressive of the mystery of the two XXXX (al-ṭutunjayn) in the water of the two gulfs (mā’ al khalijayn). One of the two is the Euphrates (al-firāt) which the realities of the Exalted Ones (ḥaqā’iq al-`aliyyīn) among the inmates [people] of the two East (min ahl al-mishriqayn) from the two most nigh [ones] (al-aqrabayn).And the second of the two is the water of the Fiery[Salty] Ice (reading = al-thulj al-ajjāj [ujāj]) (W.6) among the inmates [people] of the two wests (min ahl al-maghribayn) from the two most remote (al-abadayn). God indeed moulded [formed] according to every gate the tripartite form ( ) and in the threefold form (fī sūrat al-tathlīth) in the Threefold Temple (wa haykal al-tathlīth)...

3.3 Alwāḥ in Bābism

[1] Lawḥ-i ḥurūfāt (`Tablet of the Letters’) = Kitāb al-haykal/hayākil

Many letters to individuals, groups, etc.

[2] Letters tro Muhammad Shāh (7 or more) and Hajjī Mīrzā Āqāsī

Manuchihr Khān..

[3] Letters to Bahā & Yaḥyā....

Tafsīr Sura wa’l-`aṣr ("The Surah of `By the Afternoon [Declining Day]', Q. 103)

BRR [Iswear] by the `Aṣr. Indeed mankind is in a state of loss Except those who believe and do good works, and exhort one another to truth and exhort one another to endurance."

"Then regarding the 23rd letter which is [the letter] "L" (al-lām). It signifieth on this level al-lawḥ al-a`ẓam (the Most Great Tablet) in which are all modalities (al-shu’ūn). [2] Then [additionally it ] signifieth the lawḥ al-amr (Tablet of the Command) for God did not send down [reveal] a single thing except He had it penned therein. [3] Then [additionally it ] signifieth the Lawḥ al-ḥafīz (`Tablet of the Preservation’) which indicateth the actions /deeds of the totality of all the creatures such as hath been encompassed in the knowledge of God. [4] Then [additionally it] signifieth the Lawḥ which God hath assuredly created through the knowledge of `Azrā’īl through the constriction of all who are possessed of a spirit [soul] (bi-qaby rūḥ kull dhiya rūḥ). For he gazeth upon it [Lawḥ] at every moment. And he followeth the amr (Cause-command) of His Lord in accordance with what hath been stipulated, with the permissionof God -- exalted and glorified be He -- in the dictates (aḥkam) of that Lawḥ.."

Tafsīr Sura Kawthar..

On one of the letter "K"’s.:

"On the third level of interpretation it is the Lawḥ al-`amā’ (`Tablet of the Divine Cloud’) on which are inscribed the decrees of the Ordinance (aḥkām al-qiyā’) and the Realization (al-imyā’) then also the Genesis (al-bada’) and that which was created through the Actualization (al-inshā’) in accordance withthat which was stipulated therein. Unti these words God doth testify before His chosen Ones (l’lawṣiyā’), Muhammad, the Apostle of God..."

3.4 Lawḥ (pl. alwāḥ), and the "Tablets" of Bahā’-Allah.

Among the scores of examples the following `Tablets’ may be loosely listed by dating or roughly chronological order (see appendix).

Two hundred or more revelations of the Bāb and Bahā’-Allāh have specific author designated titles. In this paper the background, significance and translation of the varying terms used to identify their sometimes dictated revelations will be undertaken.

ADD LIST IN APPENDIX

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The Kitāb ("Book", pl. kutub) and the Ahl al-kitāb ("people of the Book").

    The Arabic Kitāb

cf. Maktūb Maktab = "school" (pl. Makātib).

Ar. Mukātab[āt], "correspondence[s]-- letter[s]"), Nameh "letter"..

3.0 This is one of the major Arabic-Persian designations (cf. Turkish ) of a written communication which may take the form of a letter or book of varying nature and length.

"The word kitāb, 'book, `letter', is of Aramaic origin.(171= Jeffery, 248). It is mentioned in Lihyanite inscriptions 173 and this root is also attested in the name of the North Arabian deity Alkutbay / Hanaktab. Apparently Alkutbay was the Arabian scribe deity, like Nabū in Mesopotamia. 173" (Maraqten, 1998).

More recent aspects of the Book: see Important book = George N. Atiyeh (ed.), `The Book in the Islamic World’, The written word and communication in the Middle East. SUNY, 1995.

3.1 Judaeo-Christian

Biblical books -- "The Book of Genesis"

3.2 Qur’ān and Islam

Sacred books : Qur’ān

3.2.1 umm al-kitāb

The celestial, archetypal reality of the Qur’ān is referred to as umm al-kitāb,` the archetypal’ or `Mother Book’.

EI2"In the commentaries on sūra XCVII,I, the tablet is again mentioned: "We sent it down (sc. the Qur'

In his Arabic Lawḥ-i Aḥmad Bahā’-Allāh refers to the "Book" (kitāb) of the Bāb as the umm al-kitāb. So too in the probably earlier Lawḥ-i Sayyāh and other Tablets of the Edirne [Adrianople] period.

        In his Surat al-qamīṣ Surah of the Robe) Bahā'-Allāh identifies his Logos-like reality or "Self" (nafs) as the umm al-kitāb, the celestial "Archetypal Book"

3.3 The Kitab among the writings of the Bāb

nb. Whole works imitated: Qur’ān Bk -

QA= Neo=Qur’ān

    "God has made this book , the essence of the Qur’ān, word for word.. "

QA Sura 42 Sūrat al-Kitāb

"A.L.R God hath assuredly sent down the Kitāb on His part to the end that He might instruct the people in the Truth (al-ḥaqq) regarding the Dhikr, through the Dhikr... We, in truth, hath sent down this Book unto thee [Bāb)... We, verily gave Our Most Great Book

        In his early Kitāb al-fihiist    22 [24] kutub "Books" or "letters" are listed by the Bab. This includes the kitāb al-`ulamā’ (Book of the divines).

An early writing of the Bāb in reply to a question about man yuẓhiru-hu Allāh (`Him Whom God shall make manifest’) by the 13th `Letter of the Living’ contains a clear use of kitab as letter,

And, furthermore, I have become aware thy letter (kitāb). That which is therein is precious indeed (jawhar). If it were not such I would not have replied to that written communication [paper] (qurās) and even then [I would not have responded] in a most elevated manner (bi-a`lā) the like of which was ordained from the beginning (al-ibdā`a). For this matter is supremely great (a`ẓam) relative to the recollection of the One about Whom thou hast asked. For that [One] is most Elevated (a`lā), most Mighty (a`azz), most Exalted (ajall), most Inaccessible (amna`) and most sanctified (aqdas) above whatever can be grasped through through the gnosis (irfān) of the inmost hearts, through the the subservience [prostration] before Him of the spirits (al-arwā), through the laudation of Him on the part of the [human] selves as well as the and the remembrance of His splendour [beauty] on the part of the bodies (al-ajsād).

A select list of books of the Bāb.

[1] The Kitāb al-rūḥ (`Book of the Spirit’).

        Though thought by Nabil-i Zarandi to be lost (DB:137) the early Kitāb al-rūḥ (`Book of the Spirit’) of the Bāb is referred to by its author as "the greatest of books" (a`ẓam al-kutub ; Mazandārbī KZH 3:44). The Bab wanted it delivered it to all the `ulamā’ (divines). It is not wholly lost and begins as follows:

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

Alif-Lam-Mim-Ra'.

This Book is a Dhikr from God

according to the decree of a wondrous servant

(`abd badī`).

He is assuredly the True One (al-ḥaqq)

within [both] the heavens and the earth.."

The complete Kitāb al-rūḥ apparently exists in 709 sūras or 7,000 verses and is also known as the Kitāb al-`adl (The Book of Justice)

[2] The Kitāb al-fihrist (`Book of the Index’)

Composed on               / 21st June 1845 after his Ḥajj or pilgrimage the early Kitāb al-fihrist (`Book of the Index’) of the Bāb actually lists his writings up to the time of composition in terms of their titles, date and to some extent contents.

[I]

In the Name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate.

[1] Alif. Lām. Mīm. Rā' This is a Book from God containing the directive of a wondrous servant (`abd badī`) [the Bāb]. [2] It assuredly is a Book which was sent down on the part of the Remnant of God (baqīyyat Allah) before [imam] One True , Ancient (ḥaqq qadīm). [3] It is most assuredly the Truth (al-ḥaqq) in [both] the heavens and the earth. [3] No single thing escapeth His knowledge neither do the creatures [befittingly] encompass His Dhikr Remembrance (mention). [4] He is before One Living, Mighty.

        Follow the decree[s] (ḥukm) such as He hath inspired unto Thee (waḥy ilayk) since the same cometh from thy Lord. The amr (`[Divine] command’) hath indeed stipulated and all shall be resurrected at the new Assembling (fī ḥashr al-badī`).

        Say: `I am a servant from the Baqiyyat-Allāh (Remnant of God). I have believd in God and His verses [signs] and what hath been sent down in the Qur’ān on the part of God. He, verily, no God is there except Him...

        Say: `My name is Muhammad after the word `Alī [= Muhammad `Alī] and the name of my father, after the mention of the word Muhammad is Riyā' [= Muhammad Riyā']. He, assuredly, was written down in the Book of God. The name of my grandfather in the Book of God was Ibrāhīm (Abraham) and the name of his father (the Bāb's great-grandfather) was Naṣr-Allāh such as is recorded in the Qur'ān. 2

        This Book is a Remembrance on My part in order that the people might be instructed. What follows is everything which was sent down on the part of the Remembrance (= the Bāb) in the days of His Lord -- written during a fifteen month period and sometime earlier. Persons should preserve it, just as they do their own selves, a recompense (jazā') for the Day when all shall be belong to God. They should write down these sūras:

Yūsuf.. and ....

[3] Kitāb al-`ulamā’ (`Book of the Divines’)

[4] Kitāb al-ṭahāra (`Book of Purity’)

[5] Kitāb al-asmā’ (`Book of Names’)

[6] Kitāb-i panj sha`n (`Book of the Five Grades/Modes’)

3.4 The Kitab among the writings of Bahā'-Allāh

        That Bahā'-Allāh quite frequently used kitāb with the general sense of a written communication of indeterminate length would seem be be illustrated by the fact that he often acknowledged the receipt of a written communication with such words as the following: (Ar.) qad haḍara kitābuka, "Your kitāb (`letter’, `petition’, `missive’...) hath been received

[1]     The Kitāb-i īqān (The Book of Certitude).

The Kitāb-i īqān is a roughly 200 page Persian volume

[2]     Kitāb-i Badī` (The Revolutionary Book)

    One of the longest works of Bahā’-Allāh-Khādim-Allāh is the Persian, Edirne period Kitāb-i badī` which could be variously translated "Wondrous Book", "Revolutionary Book', `Novel Book'; etc. It contains 411 pp. in the printed edition which reproduces a mss. in the hand of Bahā'-Allāh's amanuensis Zayn al-Muqarrabīn.

        The Kitāb-i Badī` is an example of a `Tablet’ of Bahā’-Allāh identified at its outset as the Kitāb al-abhā , the `The All-Glorious Book’ , `Most Beautiful Missive’ or a work composed by that person who is Abha ("All-Glorious" = Bahā'-Allāh). It begins as follows:

He is God

This is the Kitāb al-abhā (The All-Glorious Book)

unto he who hath taken firm hold upon the Cord of Guidance.

        [1] O Muṣṭafā! Hearken unto My Call from the direction of the Prison to the effect that `He, no God is there save Him, the Lord of the Hereafter and of the Primordial era’ (rabb al-ākhirā wal-ūlā).’ [2] Assist thy Lord to the extent that He hath made thee capable and make mention of Him, perchance He might spread abroad the breezes of the Remembrance of the Name of thy Lord, the Exalted, the Most Exalted (al-`aliyy al-a`lā).

        Say: `O people! The Lord of the Throne and the Laudation (rabb al-`arsh wa’l-tharā) hath assuredly come. Such hath been heard from every fibre of His Being to the degree that the very hairs [of His head] (al-sha`r) are even as the verses of thy Lord, the Most Great.

        Say: `Do ye cast aside God and worship [the false gods, idols] al-Lāt [=` The Goddess’] and al-`Uzzā?’ (`The Strong One’) ( cf. Q.53:19). Such indeed is naught save error, O people of whoredom and infidelity (al-baghī wa’l-ṭughā)! And the Spirit be upon thee and upon whomsoever with thee of the inmates of guidance (aṣḥāb al-hudā)." (La’ālī al-ḥikma, 2:273 No. 133).

[X]     The al-Kitāb al-aqdas, the Most Holy Book (c. 1873).

        The wholly Arabic central ethico-legal Bahā’ī text of the the West Galilean (`Akkā’) period is entitled al-Kitāb al-aqdas. This is literally translated into   Persian as Kitāb-i aqdas   and is a scriptural Baha'i "Book" par excellance.

This Book is a heaven which We have adorned with the stars of Our

commandments and prohibitions. Blessed the man who will read it, and ponder

the verses sent down in it by God, the Lord of Power, the Almighty.
Say, O men! Take hold of it with the hand of resignation ...

By My life It hath been sent down in a manner that amazeth the minds of men. Verily, it is My weightiest testimony unto all people, and the proof of the All-Merciful unto all who are in heaven and all who are on earth.

[x] The al-Kitāb al-`Ahdī or "The Book of My Covenant" (c1890?).

The will and testament of Bahā’-Allāh is entitled al-Kitāb al-`Ahdī   which literally means "The Book of My Covenant". The loose Persian rendering, Kitāb-i `ahd (The Book of the Covenant) omits or ignores the first person pronominal ending "ī" (="my") is dropped.

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Sūra(h) (pl. Suwar). (Per.) Surih ....

4.0 The Arabic Sūra derives from the Syriac ṣūrṭā, sūrthā

Wehr =

4.1 The Islamis use of the word surah.

    In his article ṣura in EI2 (vol IX:885) states,

"SURA, the designation used for the 114 independent units of the Kur’ān, often translated as "chapter". The sūras are distinct units, unlike the frequently arbitrary divisions of the books of the Bible made by later editors.... Jeffery (182) and Bell-Watt (58) conclude that sūra entered the Kur'ān as a technical term, most likely derived from the Syriac word for "a writing" and "a portion of scripture", thus making it parallel to kur'ān, kitāb, and other Kur'ānic terms of Syriac origin that are associated with revelation or scripture. Opinions will no doubt continue to differ on the origin of this term. Regardless of its derivation, the view that its earliest usage occurs in the K.ur'ān is the most plausible assumption."

Translation:

a) Early Muslim:

"1. Derivation and Kur'anic usage. The fact that the early Muslim commentators and lexicographers offered a wide variety of opinions on the origin of the term sūra, normally seeking an Arabic root (see al-Raghib al-Isfahānī, Mufradāt, 248; Noldeke, Gesch. des Qor., i, 31 n. 1), shows that its derivation was not known." (EI2)

b) European +

"The older European majority view, accepted also by Noldeke (ibid., i, 30-1), derived the Arabic sūra from the Hebrew shūrā, used in the Mishnah for "row, series". For a

discussion of a variety of imaginative theories that derive sūra mostly from various Hebrew terms, along with arguments against each of these, see A. Jeffery, The foreign vocabulay of thc Qurān, Baroda 1938, (180-2)." (EI2)

Miscellaneous suggested translations of Surāh include,

`chapter’,( lit. perhaps`unit [of scripture]’)

This Arabic word sūrah in its qur’ānic usuage, basically indicated a `unit’ or `section’ of revelation of indeterminate length. A fairly straightforward though not completely literal English translation would be `section’ or `chapter’. Chapter in English indicates

Sūrah best untranslated EI2:

"They are also unlike the topical, chronological and other types of major divisions of other books called "chapters". Thus it seems best to leave the term "surā" untranslated,

treating it as a technical term, similar to "mishnah", "seder", "sutra", "upanishad" and other terms for units of sacred writings that European languages have adopted

from various religious traditions. As distinct literary units of scripture that are best not regarded as "chapters", the sūras of the Kur'ān have a parallel in the Psalms of the

Bible." (EI2)

The word Sūrah in the Q. + Tafsir...

EI2

The term sūra occurs in the Kur'ān nine times in the singular and once in the plural (suwar), all probably in Medinan contexts. It is useful to make a distinction between the usage of this term in the Kur'ān during Muhammad's lifetime and its later usage after the compilation of the completed Islamic scripture. Within the Kur'ān the term sūra is best interpreted simply as "a unit of revelation", making it synonymous with some Kur’ānic usages of kur'ān, āya, and kitāb [see KUR'ĀN, I.b, esp. at 402a]. In most contexts the term sūra seems to refer to a short unit, possibly just a few verses, such as IX, 64, in which the Hypocrites [see MUNĀFIKŪN] are said to be afraid "lest a sūra be sent down against them, telling [Muhammad] what is in their hearts". Cf. IX, 86, 124, 127 and XLVII, 20, which also to refer to specific commands or information being "sent down" to Muhammad, suggesting short units of revelation, rather than the present sūras. Three other contexts refer to accusations from Muhammad's opponents that he had been forging or inventing revelations. The Kur'ān responds with challenges that may provide insight into the history of the sūras and of the text of the Kur'ān during Muhammad's lifetime. The context that appears to be the earliest of these three is Xl, 13:

"Or do they say, 'He has invented it' (#lara-hu)? Then bring ten sawar like it, invented, and call upon whomever you are able apart from God, if you speak the truth."

This verse is later repeated verbatim in X, 38, with one significant change: "Then bring a sura like it, ...." [-<-888 :9->SURA] or mihwar (core or axis), which unites its various sec-tions into a harmonious whole...."SEE On EI2

See the Bab's Tablet to Turkish Sultan `And al-Majid.

■ Surah in Modern Scholarship.

EI2 "Questions regarding the composition, unity, and coherence of the Sūras are among the most disputed issues in modern Kur'an studies.

■ Names and Nature of qur’ānic sūras.

"... many sūras of the Qur'an fall into short sections or paragraphs. These are not of fixed length, however, nor do they seem to follow any pattern of length. Their length is determined not by any consideration of form but by the subject or incident treated in each" (175) (Bell-Watt, 73)

2.0 Sūrahs in Bābī scripture.

QA 111 Sūrahs -- see list.

The Bāb sometimes followed the qur’ānic prototype in dividing his revelations, like the Qur’ān, into Sūrahs. His major first book, the distinctly neo-qur’ānic, wholly Arabic, Qayyūm al-āsmā’ (lit. `Self-Subsisting of the [Divine] Names’; 1260 AH = mid. 1844) is a large work the purpose of which is to expound in allusive, messianic and esoteric-qabbalisyic fashion the 12th surah of the Qur’ān , the Surat Yūsuf. This 12th surah has 111 verses which are fully cited at the opening of all but the first of the 111 sūrahs of the new semi-, quasi- exegetical work. Each of these new sūrahs of the QA was subsequently given a new name by the Bāb. Like many of the sūrahs of the Qur’ān their names sometimes come from key or suggestive words which occur or are a centre of attention in the text of the new Sūrah. SEE APPENDIX X.

The basic structure of the new Sūrahs of the QA echo those of the Qur’ān; though with some differences. The Sūrahs of the QA commence with the basmalah (`In the Name fof God, the Merciful, the Compassionate’) followed by the progressive citation of one of the successive verses of the 12th Sūrah. Then, save in 6 instances ( ?), are placed between 1 & 5 (?) disconneted letters. Next comes around forty (L-Y =30+10=) verses of rhyming prose, a few of which, usually towards the end of each new sūrah, interpret in loosely rewritten-eisegetical fashion the verse cited at the head of the sūra -- and sometimes other verses from Surah 12 of the Sūra of Joseph also. The bulk of most of the Sūras does not largely or directly conatin interpetations or rewrites of portions of Sūrah 12.

Most then of the 111 Sūrahs of the QA contain a midrashically rewritten verse of Surah 12 in the context of a suggestive, allusive and interpretive, re-revelation of other portions of the Qur’ān or verses closely related thereto.

.chapter divided up onto Sūrahs each pne oriented around a midrashic or interpretive `rewrite’ of one of the 111 verses of the 12th chapter of the Qur’ān, the Surat Yūsuf (`Surah of Joseph’) .

TB.1A?03? Tafs'r-i hn[uwa] [A] ("Commentary on the Divine Masculine Personal Pronoun") Unpublished : Photocopy of typed manuscript ( Bah

As with some other of Bahā’-Allāh’s writings the Sūrat al-s*abr (`Sūrah of Patience’) is also known as the Lawh*-i `Ayyūb (`The Tablet of Job’)

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Ṣaḥīfa(h) (pl. Ṣuhuf).

Sheet, page, paper, document, Scrolls,

4.0 Examples of the English translations of Ṣāḥīfa include,

"Ṣaḥīfah

"Ṣaḥīfah (pl. ṣuḥuf) means 'document'. The Arabs understood it as any kind of sheet to write on. The term was common in pre-Islamic Arabia. It is mentioned in the Qur'an, in ḥadīth, in poetry 185 and by different Arab authors.186 Moreover, it is attested several times in South Arabian inscriptions, in Sabaic,187 several times in Qatabanian 188 and mostly frequently in Minaean inscriptions.189 The word ṣaḥīfah derives from the South Semitic root ṣḥf, 190 which means 'to write, write down, inscribe'. The word ṣḥft in South Arabian inscriptions usually means a document written on stone. Ṣaḥīfah was used for writing important subjects like religious themes, contracts, and so on.191 The root is also found in Akkadian (ṣepu).192 The Arabic word maṣḥaf, 'book, volume', which is found for the Qur'an, was borrowed from Ge'ez;193 the word originally meant a 'volume of ṣuḥuf’. Ṣuḥuf means 'rolls', as was noted by Classical Arabic authors.194 The Arabic word ṣaḥīfah is of South Arabian origin195 and seems to refer to a document or a sheet, written on any kind of material, such as leather or stone. The Arabic sources define the qadīm as white leather or white ṣaḥīfah for Writing. The pre-Islamic poet al-Ashā mentions silver documents (siḥāf al-fiyyah)."196

(Maqaret, 309).

4.1

4.2 ISLAM

Watt&Bell, 218

Q. 20:133? 53:76; 80:13;87:18 (cf. 74:52; 81:10).

Heavenly record of original revelation(?) 98:2

The Qur’ān says very little about divine revelations sent down prior to the time of Moses though it does mention the Ṣuḥuf Ibrahīm (`The Scrolls of Abraham [ and Moses]’ Q. 87:19); whose posterity were heirs to "the gift of prophecy and a book" (39:26b??) -- Jewish writers sometimes attribute the mystical Sepher Yetẓirah ("Book of Creation") to Abraham.

The basic Muslim belief in considerable quantities of pre-Mosaic divine revelations to a various `prophet figures’ is succinctly expressed by al-Ṭabārī in his History (see below 0.0 )

"It is said that the leaves [ṣuḥuf ] which God revealed to Abraham were ten in number.. I heard this [related] from... Abū Dharr al-Ghifārī: I asked, "O Messenger of God! How many books [kitāb] did God reveal?" He said, "One hundred and four books. To Adam he revealed ten leaves [ṣahā’if ], to Seth fifty leaves, and to Enoch thirty leaves. To Abraham he revealed ten leaves [ṣahā’if] and also the Torah, the Injīl, the Zabūr, and the Furqān." I said, "O Messenger of God! What were the leaves of Abraham?" He answered, "They were all proverbs... And they included parables.." (Trans. Brinner, History II:130-1; cf. Ṭabarī, Tārīkh [1997] I:187 ).3

The Qur’ān, in fact say very little about divine revelations sent down prior to the time of Moses though it does mention the Ṣuḥuf Ibrahīm (`The Scrolls of Abraham [ and Moses]’ Q. 87:19); whose posterity were heirs to "the gift of prophecy and a book" (39:26b??).

Jewish writers sometimes attribute the mystical Sepher Yetẓirah ("Book of Creation") to Abraham and various pseudepigraphical works of antiquity and later have been ascribed to this patriach and prophet of the Jewish and Islamic religions. .

It is registerd in Muslim tradition that the pre-Mosaic prophets communicated varying numners of divinely inspired papers, scrolls or writings, that is, ṣuḥuf to humankind. This basic Muslim belief in the existence of considerable quantities of pre-Mosaic divine revelations to a number of select `prophet figures’ is succinctly expressed by al-Ṭabārī (d. 923 CE) in his History (see below 0.0 )

"It is said that the leaves [ṣuḥuf ] which God revealed to Abraham were ten in number.. I heard this [related] from... Abū Dharr al-Ghifārī:` I asked, "O Messenger of God! How many books [kitāb] did God reveal?" He said, "One hundred and four books. To Adam he revealed ten leaves [ṣahā’if ], to Seth fifty leaves, and to Enoch thirty leaves. To Abraham he revealed ten leaves [ṣahā’if] and also the Torah, the Injīl, the Zabūr, and the Furqān." I said, "O Messenger of God! What were the leaves of Abraham?" He answered, "They were all proverbs... And they included parables.." (Trans. Brinner, History II:130-1; cf. Ṭabarī, Tārīkh [1997] I:187 ).4

Thackston. xxx Tales of the Prophets of al-Kisa'i

"... Further, according to Ibn Munabbih, one hundred and four books had been revealed to man, among them the Book of Seth, the Book of Enoch, the Book of Moses (which is the Torah), the Book of David (the Psalter), the Book of Jesus (the Gospel), and the Book of Muhammad (the Koran); others add the Book of Adam (see also Ibn al-Nadim, Fihrist, p. 22 for substantially the same traditions reported by Aḥmad ibn 'Abdullah ibn Salam).

Occasional references to these pre-Mosaic revelations are found in Bābī-Bahā’ī primary texts: their historicity is assumed.

Occasional references to these pre-Mosaic revelations are found in Bābī-Bahā’ī primary texts: their historicity is assumed.

In emergent Islām the term ṣaḥīfah designated ḥadīth collections. Early on indicative of "manuscripts" ṣuḥuf (pl. ṣaḥīfah) indicated ḥadīth collections in the possession of one hundred or more companions and followers (tābi`ūn) of the Prophet Muhammad. Though mostly lost a few secondary copies have survived including the ṣaḥīfah of Hammām b. Munabbih (mid. 1st cent AH / 7th cent. CE?) comprising 138 ḥadīth ("traditions") with the sanad (pl. isnād), the `teacher-transmitter’ (or `chain of transmitters’) (see Abduh Rauf, CHAL., 1:272).

4.2 Ṣāḥīfa (pl. ṣuḥuf) in the Bābī religion

The Bāb and Ṣuhuf

[1] Ṣāḥifa bayn al-Ḥaramayn (Ar. Jan 1845 between Mecca and Medīna)

An early work of the Bāb dating from the period of his passing between the Muslim, Saudi Arabian located, holy cities of Mecca and Medīna is entitled, Ṣāḥīfah bayn al-h*aramayn which Shoghi Effendi rendered, `Epistle between the Two Shrines’,

Shoghi Effendi (BWlists 3 others

[2] Ṣaḥifa Ja`fariyyah

[3] Ṣaḥīfah Makhzūna = Ṣaḥīfah-yi Du`a

[4] Ṣaḥīfah Rayawiyyah.

[5] Ṣaḥīfah-yi `Adliyya (PERSIAN)

[7] Ṣahīfah a`māl al-sana

4.3 Ṣāḥīfa (pl. ṣuḥuf) in the Bāhā’ī religion.

Like the Bāb BH* from the earliest period of his ministry referred to select writings by means of the term Ṣāḥifa. Examples from the Iraq period (1853-1863) include:

Ṣaḥīfa-yi Fātimiyya (Scroll of Fātīma)

Ṣaḥifa-yi Shaṭṭiyya (`The Scroll of the

(6)

Tafsīr = "Commentary", "Exposition" + Sharh

The best known of the Bābī-Bahā’ī tafsīr works are as follows, in loosely chronological order:

6.1 The Tafsir works of the Bab.

        One of his earliest, if not earliest (largely) extant pre-declaration (May 22/23 1844) works of the Bāb is his Tafsīr Surat al-baqarā ("Commentary on the Sūra of the Cow").

The aforementioned first major and one of the best known (though inadequately /least studied) works of the Bāb if his Tafsīr Sūra Yūsuf ("Commentary on the Surah of Joseph"). This work however has sevral names, most notably, Qayyūm al-Asmā’, and Aḥsān al-Qaṣaṣ ("The Best[ Most Noble] of Stories" ).

To complicate matters this work at its outset, like the Qur’ān identifies itself as a "Book" :

"In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate"

[1] Praised be unto God Who, in very Truth, sent down the Book (al-kitāb) unto His servant that it might be a Lamp (sirāj an)and a unto all the world....

This work is not a commetary in the classical sense of the word ot like , for example, that of Ibn `Abbas, Ja`far al-Ṣādiq (d. 765) al-Ṭabarī (d.932) of al-Tabarsī (d. ). Rather it is a kind of neo-Tafsir in the sense of being a re-revelation of qur’ānic verses interspersed with new material, or consistring wholly of new material. Neither are all the Bab’s "commentaries" like the Qayyūm al-asmā’.

Chronological List

1) Tafsīr Sūrat al-Baqārā (Q.II)

2) Tafsīr Sūrat Yusūf (Q. 12)

3. Tafsīr Huruf al-Basmalah (Q.x113)

4). Tafsīr Sūrat al-Kawthar (Shīrāz 18 ) -- int. Sayyid Yaḥyā Darābī, Vaḥīd (d. )

5). Tafsīr Sūrat al-Aṣr (Iṣfahān 18 ) -- int. Sayyid Muhammad, Sulṭān al-`ulamā’

6. Tafsīr Sūrat al-Hamd/Tawḥīd

7. Tafsir āyāt al-nūr (Q. 24:35)

8) Tafsīr Surat al-Qadr

9. Tafsīr Du`a al-ṣabāh

10. Tafsīr al-hā’ I & II

11. Tafsīr Hadīth al-ḥaqīqa

12 Tafsīr Hadīth al-Jāriyya

13. Tafsīr hadīth kullu yawm `Ashūra’

14. Tafsīr hadīth man `arafa nafsahu...

15 Tafsīr hadīth naḥnu wajh Allāh

16 Tadsīr Haykal al-Dīn

        We have observed above (1.X) that tafsir was one of the 5 divisions into which the Bab divided his writings.

Cf. Bābī Tafsīrs

Mullā Ḥuasyn

Quddūs

Tāhira trans of QA. Persian

2.2The Tafsir works of Baha'-Allah

[1] Tafsīr-i hū[uwa] [A] ("Commentary on the Divine Masculine Personal Pronoun") Unpublished : Photocopy of typed manuscript ( Bah

1. Tafsīr āyāt Sūrat al-Kahf wa’l-Qalam

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.Tafsīr Ṣurah wa’-Shams ("By the Sun.." Q. )

9.

10.

Cf. Lawh-i `Ayyūb = Surat al-Ṣabr.

Sharḥ ("Commentary" )

of Bāb -- other than Q.

Sharḥ kafiyyat al-mi`rāj

Shaḥh of Bahā’

(1)

7.0

Risālah `Treatise’

6.3 Bāb

[0] Risāla Fiqhiyya Bushihr -- lost?

[1] Risāla fi’l-suluk ("The Way")

[2] Risālah `adliyyih

[3] Risālah furū` al-`Adliyya

[4] Risālah dhahabiyya I & II

[5] Risāla fi’l-ghana (`Epistle on Singing’)

[6] Risāla fī’l-nubuwwa Khaṣṣah

6.4 Bahā’-Allāh

[1] Risāla-yi Khāl first title of the Kitāb-i īqān.

[2]

[3]

[4]

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Khuṭbas ("Sermons", "Orations"..)

The Arabic word khuṭba (pl. Khuṭbāt) can be translated "sermon", "oration". It can indicate an oral discourse or homily of religious sigiificance as well as a written record thereof.

Oral-->Written

cf. akhbar, ḥadīth; Pilgrim Notes

7.1 The Islamic, Shi`i-Shaykhi background.

Within Shi`i literatures sermons allegedly delivered by the Prophet Muhammad or various of the Imams are recorded. Especially important are a number of khuṭba delivered by the 1st Imam `Alī b. Alī Ṭālib (d. 40/66). These include:

a) Several found within the Nahj al-Balaghah (Path of Eloquence), a compilation of materials ascribed to Imam `Alī. CHECK

b) Sermonic discourses ascribed to Imam `Alī not found in the Nahj al-Balaghah but in various other sources. They include:

Khuṭbah al-Bayān (`Sermon of the Bayān’)

Khuṭbah al-ṭaṭanjiyya [ṭutunjiyya] ("The Sermon of the Gulf").

7.2. Bāb

12 listed in Kitāb al-fihrist

including one on `ilm al-ḥurūf (`Science of letters’)

2 Bushir

Khuṭbah-yi Qahriyya ("Sermon of Wrath")

Khuṭbah in Bushir x 2

in Banakān (lost)

in Kanakān (2 mss)

on `Id al-Fiṭr written in Musqat (2mss.)

In Jidda

on sufferings of Ḥusayn = Khuṭbah fī’l-Ṣafīna

on the way to Mecca (x3)

for Mulla Ḥusayn on board ship awaiting embrarkation (?) (2mss).

On gematria

one stage from Medina

Two near Ṣafra

As preface to Tafsīr Sūrat al-Kawthar

7.3 Bahā'-Allah

Among the many alwah of Bahā'-Allāh is one entitled the Sūrat al-Khitāb ("The Sūra of the Oration") which is probably to be dated to the early Edirne period (c. 1864-5?). It commences,

He is the Almighty in the Abhā’ Horizon

by virtue of His Name, the Transcendent, the All-Glorious

(al-aliyy al-abhā).

The Dikr-Allah in the form of Fire (ha’īt al-nār) in the Temple of Light (haykal al-nūr) from the Lote-Tree of Humanity (sidrat al-insān), by the permission of God (bi-udhn al-raḥmān) was assuredly, in very Truth manifest (bi’l-ḥaqq mashūn an) in the Midmnost heart [Pivot] of Paradise (quṭb al-jannān)..."

(Trans. from a 1984 Haifa supplied typescript Sūrat al-Khitāb).

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Dalā’il & Istidlāliyya ("Proof" & "Testimonia")

Dalāl (pl. Dalā’il) cf. Burḥān (Evidence),

Istidlaliyya (Testimonia)

9.1. Early Christians books of Testimonies

9.2 Islam

9.3 Bāb

Dalā’il-i sab`ah ("The Seven Proofs")

[1] Arabic

[2] Persian

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Poetical Writings -- Qasidaha, Mathnawīs

10.1 Linguistic

10.2 Islam-- rhyming prose of Q.

Cf Ṣurat al-Khiṭāb.

SEE khuṭbas"

Bāb

10.3

10.Bahā’

al-Qaṣidah al-Warqā’iyya

Mathnawi

[11]

Gematric and Talismanic revelations.

11.3 Haykal al-Dīn ("Temple of Religion") + Comm.

11.4 Sūrat al-Haykal of Bahā’

-- several key one attached to

(12)

Pesudo-Pseudepigraphical Revelations.

13. 1 It is not known whether the Bāb

12.1 Bāb

12.2 Bahā’

a) Pseudo-Bāb [Yaḥyā]

12.2 On occasion Bahā'-Allāh wrote in the style and / or the persona of the Bāb. This was especially true of the very early Iraq, pre-Kurdistan (1852-1854) period and the early-mid. Edirne years (1863-6)

12.3 Prior to his declaration in 1863 Bahā'-Allāh occasionally wrote as if his half brother and de facto leader of the post-July 9th1850 Pseudo-Yaḥyā

Mīrzā Khādim-Allāh + Amanuensis

b) AB* and pseudo-Baha'u'llah.

AB* in certain early writings

(13)

Ṣalat, Du`a, Munajat

(`Prayers, Supplications, devotions..)

(13) 1) Ṣalat, 2) Du`a (Oblig. Prayers, Personal Devotions and Talismans)

13.1

13.2

13.3 Bāb 10 Du`ā written in reply to questions in Kitāb al-fihrist.

13.3.1

Du`a-yi Alf = Tafsīr al-hā’ [I?]

Du`a-yi Ṣaḥīfah = Ṣaḥīfah yi- Makhzūna

(14)

Ḥajj, Zīyārih ("Visitation") and other ritual prayers and directives

A commemorative prayer usually to be recited on visitation to the grave or shine of a given individual

14.01Hajj -- Arabic ḥajja verb = (to overcome defeat, confute).. to make the pilgrimage...

14.02Ziyāra -- Z-W-R = to call, visit (holy places).. Mazār = place at which one visits, shrine, sanctuary.

14.2 Islam -- visits to shrines of Imāms as differentiated from obligatory Ḥajj

14 .3 Bāb

QA VII = Surat al-Ziyāra (The Surah of the Visitation):

"He is the One Who accepts from the [His] Visitor (zā’ir[ihu]) on the Visitation of the True One (bi-ziyārat al-ḥaqq), unto His Own Self (li-nafsihi)..."

Ziyarat-i Shāh `Abd al-Aẓīm

Ziyāra jāmi`a-kabīra

Ziyāra jāmi`a-saghira

Ziyara al-Zahra

14.4 Baha’u’llāh

1) Surat al-ḥajj I

Sūrat al=ḥajj II

2) Ziyaras

Many thousands

Past worthies:

[1] Z. Imām Ḥusayn --

Bābī and Bahā’ī notables and martyrs:

Manuchihr Khān

Bahā’ī

APPENDIX : JAFR

"A lamb or calf four months old (when it begins to ruminate); doe-skin parchment for writing; the art of divining from certain characters written by `Al' upon a camel's skin, which contains all events, past present and future; according to others the art of making amulets or charms, said to oriinate from Ja`far al-Sādiq.." (see Steingass, 365-6).

"Praised be unto God who taught humanity that which they knew not and blessings and peace be upon Our Master Muhammad sent unto the best of the nations and unto his family and his select [chosen] companions from among the Arabs and the other peoples. To continue. Know [thou] -- may God aid me and asist thee with a spirit which cometh from Him --that the science of Jafr (al-`ilm al-jarf) is [regulated] by alphabetical riles (bi-qawānīn ḥarfiyya) through which comes about the invention [divination] of secrets [hidden things] (istinbā al-majhūlāt) realting to conrete [cosmic] events (ḥawādīth al-kawniyya) the locale of the letters, gathered up in the scrolls of universal jafr (al-mutajami`ah fī ṣaḥā'if al-jafr al-jām`a) and the resplendent Light (al-nūr al-lāma`a) by the Prince [leader, head] of the Believers (li-ya`sūb al-mumimīn) ... `Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib.." (Kitāb al-jafr al-jāmi` wa'l-nūr al-lāmi`) Dar Beirut: maktabah al-tarbiyya, 1987).

In 1226/ Shaykh Aḥmad was among other things asked about Jafr by Mulla ,,,

Mazandarani ADD

APPENDIX MAN[KIND] (INSĀN)

The Arabic word ins

In Sufi texts al-ins of spiritual perfection and the guide to men... the "Perfect Man is both all-comprehensive," in the sense that he embraces all realities, and "engendered," that is, he belongs to the world of created things, at least in his outward dimension. If the Perfect Man is the ontological prototype of both the cosmos and the individual man, he is also man perfected, the human state realized in its full breadth and depth..." (Chittick 1991 pp. 65-66). At one point in his Meccan Openings (Futu

As in the Qur'n zim as "Perfect Man" (ins

■ The Sūras and Isolated Letters in the Qayyūm al-asmā' of the Bab.

1 Sūrat al-mulk "Dominion" ------------

2. Sūrat al- "" Alif-Lam-M'm(Q) 1+30+40 total = 71

3. Sūrat al- "" Ṭā'-Hā' (Q)

4. Sūrat al- "" Alif-Lām-Mīm-Ṭā

5. Sūrat al- Alif-Lām-Mīm-`Ayn

6. Sūrat al- Alif-Lām-Mīm-Ṣīn?

7. Sūrat al- Ṭā'-Sīn

8. Sūrat al- Alif-Lām-Mīm-Ṣād (Q)

9. Sūrat al- Alif-Lām-Mīm-Nūn

10. Sūrat al- Alif-Lām-Mīm-Ghayn

11. Sūrat al- Ṭā'-Hā'-Ayn

12. Sūrat al- Kaf-Sīn-Nūn

13. Sūrat al- Ṭā'-Hā'-Mīm

14. Sūrat al- Alif-Lām-Mīm-Ṭā (x2)

15. Sūrat al- Ṭā'-Hā'-Sīn

16. Sūrat al- Alif-Lam-Mīm-Qāf

17. Sūrat al- Alif-Lām-Mīm-`Ayn-Rā'

18. Sūrat al- Kāh-Hā'-Yā-`Ayn-Ṣād (Q)

19. Sūrat al- Alif-Lam-Mīm-Rā' (Q)

20. Sūrat al- Alif-Lam-Mīm-Yā

Q Appendix XXX:The Hurūfāt al-muqaṭṭa`a in their traditional order of the sūras along with their (with numerical-abjad value):

1. Sūra 2: "The Cow" A.L.M 1+30+40 total = 71

2. Sūra 3: "The family of `Imrān" A.L.M 1+30+40 total = 71

3. Sūra 7: "The Heights" A.L.M.Ṣ 1+30+40+90 total = 161

4. Sūra 10: "Jonah" A.L.R 1+30+200 total = 231

5. Sūra 11: "Hūd" A.L.R 1+30+200 total = 231

6. Sūra 12: "Joseph" A.L.R 1+30+200 total = 231

7. Sūra 13: "Thunder" A.L.M.R. 1+30+40+200 total = 271

■ Bibliogaphy

'Abduh and Rida, Falser al-lLur'dn al-hahm, I I vols. Cairo 1325-53/1907-34, repr. as Tafszr al-mandr, 12 vole. Cairo 1367-75/1948-56;

Bakillanī, I'djāz al-Kur'dn, Cairo 1963, 1972;

Bell, Richard + Montgomery Watt.

Introd.

The Qur'dn, translated' with a critical re-arrangemcnt of the Surahs, Edinburgh 1937-9;

idem, A commcntay on the Qur'dn, ed. C. E. Bosworth and M.EJ. Richardson, 2 vole.

Manchester 1991;

R. Blachere, Introduction au Coran, Paris 1947, 1959, 1977; idem, Lo Fran, Paris 1966;

'Abd al-Kadir al-iurianf, Dald'il al-i'r~dz, ed.M.A. al-Muntim, Cairo 1969;

A. Jeffery,Materials for the histoy of the text of the Qur`ān, Leiden 1937;

M. Khalaf ADah and M. Za~lDl SaDam (eds.) DahLh rasd~ilfz i'ijdz al-Kur'dn, 2nd printing, Cairo1968;

Amin al-Khalf, Mandhidi tajdzd fz I-nakw wa 'I-balagha wa 'I-hfsz-r wa 'I-adab, Cairo 1961;

Maraqten,

1998        `Writing Materials in pre-islamic Arabia', JSS XLI11 ( 1998), 287-310

PHILIPS-UNIVERSITAT- MARBURG

J.E. Merrill, Dr. Bell's critical anaysis of the Qur'dn, in ME, xxxvii (1947), 134-48, repr. in R. Paret, Der Koran, Darmstadt 1975, 11-24;

M. Mir, Coherence in the Qur'adn, Indianapolis 1987; idem, The surah as a

uniy: a 20th-centay development an Qur'ān exegesis, in G. Hawting and A.A. Shareef (eds.), Approaches to the Qur'dn, London 1993, 211-24;

A. Nenwirth, Stu-dicn cur Composition der mekkanischen Suren, Berlin 1981;

NfsabOrf, Ghard'ib al-Kur'adn wa-ragid'ib al-furidn, 30 vols. Cairo 1381 -91/1962-71; al-Raghib al-Isfahanī, al-MufadatJi~harzb al-Kur'dn, Cairo 1318/1900 and

several eds.;

Āqā Buzurg al-Tehrānī.

DHĀRI`A 26 vols.

M.A. al-$abanf, Idly al-baydn fi sawar al-Kur'dn, Damascus 1978;

M. Shaltat' Tafszr al-Kur~an al-Kanm, 11 vole., Cairo 1988;

suyatf' al-ltkan fit 'alum al-Kur'dn, 2 vols. Cairo 1935, 1951, and several eds.;

W.M. Watt, Bell's introduction so the Qur'dn, completed revised and enlarged, Edinburgh 1970;

Welch, A.T.,   `Sūra', EI²X:xxxx-xxx

Zama h_arf, Tafszr al-Kas sidf 'an kakd'ik ghawdmid al-hazfl, 4 vols. Cairo and Beirut, and several eds.;

Zarkashf, al-Burhan fz 'alum al-Kur'dn, 4 vols. Cairo 1957, 1972, and 3rd ed. Saudi Arabia [? Riyad]1980.

BAHA'U'LLAH baha'u'llah Bahá'u'lláh Baha'-Allah Bahá