Question: Shaikh Obaid, the scholars have explored
the many interpretation of the حروف مقطعات ("disjoined letters" or "disconnected letters")
that appear at the beginning of 29 Surahs of the Quran. My question is
specific to two Surahs that start with حروف
مقطعات namely Surah 15 (Al-Hijr) and Surah 27 (Al-Naml)- both start with
similar first Ayats, but we see that the sequence in which the words Kitaab and
Quran are mentioned is different. What is your view on this difference ?
الٓر ۚ تِلْكَ ءَايٰتُ الْكِتٰبِ وَقُرْءَانٍ مُّبِينٍ
"Alif, Lam, Ra. These
are the verses of the Book and a clear Qur'an."
(QS. Al-Hijr 15: Verse 1)
طسٓ ۚ تِلْكَ ءَايٰتُ الْقُرْءَانِ وَكِتَابٍ
مُّبِينٍ
"Ta, Seen. These are
the verses of the Qur'an and a clear Book"
(QS. An-Naml 27: Verse 1)
Answer:
Brother
Tanweer,
As we see, the first ayat Surah Al-Hijr mentions الْكِتٰبِ(The Book) as
definite noun (المعرفة)-, and قُرْءَانٍ (Quran) comes
as indefinite noun( النكرة )-. In Surah
Al-Naml, this sequence is reversed.
The key to
understanding is to look at subjects in the ayats that follow the first ones. In Surah Al-Hijr- where the emphasis is on الْكِتٰبِ (The Book), because the ayats that follow do mention the disbelievers in general first- and in particular those whom Allah punished from the people before Islam. This is clear from Ayat 4.
وَمَآ أَهْلَكْنَا مِنْ قَرْيَةٍ إِلَّا وَلَهَا كِتَابٌ
مَّعْلُومٌ
"And We did not destroy any city but that for it was a
known decree."
(QS. Al-Hijr 15: Verse 4)
Followed
by above, the focus then shifts to the Quran itself in Ayat 9-thus towards the
Muslims- as the people of the Quran.
إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُۥ لَحٰفِظُونَ
"Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur'an and indeed,
We will be its guardian."
(QS. Al-Hijr 15: Verse 9)
So we see the sequence in the first Ayat corresponds to the
sequence in which the two groups of people are mentioned in the following ayats
- الْكِتٰبِ (The Book)
relates to the disbelievers in general, and people of the book that came before
the Quran, which is followed by قُرْءَانٍ (Quran) relating to the Muslims.
In Surah Al-Naml- the emphasis is placed on الْقُرْءَانِ (The Quran),
because the ayats that follow relate to the believers (مُؤْمِنِينَ), and their
characteristics (Ayats 2 and 3).
هُدًى وَبُشْرٰى لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ
"As guidance and good tidings for the believers"
(QS. An-Naml 27: Verse 2)
الَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ الصَّلٰوةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكٰوةَ وَهُمْ
بِالْأَاخِرَةِ هُمْ يُوقِنُونَ
"Who establish prayer and give zakah, and of the
Hereafter they are certain [in faith]."
(QS. An-Naml 27: Verse 3)
The focus
then is directed towards the people of the Book who came before Islam, see Ayat
7.
إِذْ قَالَ مُوسٰى لِأَهْلِهِۦٓ إِنِّىٓ ءَانَسْتُ نَارًا سَئَاتِيكُمْ مِّنْهَا بِخَبَرٍ أَوْ ءَاتِيكُمْ بِشِهَابٍ قَبَسٍ لَّعَلَّكُمْ تَصْطَلُونَ
"[Mention] when Moses said to his family, Indeed, I
have perceived a fire. I will bring you from there information or will bring
you a burning torch that you may warm yourselves."
(QS. An-Naml 27: Verse 7)
A Beautiful Balance
There is
an amazing balance showed not only within the Surahs , but also between them.
Similarly, In Surah Al-Naml, Allah put emphasis on الْقُرْءَانِ (The Quran)
by mentionining it first in the opening Ayat as definite noun, we find the word
قُرْءَانٍ in all forms
appears 4 times- while كِتَابٌ in all forms appears 5 times- thus retaining the theme.
It does not stop here - we see that a balance is further
maintained if we count each word in both Surahs- the words قُرْءَانٍ and كِتَابٌ in all forms come exactly 7 times each- totalling
14, which is total number of letters used in حروف مقطعات.
See table
below for the count showing the balance.
