Welch in the article on the Qurʾān in the second edition of the Encyclopedia of Islam . He concludes that the mysterious letters are part of the original text, that they in some fashion represent the Arabic alphabet rather than provide initials or abbreviations of other names or words, that they are associated with the Book or Scripture, which is in most cases mentioned in the text immediately following them, and that they are intended to rhyme or provide assonance with the following verses (Welch, “al-Kurʾān,” 5:412–14).
The mysterious letters are meant to be enigmatic. They establish mantic authority in the text by representing writing or an alphabet rather than specifi c words, and thus refer to a sacred text from which the revelations are drawn that exists on another plane. While Welch emphasizes rhyme in his discussion of the mysterious letters, I would add to this considerations of rhythm as well (Welch, “al-Kurʾān,” 5:414). In most cases, the mysterious letters not only rhyme with the verses following them but also establish a rhythm that will be maintained or modifi ed gradually thereafter. This connection with rhyme and rhythm is also seen in one of the reported watchwords or battle cries of the Muslims that Alan Jones has discussed in connection with the mysterious letters: ḥā-mīm lā yunṣarūn , “Ḥ. M. They will not be made victorious!” (A. Jones, “The mystical letters of the Qurʾān,” SI 16, 1962, (5–11) 6–7). Something that Jones does not emphasize is that the phrase ḥā-mīm rhymes with lā yunṣarūn , and that the two phrases are rhythmically parallel according to the accent-based meter of sajʿ , each colon containing two beats provided by the word accents (See D.J. Stewart, “ Sajʿ in the Qurʾān: Prosody and Structure.” ).
Welch has suggested a similar rule as follows: “Another striking fact that must be more than coincidental is that the mysterious letters represent every consonantal form in Arabic, while no form occurs for more than one letter” (Welch, “al-Kurʾān,” 5:414). Alternatively, the letters may be intended to represent an archaic version of the Arabic alphabet that did not distinguish the six extra letters that appear at the end of the abjad alphabet (the rawādif ). This would be consonant with an aspect of Qurʾānic style that is often overlooked – its language already sounded archaic to the original audience, something that may be implied by the reported characterization of the Qurʾān as asāṭīr al-awwalīn “myths/ stories of the ancients/forefathers” (Q 6:25; 8:31; 16:24; 23:83; 25:5; 27:68; 46:17; 68:15; 83:13). It is also possible that the letters are meant to represent the Hebrew or Aramaic alphabet, which follow the abjad order but do not contain the six rawādif , rather than the Arabic alphabet per se. A main difference between the Hebrew alphabet and the Arabic abjad alphabet has to do with the placement of sīn (s). It occurs in the Arabic abjad sequence in the place corresponding in the Hebrew sequence to that of samech , a Hebrew letter that has no immediate Arabic counterpart; and the place of Arabic shīn is occupied in the Hebrew sequence by one sign that represents both sin and shin. In any case, the mysterious letters are evidently intended to represent a distinctive or archaic alphabet associated with a scripture that is closely tied to the Biblical tradition, exists on a supernatural plane, and serves as the ultimate source for the revelations of the Qurʾān.
The mysterious letters compared with the Abjad alphabet
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