Robert J. Jackson M.D., FACS, FAANS

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exposé - matière potentielle : neuroscience
exposé - matière potentielle : aans 1999 jackson rj
cours - matière potentielle : novemeber
exposé - matière potentielle : spine section
exposé - matière potentielle : cns boston
exposé - matière potentielle : cns boston jackson rj
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Robert J. Jackson M.D., FACS, FAANS Diplomate American Board of Neurological Surgery Assistant Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery, University of California Irvine Orange County Neurosurgical Associates 23961 Calle Magdalena Suite 504 Laguna Hills, California 92653 949 588-5800 FAX 949 380-3344 EDUCATION Neurosurgery Residency, Baylor College of Medicine, July 1995–2000 The Methodist Hospital Ben Taub General Hospital M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Texas Childrens' Hospital Houston VAMC General Surgery Internship, Baylor College of Medicine, June 1994-1995 M.D., with Honors, Baylor College of Medicine, 1990-1994 B.A., magna cum laude, Chemistry and Biology, University of San Diego 1986-1990 Mater Dei High

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Neuroscience

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Publié par	omkue
Nombre de lectures	24
Langue	English

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The Qur’ans Unique
Literary Form
By Hamza Andreas Tzortzis1. Introduction
1“Read in the Name of your Lord”. These were the first few words of the Qur’an revealed to the Prophet
Muhammad over fourteen hundred years ago. Muhammad, who was known to have been in retreat and meditation
2in a cave outside Mecca , had received the first few words of a book that would have a tremendous impact on the
3world of Arabic literature. Not being known to have composed any piece of poetry and not having any special
4rhetorical gifts, Muhammad had just received the beginning of a book that would deal with matters of belief, law,
5politics, ritual, spirituality, and economics in an ‘entirely new literary form’. The popular historian Karen
Armstrong states,
“It is as though Muhammad had created an entirely new literary form…Without this experience of the Koran, it is
6extremely unlikely that Islam would have taken root.”
This unique literary form was the cause of the dramatic intellectual revival of desert Arabs, and after thirteen
7years of the first revelation, it became the only reference for a new state in Medina. This new form of speech, the
8Qur’an, became the sole source of the new civilisation’s political, philosophical, and spiritual outlook.
The Qur’an’s Challenge
The unique literary form forms the backdrop to the doctrine of I’jaz al-Quran, the inimitability of the Qur’an,
which lies at the heart of the Qur’an’s claim to being of divine origin. The Qur’an states,
“If you are in doubt of what We have revealed to Our messenger, then produce one chapter like it. Call upon all
9
your helpers, besides Allah, if you are truthful”
And
“Or do they say he fabricated the message? Nay, they have no faith. Let them produce a recital like it, if they
10speak the truth.”
11According Qur’anic Exegetes these verses issue a challenge to produce a chapter (surah) that imitates the
Qur’an’s unique literary form. The tools needed to meet this challenge are the finite grammatical rules and the
twenty eight letters that make-up the Arabic language; these are independent and objective measures available to
all. The fact that it has not been matched since it emerged to this day does not surprise most scholars familiar with
12the Arabic language and that of the Qur’an.The inability of any person to produce anything like the Qur’an, due to its unique literary form, is the essence of
13the Qur’anic miracle. A miracle is defined as “events which lie outside the productive capacity of nature”. The
argument posed by Muslim Theologians and Philosophers is that if, with the finite set of Arabic linguistic tools at
humanity’s disposal, there is no effective challenge; then providing a naturalistic explanation for the Qur’an’s
uniqueness is incoherent and doesn’t explain its inimitability. This is because the natural capacity of the text
producer, or author, is able to produce the known literary forms in the Arabic language. The development of an
entirely unique literary form is beyond the scope of the productive nature any author, hence a supernatural entity,
14God, is the only sufficient comprehensive explanation.
It is the purpose of this article to explain how the Qur’an achieves this unique literary form thereby explaining the
miracle of its inimitability.
2. Arabic Literary Forms
According to Muslim and Non-Muslim scholarship, the Qur’an cannot be described as any of the known forms of
15 16Arabic speech; namely poetry and prose. Taha Husayn, a prominent Egyptian Litterateur, during the course of
a public lecture summarised how the Qur’an achieves this unique form:
“But you know that the Qur’an is not prose and that it is not verse either. It is rather Qur’an, and it cannot be
called by any other name but this. It is not verse, and that is clear; for it does not bind itself to the bonds of verse.
And it is not prose, for it is bound by bonds peculiar to itself, not found elsewhere; some of the binds are related
to the endings of its verses and some to that musical sound which is all its own. It is therefore neither verse nor
prose, but it is “a Book whose verses have been perfected the expounded, from One Who is Wise, All-Aware.”
We cannot therefore say its prose, and its text itself is not verse. It has been one of a kind, and nothing like it has
17ever preceded or followed it.”
Every expression of the Arabic language falls into the literary forms of Prose and Poetry. There are other ‘sub’
forms that fall into the above categories such as Kahin; a sub-form of rhymed prose. However all literary forms
can be categorised as prose or poetry.
What is Arabic Poetry?
18Arabic poetry (ash-shi`ru 'l-`arabiy) is a form of metrical speech with a rhyme. The rhyme (qafiyah) in Arabic
19poetry is achieved by every line of the poem ending upon a specific letter. The metrical aspect of Arabic poetry
is due to its rhythmical pattern (arud). Arabic poetry has sixteen rhythmical patterns called ‘al-Bihar’, literally
meaning ‘The Seas’ in Arabic. This term has been used to describe the rhythmical divisions as a result of the way
the poem moves according to its rhythm, just like the waves in the sea.The following is a list of the rhythmical patterns, which all of Arabic poetry adhere too or are loosely based upon;
1. at-Tawîl
2. al-Bassit
3. al-Wafir
4. al-Kamil
5. ar-Rajs
6. al-Khafif
7. al-Hazaj
8. al-Muttakarib
9. al-Munsarih
10. al-Muktatab
11. al-Muktadarak
12. al-Madid
13. al-Mujtath
14. al-Ramel
15. al-Khabab
16. as-Saria’
20Each one of the al-Bihar have a unique rhythmical pattern. The al-Bihar were first codified in the 8th century by
al-Khalil bin Ahmad and have changed little since. The al-Bihar are based on the length of syllables. A short
syllable is a consonant followed by a short vowel. A long syllable is a vowelled letter followed by either an
unvowelled consonant or a long vowel. A nunation sign at the end of a word also makes the final syllable long. In
Arabic poetry each line is divided into two halves.
Below are basic scansions of the rhythmical patterns commonly found in Arabic poetry, showing long (—) and
short (^) syllables. They represent pairs of half-lines and should be read from left to right. The patterns are not
rigidly followed; two short syllables may be substituted for a long one.
Tawil
^ — — ^ — — ^ — — ^ — —
^ — — ^ — — ^ — — ^ — —
Kamil
^ ^ — ^ — ^ ^ — ^ — ^ ^ — ^ —
Wafir
^ — ^ ^ — ^ — ^ ^ — ^ — —^ — ^ ^ — ^ — ^ ^ — ^ — —
Rajs
— — ^ — — — ^ — — — ^ —
— — ^ — — — ^ — — — ^ —
Hazaj
^ — — — ^ — — —
^ — — — ^ — — —
Basit
— — ^ — — ^ — — — ^ — — ^ —
— — ^ — — ^ — — — ^ — — ^ —
Khafif
— ^ — — — — ^ — — ^ — —
— ^ — — — — ^ — — ^ — —
Saria’
— — ^ — — — ^ — — ^ —
— — ^ — — — ^ — — ^ —
An example of Arabic poetry is the ancient Arabian poem called ‘Abu-l-‘Ata of Sind’:
Of thee did I dream,
while spears between us were quivering
and sooth of our blood full drop had drunken the tawny shafts
I know not, by heaven I swear
and true is the word I say this pang
is it love sickness or a spell from thee
If it be a spell,
then grant me grace of my love-longing
If the other the sickness be
21then none is the guilt of thine.
22This poem, in the original Arabic, falls into the rhythmical pattern of at-Tawil, one of the al-Bihar shown above.
A literary analysis on any Arabic Poem will conclude that it adheres too or is based upon the rhythmical patterns.
This is supported by Louis Cheikho who collected pre-Islamic and post-Islamic poetry and concluded that all of
23the poems conformed and were based upon the al-Bihar.
In summary the definition of Arabic poetry is that it has a, End Rhyme
 Syllabic Rhythmical Pattern (al-Bihar)
What is Arabic Prose?
Arabic Prose can be described as non-metrical speech, meaning it does not have a consistent rhythmical pattern
like poetry mentioned above. Arabic prose can be further divided into two categories; saj’ which is rhymed prose
24and Mursal which is straight prose or what some may call ‘normal speech’.
Saj’
Von Denffer in his book ‘Ulum al-Qur’an: An Introduction to the Sciences of the Qur'an’ provides the following
description:
“A literary form with some emphasis on rhythm and rhyme, but distinct from poetry. Saj’ is not really as
sophisticated as poetry, but has been employed by Arab poets, and is the best known of the pre-Islamic Arab
prosodies. It is distinct from poetry in its lack of metre, i.e. it has not consistent rhythmical pattern, and it shares
25with poetry the element of rhyme, though in many cases some what irregularly employed.”
Although saj’ differs from poetry in that it lacks a consistent rhythmical pattern, there is some form of pattern
26based upon the accent in each division of saj’. Accent based rhythmical patterns are based upon stresses rather
than the number of syllables.
Accent based rhythmical patterns are exhibited in Nursery Rhymes in the English Language. The following poem,
‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’, has two stresses (shown in Bold) in each line, but with a varying number of syllables.
Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three bags full;
One for the mas-ter,
And one for the dame,
And one for the lit-tle boy
Who lives down the lane
Additionally saj’ is distinct from poetry a