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QA. 11A

THE

QAYYŪM AL-ASMĀ' 

Part  XI

 سورة السطر

 Sūrat al-saṭr

(The Surah of the [Alphabetical] Line) 

 on

Qur'ān 12:10

Introduction Stephen N. Lambden

1982-2015

 

Part XI of the provisional translation of the Qayyūm al-asmā’ (= QA) of the Bāb (mid. 1844/1260) with brief introduction and selective notes consists of a full versified English translation of the Sūrat al-saṭr (The Surah of the Script / [Alphabetical] Line). This translation was done in the early 1980s though not from any critical edition. I simply consulted several good ms. The Surah title is translated `Surah of the Alphabetical Line'  ....

QA11 opens with the basmala  followed by the citation of Q.12:10 upon which it briefly comments in rewritten fashion in the course of the  Sūrat al-saṭr . Three isolated letters (ḥurufāt al-muqaṭṭa`āt) open the Surah proper, the letters طهع  = Ṭ-H-` (Ṭā'-Hā'- `Ayn = abjad 84). The 3 letters are clearly set down in the K.fihrist, QA mss. 1261+ 1323. This succession does not occur in the Q. but Ṭ-H occurs once; thus Ṭ-H-` is extended with the addition of an `ayn , adding 70 to the abjad value, = 9+5+70 = 84. ...

QA 12:4f opens the Surah of the Alphabetical Line