The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

Introduction
xxv

---

THE QUR
 AN

---

This page intentionally left blank

---

1. THE OPENING
This sura is seen to be a precise table of contents of the Qur
anic message. It is
very important in Islamic worship, being an obligatory part of the daily
prayer, repeated several times during the day.
1In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy,
a
the Giver
b
of Mercy!
c
2Praise belongs to God, Lord
d
of the Worlds,
e
3the Lord of Mercy,
the Giver of Mercy, 
4Master of the Day of Judgement. 5It is You we
worship; it is You we ask for help. 
6Guide us to the straight path:
7the path of those You have blessed, those who incur no anger
f
and
who have not gone astray.
a
Most occurrences of this term rahman in the Qur
an are in the context of Him being
mighty and majestic as well as merciful. The addition of the word ‘Lord’ here is
intended to convey this aspect of the term.
b
This term rahim is an intensive form suggesting that the quality of giving mercy is
inherent in God’s nature.
c
This is the only instance where this formula, present at the start of every sura but
one, is counted as the 
first numbered verse.
d
The Arabic root r–b–b has connotations of caring and nurturing in addition to
lordship, and this should be borne in mind wherever the term occurs and is rendered
‘lord’.
e
Al-
 alamin in Arabic means all the worlds, of mankind, angels, animals, plants, this
world, the next, and so forth.
f
Note that the verb here is not attributed to God.

---

2. THE COW
This is a Medinan sura and the longest in the Qur
an, containing material
revealed over several years, and named after the story of the cow which the
Israelites were ordered to slaughter (verses 
67 ff.). The sura opens with a
response to the plea for guidance in Sura 
1, ‘The Opening’, dividing mankind
into three groups in their response to this guidance –– the believers, the dis-
believers, and the hypocrites –– and closes con
firming the tenets of faith given in
the opening verses (
3–5). The addressee shifts as the sura progresses: at various
times the text addresses mankind in general (verses 
21 ff.), where they are urged
to serve God who has been so gracious to them (they are reminded that God
created Adam and favoured him over the angels), the Children of Israel
(verses 
40 ff.), who are reminded of God’s special favours to them and urged to
believe in scriptures that do indeed con
firm their own, and the believers (verses
136 ff.), who are given instruction in many areas––prayer, fasting, pilgrimage,
defence, marital law, and 
financial matters.
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy
1Alif Lam Mim
a
2This is the Scripture in which there is no doubt,
b
containing guid-
ance for those who are mindful
c
of God, 
3who believe in the unseen,
d
a
These are the names of the three Arabic letters a, l, and m. Twenty-nine suras of
the Qur
an begin with separate alphabetical letters like these, from one individual letter
up to 
five. Various interpretations have been offered. It is sufficient to mention two here:
(
1) these letters indicated to the Arabs who first heard the Quran that the Quran
consists of letters and words of their own language, although it was superior to any
speech of their own, being of divine origin; (
2) they are an exclamatory device intended
to arrest the listeners’ attention, similar to the custom of starting poems with an
emphatic ‘No!’ or ‘Indeed!’ Exegetes normally added, after expounding their theories,
‘God knows best.’