The Koran
Suras are the term for Quranic sections or chapters. Each Quranic sura has a name. That name either refers directly to some aspect of the sura's subject matter, else serves as a mnemonic, picking up on one or more words or sounds used in it. For example, the second sura in the Quran, al-Baqara ('the Cow'), bears its name because it relates, among other things, the story of how Moses instructed his (somewhat recalcitrant) people about a sacrificial cow. Contrast this with the twentieth sura, Ta Ha, which simply takes its name from its first two Arabic letters, ta and ha.
Suras emanate from different times and places in the life of the prophet Muhammad. Traditional Qurans pay no heed, though, to this chronology, ordering suras instead according to their subject matter and length (with the shorter suras tending to come near the end). Although using a chronological sura arrangement might have certain pedagogical advantages, the fact is that no one can agree on the exact order. Also, most translations follow the traditional order. It has seemed sensible, therefore, to stick to the traditional order for the Quran Browser.
In practical terms, what this means is that if you are reading along in, say, al-Fatihah, and come to the end, the next passage will be al-Baqara 2:1, i.e., the first verse of the sura that comes after al-Fatihah in traditional Qurans.
Because the Quran is written in Arabic, the sura names are Arabic ones. Arabic, though, is very different from English, and not only has many sounds that English speakers have trouble making, but also has far more sounds than our Latin alphabet can reliably transcribe. Because of this, Quran translations normally try to render the sura names in English (e.g., al-Falaq -> 'Daybreak'). Unfortunately, it is not always clear what the sura names mean, or how exactly they should be translated. As a result, the translations often differ radically in how they render them - radically enough to make them incompatible with each other. For example, Dawood translates ad-Duha and al-Falaq as 'Daylight' and 'Daybreak,' respectively. Shakir, however, does precisely the opposite (i.e., 'Daylight' for al-Falaq and 'Daybreak' for ad-Duha).
Because of difficulties both with transcribing and translating the Arabic sura names . It uses Anglicized, and therefore transcribable, versions of the Arabic sura names. The Anglicized sura names are not original to me. Rather, they are drawn from various sources, primarily from N. J. Dawood's translation, where they are given (at least in my 1974 edition) in the appendix on the traditional sequence of chapters.
List of sura names:
For those with at least some knowledge of Arabic, the following chart aims at offering some idea of the underlying pronunciations of the sura names. Arabic sounds are represented as follows: Arabic consonants with close English equivalents are represented with those English equivalents (even in the case of digraphs like th and sh). Where Arabic fricatives have no equivalent, an h is used there as well (e.g., dh). So-called emphatics are represented with capital letters (e.g., emphatic t becomes T). Uvular qaf is q. The voiced and unvoiced pharyngeal fricatives, `ayin and Ha, are represented as ` and H, respectively. Long vowels are doubled (e.g., aa, oo, ee). Final -a is given as ah, a', or a, depending on how the Arabic is spelled. This system is not original to me. Rather, I found it in use at several Islamic sites around the Web.
Number Anglicized name Arabic name English Translation 1 al-Fatihah al-faatiHah The Opening 2 al-Baqarah al-baqarah The Cow 3 Al-Imran aali-`imraan The Family Of Imran 4 an-Nisa' an-nisaa' Women 5 al-Ma'idah al-maa'idah The Food 6 al-An`am al-an`aam The Cattle 7 al-A`raf al-a`raaf The Elevated Places 8 al-Anfal al-anfaal The Spoils Of War 9 at-Taubah at-tawbah Repentance 10 Yunus yoonus Jonah 11 Hud hood Hud 12 Yusuf yoosuf Joseph 13 ar-Ra`d ar-Ra`d The Thunder 14 Ibrahim ibraheem Abraham 15 al-Hijr al-Hijr The Rock 16 an-Nahl an-naHl The Bee 17 bani Isra'il banee Israa'eel The Israelites 18 al-Kahf al-kahf The Cave 19 Maryam maryam Mary 20 Ta Ha Taa haa Ta Ha 21 al-Anbiya' al-anbiyaa' The Prophets 22 al-Hajj al-Hajj The Pilgrimage 23 al-Mu'minun al-mu'minoon The Believers 24 an-Nur an-noor The Light 25 al-Furqan al-furqaan The Criterion 26 ash-Shu`ara' ash-shu`araa' The Poets 27 an-Naml an-naml The Ant 28 al-Qasas al-qasas The Narrative 29 al-`Ankabut al-`ankaboot The Spider 30 ar-Rum ar-room The Romans 31 Luqman luqmaan Lukman 32 as-Sajdah as-sajdah The Adoration 33 al-Ahzab al-aHzab The Allies 34 Saba' as-Saba' Sheba 35 al-Fatir al-faaTir The Creator 36 Ya Sin yaa seen Ya Sin 37 as-Saffat aS-Saaffaat The Rangers 38 Sad Saad Sad 39 az-Zumar az-zumar The Companies 40 al-Mu'min al-mu'min The Forgiving One 41 Ha Mim Sajdah haa meem sajdah Revelations Well Expounded 42 ash-Shura ash-shooraa The Counsel 43 az-Zukhruf azl-zukhruf The Embellishment 44 ad-Dukhan ad-dukhaan The Evident Smoke 45 al-Jathiyah al-jaathiyah The Kneeling 46 al-Ahqaf al-aHqaaf The Sandhills 47 Muhammad muHammad Muhammad 48 al-Fath al-fatH The Victory 49 al-Hujurat al-Hujuraat The Chambers 50 Qaf qaaf Qaf 51 adh-Dhariyat adh-dhaariyaat The Scatterers 52 at-Tur aT-Toor The Mountain 53 an-Najm an-najm The Star 54 al-Qamar al-qamar The Moon 55 ar-Rahman ar-raHmaan The Merciful 56 al-Waqi`ah al-waaqi`ah That Which is Coming 57 al-Hadid al-Hadeed The Iron 58 al-Mujadilah al-mujaadilah She Who Pleaded 59 al-Hashr al-Hashr The Exile 60 al-Mumtahanah al-mumtaHanah She Who is Tested 61 as-Saff as-saff The Ranks 62 al-Jumu`ah al-jumu`ah The Day of Congregation 63 al-Munafiqun al-munafiqoon The Hypocrites 64 at-Taghabun at-taghaabun The Cheating 65 at-Talaq, aT-Talaaq The Divorce 66 at-Tahrim at-taHreem The Prohibition 67 al-Mulk al-mulk The Kingdom 68 al-Qalam al-qalam The Pen 69 al-Haqqah al-Haaqqah The Inevitable 70 al-Ma`arij al-ma`aarij The Ladders 71 Nuh nooH Noah 72 al-Jinn al-jinn The Jinn 73 al-Muzammil al-muzammil The Mantled One 74 al-Mudathir al-muddaththir The Clothed One 75 al-Qiyamah al-qiyaamah The Resurrection 76 ad-Dahr ad-dahr The Man 77 al-Mursalat al-mursalaat The Emissaries 78 an-Naba' an-naba' The Tidings 79 an-Nazi`at an-naazi`aat Those Who Pull Out 80 `Abasa `abasa He Frowned 81 at-Takwir at-takweer The Cessation 82 al-Infitar al-infiTaar The Cleaving Asunder 83 at-Tatfif at-taTfeef The Defrauders 84 al-Inshiqaq al-inshiqaaq The Rending 85 al-Buruj al-burooj the Constellations 86 at-Tariq aT-Taariq The Night-Comer 87 al-A`la al-A`laa The Most High 88 al-Ghashiya al-ghaashiyah The Overwhelming Calamity 89 al-Fajr al-fajr The Dawn 90 al-Balad al-balad The City 91 ash-Shams ash-shams The Sun 92 al-Layl al-lail The Night 93 ad-Duha aD-DuHaa The Early Hours 94 al-Inshirah al-inshiraaH The Expansion 95 at-Tin aT-Teen The Fig 96 al-`Alaq al-`alaq The Clot 97 al-qadr al-qadr The Majesty 98 al-Bayyinah al-bayyinah The Proof 99 al-Zilzal al-Zilzaal The Shaking 100 al-`Adiyat al-`aadiyaat The Assaulters 101 al-Qari`ah al-qaari`ah The Terrible Calamity 102 at-Takathur at-takaathur Worldly Gain 103 al-`Asr al-`asr Time 104 al-Humazah al-humazah The Slanderer 105 al-Fil al-feel The Elephant 106 al-Quraysh al-quraish The Quraish 107 al-Ma`un al-maa`oon The Daily Necessaries 108 al-Kauthar al-kauthar Abundance 109 al-Kafirun al-kaafiroon The Unbelievers 110 an-Nasr an-naSr The Help 111 al-Lahab al-lahab The Flame 112 al-Ikhlas al-ikhlaaS The Unity 113 al-Falaq al-falaq The Daybreak 114 an-Nas an-naas The Men
The Koran
Long before Mohammed's call, Arabian paganism was showing signs of decay. At the Ka'ba the Meccans worshipped not only Allah, the supreme Semitic God, but also a number of female deities whom they regarded as the daughters of Allah. Among these were Al-Lat, Al-Uzzah and Al-Manat, who represented the Sun, Venus and Fortune respectively. Impressed by Jewish and Christian monotheism, a number of men known as 'hanifs' had already rejected idolatry for an ascetic religion of their own. Mohammed appears to have been influenced by them. It was his habit to retire to a cave in the mountains in order to give himself up to solitary prayer and meditation. According to Muslim tradition, one night in Ramadhan about the year 610, as he was asleep or in a trance, the Angel Gabriel came to him and said: 'Recite!'. He replied: 'What shall I recite?'. The order was repeated three times, until the angel himself said:
'Recite in the name of your Lord who created, created man from clots of blood. Recite! Your Lord is the Most Bountiful One, who by the pen taught man what he did not know.'
When he awoke, these words, we are told, seemed to be 'inscribed upon his heart'.
Mohammed, who disclaimed power to perform miracles, firmly believed that he was a messenger of God, sent forth to confirm previous scriptures. God had revealed His will to the Jews and the Christians through chosen apostles, but they disobeyed God's commandments and divided themselves into schismatic sects. The Koran accuses the Jews of corrupting the Scriptures and the Christians of worshipping Jesus as the son of God, although He had expressly commanded them to worship none but Him. Having thus gone astray, they must be brought back to the right path, to the true religion preached by Abraham. This was Islam - absolute submission or resignation to the will of Allah.
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