Semitic Rhetoric as a Key to the Question of the naẓm of the Qur'anic Text

Abstract

The question of the composition (naẓm) of the Qur'an is one that has arisen repeatedly in exegetical studies of the Qur'an, without ever having been really resolved. Biblical studies has been confronted with the same question concerning the apparent ‘disorder’ of certain texts of the Bible. In response to this, Biblical scholars developed a method of analysis of the text, ‘rhetorical analysis’, which involves the theorisation of rules of rhetorical composition of speech as used in the ancient Semitic world. These rules can be applied not only to the Bible, but also to the Qur'an and other sacred texts of Semitic antiquity. In the current study, five suras or fragments of suras are analysed according to the paradigm of rhetorical analysis, showing the very elaborate composition of these texts and the light that this aspect of their composition can shed on their interpretation.