Text-Critical Approaches to Sura Structure: Combining Synchronicity with Diachronicity in Sūrat al-Baqara. Part One

Abstract

This article is an exploratory attempt to rationalise a combination of seemingly disparate strands of current thought on sura structure into a workable, if tentative, system. Despite the number of unknowns in this area, the overlapping structures that are posited by thematic concerns, semantic repetitions, sura rhythm, rhyme patterns, and variations in verse length, would seem to highlight the possibility of a fusion of synchronic and diachronic elements in sura composition. The present essay divides into two parts, and four main sections. Part One, ‘Sura Structure I: Thematic and Chiastic Approaches’, contrasts five scholarly analyses of the structure of (largely) Sūrat al-Baqara in order to highlight the differences and overlaps between them. ‘Sura Structure II: Considerations of Rhyme’ builds upon the work of Neuwirth and Stewart, and looks at the rhyme patterns in Sūrat al-Baqara in an attempt to achieve a closer definition of what should be considered anomalous within the context of this sura, and what the structural significance of this could be. Part Two first considers Bazargan's system for the internal division of suras into diachronic layers (‘Sura Structure III: Chronological Markers’), contrasting this to the schemes proposed by Nöldeke and Bell, and making a preliminary attempt at assessing the extent to which apparent chronological markers within al-Baqara can be utilised alongside synchronic approaches to the corpus, in order to attain a more precise understanding of sura structure. Finally, ‘Sura Structure IV: Exploring the Potential for Synthesis’ further investigates the possibility that the structural markers identified by the various hermeneutical systems need not be applied in isolation of one another, and looks at compositional paradigms for the Qur'anic corpus with specific reference to Medinan material.