The Meaning of Sūrah: A Linguistic and Interreligious Approach

The meaning of sūrah was an enigma for both early Quranic commentators and modern orientalists. Although many theories have been suggested, they are not generally convincing to scholars, and the question of its origin remains. This essay classifies and re-examines all those theories, critically evaluating them. Using materials and techniques from comparative Semitic linguistics, in addition to information from Abrahamic religions studies, the essay attempts to move beyond previous limitations. A special technique applied in this regard is using the context of Biblical chaptering in Syriac and Ethiopian Christian milieus to develop a model. This model could help explain the process by which sūrah emerged through a Syriac-to-Arabic borrowing. This argument enables us to confirm the suggestion that the word is derived from Syriac šūrayā and further received a semantic contamination from the Hebrew pārāšāh.

کلیدواژه ها:

Quranic divisions ، Biblical chapters ، Kephalaia ، Shūraya ، Psalms ، Syriac loanwords