ulum-al-quran

known of the pre-Islamic Arab prosodies. It is distinct from poetry in its lack of metre, i.e. it has no consistent rhythmic
pattern, and it shares with poetry the element of rhyme, [Called fasila ( pl. fawasil) when used for the Qur'an] though in
many cases somewhat irregularly employed.
The Difference between Literature and the Qur'an
Ibn Khaldun (d. 809H/1406), the well-known author of the muqaddima pointed out in a passage on the literature of the
Arabs the difference between literature and the Qur'an in general and between saj' and the Qur'an in particular:
Examples:
'It should be known that the Arabic language and Arab speech are divided into two branches. One of
them is rhymed poetry ... The other branch is prose, that is, non-metrical speech ... The Qur'an is in
prose. However, it does not belong in either of the two categories. It can neither be called straight prose
nor rhymed prose. It is divided into verses. One reaches breaks where taste tells one that the speech
stops. It is then resumed and "repeated" in the next verse. (Rhyme) letters, which would make that (type
of speech) rhymed prose are not obligatory, nor do rhymes (as used in poetry) occur. This situation is
what is meant by the verse of the Qur'an:
'God revealed the best story, a book harmoniously arranged with repeated
verses ...' (Al-Qur'an 39: 23).
[Ibn Khaldun: The Muqaddima, Princeton, 1967, Vol. 3, p.368; Ibn Khaldun: Muqaddima, Cairo, n.d.,
p.424.]
A good example for a saj'-like passage in the Qur'an would be Sura al-ikhlas (112: 14). It is somewhat irregular in its
rhythm, and it has a rhyme ending with the syllable "ad":
Qul huwa llahu ahad Say: He is God the One and Only
Alahus samad God the Eternal, Absolute
Lam yalid wa lam yulad He begetteth not nor is He begotten
wa lam yakun lahu kufuwan ahad And there is none like unto Him.
Of the many passages more like plain prose, although not quite identical to it, as the kind of end-rhyme indicates, the
following may serve as an example:
'Inna auhaina ilaika kama We have sent thee inspiration as We sent it
auhaina ila nuhin wa nabiyina to Noah and the messengers
min ba'dihi wa auhaina ila after him: We sent inspiration to
ibrahima wa isma'ila wa Abraham, Ismail,
ishaqa wa ya'quba Isaac, Jacob
wa-l-asbati wa 'isa wa ayyuba and the tribes, to Jesus, Job,
wa yunusa wa haruna wa Jonah,Aaron, and
sulaimana wa ataina dawuda Solomon, and to David
Zabura. Wa rusulan qad we gave the Psalms. Of some apostles
qasasnahum 'alaika min We have already told thee
qablu wa rusulan lam the story, of others
naqsushum 'alaika wa We have not.
kallama llahu musa taklima. And to Moses God direct spoke.