JOURNAL OF ARABIC AND ISLAMIC STUDIES

JAIS
Pavel Pavlovitch
thayyib u fa-yujladu thumma yurjamu (5b) wa-ammā l-bikr u fa-yujladu
thumma yunfā.”
(1a) When a revelation descended upon the Prophet, may Allāh bless him
and grant him peace, he would bend down his head and his companions
would bend down their heads (1b) When he [the Prophet] regained his
composure, he raised his head and said: “(2) Take it from me (3) Allāh has
appointed a way for them. (4) A non-virgin with a non-virgin and a virgin
with a virgin. (5a) As for the non-virgin, he/she should be flogged then
stoned (5b) and as for the virgin, he/she should be flogged and
banished”. 128
In al-Ṭabarī’s variant, clause 1a lacks the image of grief and sorrow
conveyed by the verb kuriba; in fact, it lacks even the pallid-face section,
which is usually present in the other narratives. Thus the dramatic
context
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of the kuriba-version is absent in favor of the lackluster headbending.
The clause according to which the Prophet’s companions would
also bend down their heads is superfluous, whereas the section of clause
1b according to which the Prophet raised his head (rafaʿa raʾs a -hu) was
most likely added to the narrative to compensate for the incongruity
between the generic meaning of clause 1 and the specific instance
introduced by clause 1b.
It should be noted that Abū ʿAwāna’s version of the revelation
preamble differs from al-Ṭabarī’s in a notable way. Instead of al-Ṭabarī’s
clause 1a, which is grammatically disconnected from clause 1b and the
ensuing prophetic dictum, Abū ʿAwāna provides us with a more
consistent narrative:
(1a) Anna nabiyy a l-lāh i , ṣalʿam, unzila ʿalay-hi dhāt a yawm in , fa-nakkasa
aṣḥāb u -hu ruʾūs a -hum, (1b) fa-lammā surriya ʿan-hu rafaʿū ruʾūs a -hum
fa-qāla
(1a) One day the revelation was sent down upon the Prophet of Allāh, and
his companions bent down their heads. (1b) When he [the Prophet]
regained his composure, they raised their heads and he [the Prophet] said
203
By employing the locution unzila ʿalay-hi dhāt a yawm in Abū
ʿAwāna’s tradition clearly refers to a specific case of revelation thus
removing the abrupt transition from general to specific in clauses 1a and
1b.
While both al-Ṭabarī and Abū ʿAwāna seem to convey an early
version of the preamble, which is evident from the absence of the later
128 Al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ, 6:496; Abū ʿAwāna, Musnad, 4:121, no. 6253.