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538glossary of terms and conceptsTERMINARABICTRANS-LITERATIONENGLISH TRANSLATIONالقرآنal-qur"§n The prophetical revelation This is one part of the Book; it belongs toMuÈammad’s (ß) prophethood.الكتابالمتشابهالمتشابهةالآياتal-kit§bal-mutash§bihal-§y§tal-mutash§bih§tal-qur"§n القرآن ايدal-majÊdal-im§m الإمام المبينal-mubÊnالقصص—‏الكتاب المبينal-qaßaß— al-kit§bal-mubÊnal-sab# السبع المثانيal-math§nÊal-lawÈ اللوح المحفوظal-maÈfåíThe book that contains ambiguous versesThis is one part of the Book; it contains the ambiguousverses and deals with the realities of truthwhich Allah gave MuÈammad’s (ß) prophethood; itseparates truth from falsehood; it is divided into twocategories: sab# al-math§nÊ and al-qur"§n al-#aíÊm.Ambiguous versesThese belong to the prophetical revelation (which iscontained in al-qur"§n and sab# al-math§nÊ).The glorious qur"§nThis is the fixed part of al-qur"§n; it originated in theTablet Preserved; it contains the general and universallaws of all existence, e.g., of the creation (firstexplosion), the laws of development, change,alteration, and destruction, including the eschatologicalteachings of life after death, Hell andParadise, etc.; these laws are universal andunchangeable.The clear recordThis is the changeable part of al-qur"§n; it containstwo sides: the Clear Book and the stories of prophetsand messengers such as Moses and Jesus.The stories and the clear bookThese are things that can change within humanhistory and which are told in the qur"§n as stories;such historical narratives are stored in the ClearRecord, not in the Tablet Preserved; their recordingtakes place after their historical occurrence.The seven oft-recited that introduce chapters of the BookThese are part of the Book, and part of the prophethood;they are in quantity and quality on the samelevel as the qur"§n and as equally abstract ininformation but not expressed in clear Arabic,rather in the form of incomprehensible utterances,e.g., in the form of the seven openings of some såras(such as alif-l§m-mÊm, etc.).The tablet preservedThis contains laws that control the universe andobjective existence; it has programmed the GloriousQur"an from within.