Verses

The term “Ayah” (plural: “Ayat”) has been used in various meanings in the Arabic language (though all of them can be traced back to the meaning of “sign”). Here are some of its meanings:

Sign: “Indeed, a sign of his kingship is that the chest will come to you…” (Quran 2:248).
Miracle: “Ask the Children of Israel how many clear signs We gave them…” (Quran 2:211).
Lesson: “Indeed, in that is a sign for the believers” (Quran 15:77).
Proof and Evidence: “And among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth…” (Quran 30:22).
Wonder: “And We made the son of Mary and his mother a sign…” (Quran 23:50).

In Islamic terminology, an “Ayah” refers to a portion of letters, words, or sentences from the Quran that, in terms of boundaries, has been separated from the text before and after it based on the guidance and instruction of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

The recognition of Quranic verses is tawqifi (divinely ordained), meaning the boundaries and limits of the verses must be understood through the guidance of the Prophet (peace be upon him), and personal reasoning or opinion is not permissible in this matter.

Despite the tawqifi nature of recognizing verses, there are differences of opinion regarding many verses. For example, some scholars consider certain disjointed letters (huruf muqatta’at) in the Quran as independent verses, while others do not. Similarly, some consider “Muddaththir” as a single-word verse, while others include “Wal-Najm,” “Wal-Duha,” “Wal-Asr,” and similar phrases as single-word verses.

It is said that these differences arise from differing narrations. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) recited the Quran, he would pause at the end of certain verses to inform people of their boundaries. After this clarification, he would connect the verse to the next one (as they were related), which led some people to assume that the two verses were one.

Al-Zarqani, in Manahil al-Irfan, mentions another theory suggesting that some verses are samā’i (based on direct revelation) and tawqifi, while others are qiyasi (analogical), and their identification depends on the last word of the verse, similar to rhyme in prose and poetry.

Sometimes, by extension or metaphor, a portion of a verse or even more than one verse is referred to as an “Ayah.” For example, Ibn Abbas said: “The most hopeful verse in the Quran is: ‘Indeed, your Lord is full of forgiveness for the people despite their wrongdoing’ (Quran 13:6),” even though it is agreed that this is only a part of a verse. Similarly, Ibn Mas’ud said: “The firmest verse is: ‘So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it’ (Quran 99:7-8),” even though it is known to be two verses.

One of the discussions about the term “Ayah” is whether it is originally Arabic or borrowed from foreign languages. Arthur Jeffery considers this word to be among the foreign words in the Quran. It has been said that the word “Ayah” has Hebrew roots, with the original Hebrew word being “Ateh,” meaning a distinguishing sign or miracle. However, in the works of Ibn Subki, Ibn Hajar, and Al-Suyuti on mu’arrabat (foreign words adopted into Arabic), such a word has not been recorded.

[1] Al-Burhan fi ‘Ulum al-Quran (with marginal notes), vol. 1, p. 266; Al-Itqan fi ‘Ulum al-Quran, vol. 1, p. 230; Manahil al-Irfan fi ‘Ulum al-Quran, vol. 1, p. 341; Foreign Words in the Quran, vol. 1, p. 132; Tarikh al-Quran, vol. 1, p. 549; Basa’ir Dhawi al-Tamyiz fi Lata’if al-Kitab al-Aziz, vol. 1, pp. 84-85.

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