The disconnected letters at the start of surahs

Twenty-nine of the Quran's one hundred and fourteen surahs open with letters that do not make a word, and they use fourteen of the twenty-eight letters of the Arabic alphabet. This article reads two of these openings, Al-Baqarah and Ash-Shura, and at each gives the Sunni reading of al-Tafsir al-Muyassar first, then the Shia readings of al-Safi (al-Fayd al-Kashani) and al-Mizan (al-Tabataba'i).

Quotations from the three commentaries are my renderings of the Arabic.

"Alif, Lam, Meem" at the head of Al-Baqarah

Alif, Lam, Meem.

(Al-Baqarah 2:1)

Al-Muyassar: these letters, and the other disconnected letters at the start of surahs, point to the Quran's inimitability: the idolaters were challenged with it and could not match it, though it is made of these very letters from which the Arabs' language is built. That the Arabs, the most eloquent of people, could not produce its like shows that the Quran is revelation from God. Al-Safi relays from al-Sadiq: Alif Lam Meem is one of the letters of God's Greatest Name, spread through the Quran, which the Prophet or the Imam puts together; and when he calls by it, he is answered. Al-Kashani then comments: this shows that the disconnected letters are secrets between God and His Messenger, and symbols not meant to be understood by anyone but him and those firmly rooted in knowledge among his descendants. At the head of Al Imran he relays from al-Sadiq: as for Alif Lam Meem in Al Imran, it means: I am God, the Glorious. Al-Mizan defers the discussion of these letters to its commentary on Ash-Shura, the next passage.

"Ha, Meem. 'Ayn, Seen, Qaf" at the head of Ash-Shura

Ha, Meem.

'Ayn, Seen, Qaf.

(Ash-Shura 42:1, Ash-Shura 42:2)

Al-Muyassar: the disconnected letters were discussed at the start of Surah Al-Baqarah. Al-Safi relays from al-Sadiq: it means the Wise, the Rewarder, the Knowing, the Hearing, the Able, the Strong. Al-Mizan: "Ha Meem 'Ayn Seen Qaf" are among the disconnected letters that come at the start of a number of surahs; they are peculiar to the Quran and found in no other revealed scripture; then: commentators old and recent have differed over them, and al-Tabrisi in Majma' al-Bayan relays eleven opinions on their meaning, the first being that they are among the ambiguous verses whose knowledge God has kept to Himself, their interpretation known to none but Him; and in his own view: one may surmise that there is a particular connection between these letters and the content of the surahs they open. It is supported by what we find: Al-A'raf, headed by Alif Lam Meem Sad, seems in its content to combine the content of the Meem surahs and of Sad, and likewise Ar-Ra'd, headed by Alif Lam Meem Ra, seems to combine the content of the Meem surahs and the Ra surahs. From this it follows that these letters are symbols between God and His Messenger, hidden from us, beyond our ordinary understanding except so far as we sense that there is a particular connection between them and the content laid down in the surahs.

Where they agree

All three agree that these letters carry a meaning: al-Muyassar says they "point to the Quran's inimitability", al-Safi "secrets between God and His Messenger, and symbols", and al-Mizan "symbols between God and His Messenger". Al-Safi and al-Mizan also agree that they are symbols between God and His Messenger whose meaning is not open to ordinary readers: al-Safi says "not meant to be understood by anyone but him and those firmly rooted in knowledge among his descendants", and al-Mizan "hidden from us".

Where they differ

They differ on what the letters indicate: al-Muyassar makes them a pointer to the Quran's inimitability, since it is made of these letters and the Arabs could not produce its like; al-Safi relays that they are letters of God's Greatest Name, that Alif Lam Meem in Al Imran means "I am God, the Glorious", and that Ha Meem 'Ayn Seen Qaf means "the Wise, the Rewarder, the Knowing, the Hearing, the Able, the Strong"; al-Mizan holds that there is a particular connection between them and the content of the surahs they open.

What the verses do not say

• They give these letters no meaning in words of their own; what is said of their meaning is the commentators' opinions and reports.
• They do not say why these fourteen letters were chosen and not others.
• They do not open every surah, only twenty-nine.

Counted on the mushaf

• Surahs that open with disconnected letters: twenty-nine of one hundred and fourteen.
• Letters used: fourteen — alif, lam, meem, sad, ra, kaf, ha (ه), ya, 'ayn, ta, seen, ha (ح), qaf and nun.
• Ha Meem opens seven surahs, Ghafir through Al-Ahqaf; Alif Lam Meem opens six; Alif Lam Ra opens five.
• The letters are a verse on their own at the head of nineteen surahs and part of the first verse in ten; in Ash-Shura they span two verses.
• In twenty-four of the twenty-nine, the letters are followed, in the same verse or the next, by mention of the Book, the Quran, the sending down, the verses or revelation.

Sources

• al-Tafsir al-Muyassar — King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran.
• Tafsir al-Safi — al-Fayd al-Kashani.
• al-Mizan fi Tafsir al-Quran — al-Sayyid Muhammad Husayn al-Tabataba'i.

Read:

• Abrogation in the Quran: what naskh actually means
• What is tafsir, and how is it different from ta'wil?
• Asbab al-nuzul: what the occasions of revelation are, and why readers need them