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Historical milestones


According to the Islamic tradition, Muhammad was born around the year 570 in Makka, a trading and cosmopolitan town of Arabia where different religious communities, mainly polytheists, Jews and Christians, coexisted. Toward 610, he began to receive messages by the intermediary of the angel Gabriel. In front of the persecutions by his family and his fellow citizens because of his religious exclusivist positions, he fled from Makka in 622, together with some of his companions, to Yathrib, the city of his mother which later came to be known as Medina. The date July 16, 622 (corresponding to Muharram 1st) marks the beginning of the Hegira Islamic calendar. In 630, Muhammad returned to Makka with an army and conquered it. He died in Medina on July 8, 632.

The Chronological order of the Koran


For Muslims, the Koran was revealed by God to Muhammad between Mecca and Medina. But there are doubts about the historicity of Muhammad and of Mecca, and about the authors of the Koran and the place in which it was drafted. For the researcher, the Koran is a confused compilation full of linguistic and stylistic errors, probably established in the region of Syria or Iraq, which collects information coming mainly from Jewish and Christian sources.

According to the Islamic tradition, the period during which Muhammad received the revelations lasted for over twenty-two years, time during which he progressed from being a simple tradesman to becoming a head of state. According to this tradition, as soon as a revelation was received by Muhammad, his scribes noted it down on patches of leather, pottery shards, median veins of palms, shoulder blades or ribs of camels. After Muhammad's death, a first collection of the Koran was done during the reign of the Caliph Abu Bakr (d. 634). But as divergent private collections were put into circulation, the Caliph 'Uthman (d. 656) decided to compile his own edition called the 'Uthmanian Koran, currently used by Muslims. All the other collections were burnt.

The 'Uthmanian Koran is composed of 114 chapters (called surat). Every chapter has a title, some two, or even more (as indicated in our translation; see for example the title of chapter 5/1). The title is derived either from one of the first words of the chapter (23/53: Star; 97/55: The all-merciful), or from a characteristic narration (72/14: Abraham; 44/19: Mary), or from an episode considered to be significant (70/16: Bees; 85/29: Spider).2 These titles are not part of the revelation and do not figure among the early known Koranic manuscripts; they were added by the scribes in order to distinguish the chapters of the Koran from one another. Some authors, however, attribute the titles to Muhammad having been introduced into the Koran by him.

The chapters are usually classified more or less in the decreasing order of their length, with the exception of the first. Some Muslim authors believe that the order was approved by Muhammad, under the inspiration of the angel Gabriel. But the dominant opinion sustains that only the order of the verses inside the chapters were approved by Muhammad, whereas the order of the chapters was determined by the commission that established the Koran. It is mentioned that the companions of Muhammad were in possession of versions of a Koran whose chapters were classified differently from the usual order.

The usual order of the Koran poses problems of comprehension. We can say that today we read the Koran almost upside-down, since the first chapters, the longest, are composed, broadly speaking, of revelations received by Muhammad toward the end of his life. Hence, the chronological order of the Koran is important not only for the historians who want to know the different stages of the revelation, but also for jurists. Indeed, the Koran comprises legal norms which had evolved over a period of time, some having abrogated others. In order to determine the abrogated passages and those which abrogate them, it is necessary to know which passage preceded the other. For this reason, some Muslim authors proposed to publish the Koran in Arabic by chronological order,1 but this has never been done to date. Régis Blachère published in 1949-1950 a French translation of the Koran by a chronological order he himself established. The first edition is no longer available in bookstores. Blachère reverted to the usual order of the Koran in his edition of 1957, without giving any explanations. From that time on, our French translation of the Koran can be considered to be the only one available comprising the Arabic text with the French translation by chronological order. However, we came across three English translations based on the chronological order by Mirza Abu'l-Fadl, John Medows Rodwell and Nessim Joseph Dawood.

Muslim scholars and orientalists resort to different criteria for the chronological classification of the chapters of the Koran: the testimony of Muhammad's companions, the content of the chapters, historical events to which they refer, etc. But they are far from being unanimous among themselves2 and it is probably impossible to have a realistic chronological order.3 The classification which acquired the most adherence among Muslims and which is the one we follow here was the one adopted by the commission of the Azhar which produced the Egyptian edition of the Koran in 1923, called Mushaf of King Fu'ad. This edition indicates at the head of every chapter the chronological order in which the chapter was revealed and distinguishes the chapters of the Makkan period from those of the Hegirian (Medinan) period. The classification may correspond to the version of the Koran established by the Caliph 'Ali.



We have given here-below a summary table indicating the chronological order of the chapters according to the Azhar, Noldeke (d. 1930) and Blachère (d. 1973), as well as the usual order based on the 'Uthmanian Koran, indicating in bold the Hegirian (Medinan)4 chapters and verses. The reader will find at the end of this book two indexes: one by the chronological order of the chapters (according to the Azhar), and the other according to the usual order of the chapters of the 'Uthmanian Koran. Thus he can read the Koran in the order of his preference.

Chronological order according to:

Usual order according to the 'Uthmanian

The Azhar

Noldeke

Blachère

Koran

Name, number of the verses and period of the chapter

5

48

46

1: الفاتحة

The opening - 7 verses - Makkan

87

91

93

2: البقرة

The cow - 286 verses - Hegirian

89

97

99

3: آل عمران

The family of Imran - 200 verses - Hegirian

92

100

102

4: النساء

The women - 176 verses - Hegirian

112

114

116

5: المائدة

The table - 120 verses - Hegirian

55

89

91

6: الأنعام

The cattle - 165 verses - Makkan

[except: 20, 23, 91, 93, 114, 141, 151-153]

39

87

89

7: الأعراف

The battlements - 206 verses - Makkan

[except: 163-170]

88

95

97

8: الأنفال

The spoils - 75 verses - Hegirian

113

113

115

9: التوبة

The repentance - 129 verses - Hegirian

51

84

86

10: يونس

Jonah - 109 verses - Makkan

[except: 40, 94-96]

52

75

77

11: هود

Hud - 123 verses - Makkan

[except: 12, 17, 114]

53

77

79

12: يوسف

Joseph - 111 verses - Makkan

[except: 1-3, 7]

96

90

92

13: الرعد

The thunder - 43 verses - Hegirian

72

76

78

14: إبراهيم

Abraham - 52 verses - Makkan

[except: 28-29]

54

57

59

15: الحجر

Al-Hijr - 99 verses - Makkan

[except: 87]

70

73

75

16: النحل

The bees - 128 verses - Makkan

[except: 126-128]

50

67

74

17: الإسراء

The night journey - 111 verses - Makkan

[except: 26, 32-33, 57, 73-80]

69

69

70

18: الكهف

The cave - 110 verses - Makkan

[except: 28, 83-101]

44

58

60

19: مريم

Mary - 98 verses - Makkan

[except: 58, 71]

45

55

57

20: طه

Taha - 135 verses - Makkan

[except: 130-131]

73

65

67

21: الأنبياء

The prophets - 112 verses - Makkan

103

107

109

22: الحج

The pilgrimage - 78 verses - Hegirian

74

64

66

23: المؤمنون

The believers - 118 verses - Makkan

102

105

107

24: النور

The light - 64 verses - Hegirian

42

66

68

25: الفرقان

The salvation - 77 verses - Makkan

[except: 68-70]

47

56

58

26: الشعراء

The poets - 227 verses - Makkan

[except: 197, 224-227]

48

68

69

27: النمل

The ants - 93 verses - Makkan

49

79

81

28: القصص

The story - 88 verses - Makkan

[except: 52-55]

85

81

83

29: العنكبوت

The spider - 69 verses - Makkan

[except: 1-11]

84

74

76

30: الروم

The Romans - 60 verses - Makkan

[except: 17]

57

82

84

31: لقمان

Luqman - 34 verses - Makkan

[except: 27-29]

75

70

71

32: السجدة

The prostration - 30 verses - Makkan

[except: 16-20]

90

103

105

33: الأحزاب

The coalitions - 73 verses - Hegirian

58

85

87

34: سبا

Saba - 54 verses - Makkan

[except: 6]

43

86

88

35: فاطر

The creator - 45 verses - Makkan

41

60

62

36: يس

Yasin - 83 verses ~ Makkan

[except: 45]

56

50

52

37: الصافات

The ranked - 182 verses - Makkan

38

59

61

38: ص

Sad - 88 verses - Makkan

59

80

82

39: الزمر

The groups - 75 verses ~ Makkan

[except: 52-54]

60

78

80

40: غافر

The forgiver - 85 verses - Makkan

[except: 56-57]

61

71

72

41: فصلت

The expounded signs - 54 verses - Makkan

62

82

85

42: الشورى

The consultation - 53 verses - Makkan

[except: 23-25, 27]

63

61

63

43: الزخرف

The ornaments - 89 verses - Makkan

[except: 54]

64

53

55

44: الدخان

The smoke - 59 verses - Makkan

65

72

73

45: الجاثية

The kneeling - 37 verses - Makkan

[except: 14]

66

88

90

46: الاحقاف

Al-Ahqaf - 35 verses ~ Makkan

[except: 10, 15, 35]

95

96

98

47: محمد

Muhammad - 38 verses - Hegirian

111

108

110

48: الفتح

The conquest - 29 verses - Hegirian

106

112

114

49: الحجرات

The clusters - 18 verses - Hegirian

34

54

56

50: ق

Qaf - 45 verses - Makkan

[except: 38]

67

39

49

51: الذاريات

The winnowers - 60 verses - Makkan

76

40

22

52: الطور

The mount - 49 verses - Makkan

23

28

30

53: النجم

The star - 62 verses - Makkan

[except: 32]

37

49

50

54: القمر

The moon - 55 verses - Makkan

[except: 44-46]

97

43

28

55: الرحمن

The all-merciful - 78 verses - Hegirian

46

41

23

56: الواقعة

The event - 96 verses - Makkan

[except: 81-82]

94

99

101

57: الحديد

The iron - 29 verses - Hegirian

105

106

108

58: المجادلة

The dispute- 22 verses - Hegirian

101

102

104

59: الحشر

The gathering - 24 verses - Hegirian

91

110

112

60: الممتحنة

The tested woman - 13 verses - Hegirian

109

98

100

61: الصف

The rank - 14 verses - Hegirian

110

94

96

62: الجمعة

Friday - 11 verses - Hegirian

104

104

106

63: المنافقون

The hypocrites - 11 verses - Hegirian

108

93

95

64: التغابن

The mutual fraud - 18 verses - Hegirian

99

101

103

65: الطلاق

The repudiation - 12 verses - Hegirian

107

109

111

66: التحريم

The prohibition - 12 verses - Hegirian

77

63

65

67: الملك

The kingdom - 30 verses - Makkan

2

18

51

68: القلم

The pen - 52 verses - Makkan

[except: 17-33, 48-50]

78

24

24

69: الحاقة

The verifier - 52 verses - Makkan

79

42

33

70: المعارج

The stairways - 44 verses - Makkan

71

51

53

71: نوح

Noah - 28 verses - Makkan

40

62

64

72: الجن

The djinns - 28 verses - Makkan

3

23

34

73: المزمل

The enwrapped - 20 verses - Makkan

[except: 10-11, 20]

4

2

2, 36

74: المدثر

The shrouded - 56 verses - Makkan

31

36

27

75: القيامة

The resurrection - 40 verses - Makkan

98

52

34 bis

76: الإنسان

The human - 31 verses - Hegirian

33

32

25

77: المرسلات

The emissaries - 50 verses - Makkan

[except: 48]

80

33

26

78: النبأ

The news - 40 verses - Makkan

81

31

20

79: النازعات

The stripping - 46 verses - Makkan

24

17

17

80: عبس

He frowned - 42 verses - Makkan

7

27

18

81: التكوير

The rolling up - 29 verses - Makkan

82

26

15

82: الانفطار

The splitting - 19 verses - Makkan

86

37

35

83: المطففين

The defrauders - 36 verses - Makkan

83

29

19

84: الانشقاق

The fissuration - 25 verses - Makkan

27

22

43

85: البروج

The constellations - 22 verses - Makkan

36

15

9

86: الطارق

The night-star - 17 verses - Makkan

8

19

16

87: الأعلى

The most high - 19 verses - Makkan

68

34

21

88: الغاشية

The enveloper - 26 verses - Makkan

10

35

42

89: الفجر

The dawn - 30 verses - Makkan

35

11

40

90: البلد

The earth - 20 verses - Makkan

26

16

7

91: الشمس

The sun - 15 verses - Makkan

9

10

14

92: الليل

The night - 21 verses - Makkan

11

13

4

93: الضحى

The forenoon - 11 verses - Makkan

12

12

5

94: الشرح

The expansion - 8 verses - Makkan

28

20

10

95: التين

The fig - 8 verses - Makkan

1

1

1, 32

96: العلق

The adherences - 19 verses - Makkan

25

14

29

97: القدر

The predetermination - 5 verses - Makkan

100

92

94

98: البينة

The proof - 8 verses - Hegirian

93

25

11

99: الزلزلة

The shaking - 8 verses - Hegirian

14

30

13

100: العاديات

The coursers - 11 verses - Makkan

30

24

12

101: القارعة

The cataclysm - 11 verses - Makkan

16

8

31

102: التكاثر

The multiplication - 8 verses - Makkan

13

21

6

103: العصر

The epoch - 3 verses - Makkan

32

6

39

104: الهمزة

The slanderer - 9 verses - Makkan

19

9

41

105: الفيل

The elephant - 5 verses - Makkan

29

4

3

106: قريش

Quraysh - 4 verses - Makkan

17

3

8

107: الماعون

The refuge - 7 verses - Makkan

[except: 4-7]

15

5

38

108: الكوثر

The abundance - 3 verses - Makkan

18

45

45

109: الكافرون

The disbelievers - 6 verses - Makkan

114

111

113

110: النصر

The succor - 3 verses - Hegirian

6

3

37

111: المسد

The fibers - 5 verses - Makkan

22

44

44

112: الإخلاص

The purity - 4 verses - Makkan

20

46

47

113: الفلق

The fissure - 5 verses - Makkan

21

47

48

114: الناس

The humans - 6 verses - Makkan

According to the Azhar, 86 chapters were revealed in Makka before the Hegira, and 28 after the Hegira. However, thirty-five chapters of the Makkan period contain verses from the Hegirian (Medinan) period. We are not concerned with the order of the verses within the chapters, nonetheless we indicate the Makkan verses by the letter M in black, and the Hegirian verses by the letter H in bold. The letters are followed by the chronological and ordinary numbers of the chapter and by the number of the verse. Hence, M-5/1:4 means that it is a Makkan chapter, the 5th according to the chronological order, the 1st according to the usual order, the 4th verse according to the edition of the Azhar. The numbering of the verses in our edition, based on the edition of the Azhar, differs from the one of the editions of the Koran in North Africa and the one proposed by Flügel in 1834, often used by the orientalists. The difference with the later is sometimes up to six verses. Montet and Kasimirski use the numbering of Flügel in their translation, whereas Blachère, Hamidullah (except for the edition of Saudi Arabia) and Mandel (in Italian) juxtapose the two numberings. We avoided this solution in order not to clutter the text.

However, we can point out here that some classic authors, in line with the edition of the Azhar, consider as Makkan all the verses revealed in Makka after the hegira. Such is the case for the verses 87/2:281, 88/8:30-36, 112/5:3 and 113/9:128-129. In our edition, we have taken as criteria not the place of revelation of the verses, but their period. Thus, the Makkan verses are those revealed before the hegira, and the Hegirian (Medinan) verses are those revealed after the hegira.




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