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CHAPTER IV IBN QUTAYBAH'S TREATISE OF AMBIGUOUS LETTERS, WORDS, AND PARTICLES IN THE VERSES OF THE QUR’ĀN This chapter examines letters assumed to be absurd and stylistically spoiling, words which have many different meanings, meanings of particles, and the substitution of particles in the verses of the Qur‟ān as follows: A. Letters Assumed to Be Absurd and Stylistically Spoiling The main concern of Ibn Qutaybah on this subject is the letters of the alphabet at the beginning of twenty-nine sūrahs in the Qur‟ān, technically called by the exegetes al-h.urūf al-muqat.t.a„ah (the disconnected letters) and fawātih. al-suwar (the openings of the chapters). The term alphabet itself is derived from the first and the second letters of the Greek alphabet, namely, alpha (, ), and beta (, ), corresponding to letter A and B respectively in the Latin alphabet. The Arabic alphabet is called h.urūf al-mu„jam (lit., "the letters of the dictionary"), al-h.urūf al-hijā‟īyah (lit., "letters put in successive order"), and al-h.urūf al-abjadīyah (lit., "the letters put in the abjd order"), which is the classical Arabic alphabetical order. They and their numerical values are as follows: ( ا1) (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (80),
(8),
(90),
(800),
(9),
(10), (20), (30), (40), (50),
(100), (200), (900), and
(300),
(400),
(500),
(60), (600),
(70), (700),
(1000). They are combined together for easy
memorisation as follows: . This classical order is closer to the Greek alphabetical order than the modern one which is as follows: . There are fourteen letters of the Arabic alphabet which occur in fourteen different combinations. These letters are: , , , , , , , , , , , , , and . They are always pronounced singly, such as: nūn for N, t.ā-hā for T.-H, and alif-lām-mīm, for A-L-M. Their combinations and the sūrahs in which they are located are as follows: (2, 3, 29, 30, 31, and 32); 44, 45, and 46);
(10, 11, 12, 14, and 15); (42);
(19); (68);
(13); (50);
(7); (38),
(40, 41, 43, (27);