The author

Michel Cuypers is a researcher at the IDEO, the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies, Cairo, Egypt.

Presentation

The text of the Qur’an appears to many to be desperately muddled and lacking any coherence. The Composition of the Qur’an provides a systematic presentation of the writing processes (or rhetoric) and argues that there is indeed a coherence to the Qur’anic text. Michel Cuypers shows that the ancient Semitic texts, of which the Qur’an is a part, do not obey the Greek rhetoric and that their basic principle is therefore not progressive linearity, but symmetry which can take several forms, following precise rules. He argues that the knowledge of this rhetorical code allows for a radically new analysis of the structure and rhetoric of the Qur’an.

Using copious amounts of examples from the text, The Composition of the Qur’an provides a new theoretical synthesis of Qur’anic rhetoric as well as a methodology for their application in further exegesis. A landmark publication in the field of Qur’anic Studies, this volume will be of interest to scholars and researchers in Islamic Studies, Religious Studies and Arabic Studies.

The presentation of the french book
Le texte du Coran paraît à beaucoup désespérément désordonné et incohérent. Relevant un véritable défi, le présent ouvrage propose un exposé systématique des procédés d’écriture (ou rhétoriques) qui assurent au contraire la cohérence du discours coranique.
Les ouvrages qui se sont intéressés à la rhétorique ou à l’argumentation, dans le Coran, se situent généralement dans la perspective de la rhétorique grecque selon laquelle les parties du discours doivent suivre un ordre logique linéaire. Or, les anciens textes sémitiques, dont fait partie le Coran, n’obéissent pas à cette logique-là. Leur principe de base n’est pas la linéarité progressive, mais la symétrie. Une symétrie qui peut prendre diverses formes, suivant des règles précises. La connaissance de ce code rhétorique – objet du présent ouvrage – permet d’entrer avec plus d’assurance dans la compréhension du texte.
Les règles de la rhétorique sémitique n’ont malheureusement pas été consignées par les scribes du monde ancien proche oriental, comme l’ont été les règles de la rhétorique grecque par Aristote et ses successeurs. C’est à partir de l’examen minutieux des textes de la Bible, qu’une lignée de savants a progressivement redécouvert, depuis le milieu du XVIIIe siècle, les principes qui géraient leur composition. Aujourd’hui, cette théorie est arrivée à maturité, et Roland Meynet, exégète de la Bible, a pu en faire un exposé systématique dans son grand Traîté de rhétorique biblique, paru dans la même collection. Le présent ouvrage s’en inspire largement, pour proposer au lecteur une synthèse théorique de « la rhétorique coranique », illustrée par de nombreux exemples tirés du Coran. À côté des règles de cette rhétorique, l’ouvrage propose à l’étudiant ou au chercheur une méthodologie pour leur application, dans le but d’aboutir à une exégèse du Coran, qui soit réellement fondée sur le texte.
The text of the Qur’an appears to many people desperately muddled and lacking any coherence. Taking up a real challenge, the present work proposes a systematic presentation of the writing processes (or rhetoric) which insure on the contrary the coherence of the Qur’anic speech. The works interested in rhetoric or argumentation, in the Qur’an, are generally situated in the perspective of the Greek rhetoric according to which parts of speech have to follow a linear logical order. Yet, the ancient Semitic texts, of which the Qur’an is a part, do not obey this logic. Their basic principle is not the progressive linearity, but the symmetry. A symmetry which can take several forms, following precise rules. The knowledge of this rhetorical code - object of the present work - allows entering with more assurance the understanding of the text.
The rules of the Semitic rhetoric were regrettably not written down by the scribes of the ancient oriental world, as were the rules of the Greek rhetoric by Aristotle and his successors. It is from the meticulous examination of the texts of the Bible, that a lineage of scholars gradually rediscovered, since the middle of the XVIIIth century, the principles which managed their composition. Today, this theory is reached maturity, and Roland Meynet, exegete of the Bible, was able to make a systematic presentation of it in his important Traîté de Rhétorique biblique (soon published in English), available in the same collection. The present work is widely inspired by it, in order to propose to the reader a theoretical synthesis of "the Qur’anic rhetoric", illustrated by numerous examples borrowed from the Qur’an. Next to the rules of this rhetoric, the work proposes to the student or to the researcher a methodology for their application, with the aim of reaching an exegesis of the Qur’an, really based on the text.

Contents

Introduction
1. The Question of the coherence of the Qur’anic Text
2. Binarity and Parataxis, two Characteristics of Qur’anic Rhetoric
3. The Levels of Composition
4. The Figures of Composition
5. The Center of Concentric Composition
6. The Work of Analysis and Re-Writing
7. Context, Intertext and Interpretation
8. Looking Ahead

Bibliography
Index

Reviews
“In The Composition of the Qur’an Cuypers presents an innovative method for reading the Qur?an, one based on the principle that the Islamic scripture shares with other Semitic texts certain rhetorical structures which have long been missed by Muslim and non-Muslim scholars alike. The Composition of the Qur’an is thus an innovative and important work which should become standard reading for all students of the Qur’an.” – Gabriel Said Reynolds, Professor of Islamic Studies and Theology, University of Notre Dame, USA.