The Holy Qor-aan
Numbering of Verses
The Holy Qor-aan starts with بِسۡمِ اللهِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِيۡمِ band our Note 001:001 reads as follows.
“This verse was revealed 114 times. It is the First (1st) in 113 of the 114 Chapters (Soorah) of the Holy Qor-aan. It’s not the 1st verse of Chapter 9 but has appeared twice in Chapter 27 — once as its 1st and again as its 31st (027:031).
This verse is numbered 1st (#001) of a Soorah on this site like many translators have done. Our numbering of verses differs from those who have ignored numbering the aforesaid as 1st.”.
The numbering of verses differs in many Translations which have copied, duplicated or improved upon earlier works. Only some of them are chronologically listed in our Note 002:026c.
Following examples illustrate the different numbering of the verses of the Holy Qor-aan.
- Abdullah Yusuf Ali arbitrarily divided into two (2) parts what several other translations show as verse #1 of Chap 5. Then he numbered each part as verse #1 and #2. Thus his numbering of next 122 verses is off by “1” more than that given in many other works.
2. Abdullah Yusuf Ali arbitrarily divided into two (2) parts what several other translations show as verse #16 of Chap 5. He separated the last nine (9) words of 16th as a separate verse #17 and numbered them as #16 and #17. Thus his numbering of the next verses in the chapter is off by “2” more than that given in other works.
3. Abdullah Yusuf Ali arbitrarily divided into two (2) parts what several other translations show as verse #23 of Chap 5. Then he numbered each part as verse #25 and #26. Thus, his numbering of the verses that follow are different from those given in other works.
4. The effect of the above numbering is to say the least highly confusing. Critics got ample power to criticize. Are there 123 verses in Chap 5 as Abdullah Yusuf Ali shows, or 120 as M Muhammad Ali shows, or 121 as Maulvi Sher Ali shows?
5. M Muhammad Ali arbitrarily divided into two (2) parts what some other translations show as #173 of Chap 4. Then he numbered each part as verses #173 and #174. So his verse numbering from #174 onwards is off by “1” more than that given in other works.
6. Many translators cut up last part of verse #4 of Chap 3 and added it as an earlier part of verse #5 as pointed out in Note 003:005. See t http://trueteachingsofislam.com/003-005/
7. M Zafrulla Khan and many other translators preceding and following him have correctly numbered the verse بِسۡمِ اللهِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِيۡمِ as verse #1 of the 113 Chapters (Soorah). See http://trueteachingsofislam.com/4-this-site-how-to-use-this-site/. This site has followed the right numbering of verses. Except for the 9th Soorah Taubah, the numbering of verses on this site is ‘1’ more than that given in many other works.
Pervaiz Buttar is an eminent lawyer in Australia with Master of Laws degree from England He is my relative with highly loving family ties for nearly 70 years. I stayed in their home and took a horse-driven buggy called Tonga in a 2-feet high running stream of rainwater the morning I went for my LLB exam in 1957.
For reasons spread all over this site as to why we disagree, this Commentary was the reply dated Oct 12, 2020, when Mr. Pervaiz Buttar drew attention to his following post.
“’The best of the world’s women was Mary’, Prophet Muhammad PBUH, and the Quran mentions Mary more than any other holy book. Jesus brought the scripture, the Quran 19:30, his immaculate birth recorded at 19:17-21, 19:19-21 and 3:59-60, and message at 3:48 and 13:63-64 and, miracles at 3:46 and 3:49. His crucifixion is described in the Quran at 4:157-158 and finally his return at 43:61 in following contextualised words: ‘And (Jesus’ descent to earth) shall be known sign for the coming of the Hour, (being the Day of Judgment)”
