The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4)

The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page xiv

PREFACE The second part consists of Explanatory Notes or Commentary. Every Note first derives its authority from the tenor and spirit of the Qur'ān as expressed in various other places. Next to the Qur'ān precedence is given to the Hadith and then come the standard dictionaries of the Arabic language. Last of all, recourse has been had to the evidence of history which was necessary for the explanation of such verses as refer to well-known historical events. In the course of the preparation of these Notes light has been thrown from time to time on the order which runs through the verses of each chapter, the one following the other in natural sequence; and a careful perusal of these notes will convince the reader that the Qur'an forms a thoroughly consistent and coherent reading. A system of cross-references has been introduced. These cross- references have been placed below the text and its translation. They give at a glance the various places where the subject of a particular verse has been dealt with elsewhere in the Qur'ān. An Introduction is prefixed to each chapter (to the whole work a General Introduction appears in volume I, which serves as an introduction to a scientific study of whole Book). The Introduction to each chapter discusses the place and date of its revelation and gives a summary of its contents and the relation it has with the chapters preceding or following it. It also provides sufficient material for the reader to understand and realize that not only the position of every chapters of the Qur'ān as a whole but also the verses of each chapter themselves are governed by an intelligent order. The abbreviations CH. and PT. , appearing at the top of each page stand for Chapter and Part respectively. The Qur'ān has been divided into (a) Sūrās or Chapters, and (b) Sipārās or Parts. The division of the Qur'an into Sūrās is made according to the subject matter and has behind it the authority of the Holy Prophet and the Qur'ān; each of these Sūrās having been so designated in the Holy Book, as in 2:24 and 24:2. The total number of the Sūrās is 114. The number of Chapter and Part is shown on the top of each page. In numbering the verses we have followed the system in vogue in the standard editions of the Qur'ān in India and Pakistan, with the exception that in our numbering Bismillah is counted as the first verse of every chapter, while in other editions the verse following Bismillah is numbered as the first verse of the chapter. Chapter 9, however, is an exception to this rule. It does not begin with Bismillah, and, therefore, in this chapter our numbering is identical with 1