Topic summary
Chapter of the Quran
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Surah.
Coherence in the Quran
The idea of textual relation between the verses of a chapter has been discussed under various titles such as nazm (Arabic: ﻧَﻈﻢ) and munasabah (Arabic: مناسبة) in literature of the Islamic sphere and 'Coherence', 'text relations', 'intertextuality', and 'unity' in English literature. There are two points of view regarding the coherence of the verses of the Quran. In the first viewpoint, each chapter of the Quran has a central theme and its verses are related. The second viewpoint considers some chapters of the Quran as collections of passages which are not thematically related. Chapters deal with various subjects, for instance, chapter 99, which comprises only eight verses, is devoted exclusively to eschatology and chapter 12 narrates a story, while other chapters, in the same breath, speak of theological, historical, and ethico-legal matters. Chapters are known to consist of passages, not only verses. The borders between passages are arbitrary but are possible to determine.