Dear all,
Having examined the structure of the famous verse 2255, here is the structural layout of the Fātiḥa
"
– 1 In the name of God, The Full-Benevolent, The inexhaustible benevolent.
= 2 Praise be to God, the master of the worlds/cognitive-men
– 3 The Full-Benevolent, The inexhaustible benevolent.
= 4 Sovereign of the Day of the obligatory-due-date
5 + You exclusively we are devoted
And You exclusively we ask for help.(-īn)
– 6 Guide us in the right path which is ascending,
– 7a the path of those you have gratified with agreeableness (ʿalay-him),
= b no (ġayr) who are reprobate (ʿalay-him),
= c nor (wa lā) of those who are getting lost.
"
Open question Is basmala part of the Fātiḥa ?
In the Fātiḥa, the two extreme pieces (1-4 and 6-7c) each have two segments (1-2 and 3-4, 6-7a and 7b-c), the central piece (5a-b) includes only one. The symmetry of the text being thus better respected, it seems preferable to consider, with the majority of readings and commentators, the basmala as being part of the Fātiḥa, as the first member of the first bimember segment.
Without commenting on the primitive belonging of the basmala to the text of the Fātiḥa, because, by method, this is not the first question that arises rhetorical analysis, I recall that the basic principle of all Semitic rhetoric is that of symmetry. However, this is undoubtedly better respected here if we consider the basmala as part of the canonical text of the Fātiḥa.
Verse 7 a later addition ?
Some renowned orientalist affirms the following thing
"Any reader of the Fātiḥa will indeed have noticed that verse 7 is clearly longer than the others, and any listener will have also noted that he introduces, in the second part, a deep break in rhythm compared to the rest of the sura. ”
Let’s see if this compelling statement is as convincing as it is intended.
Regarding the length of verse 7, Nöldeke points out that the Fātiḥa has in the past been divided into six, eight or nine verses, with or without the basmala. Anyway, verses 6-7, in the current version, are a long complex sentence, composed of a principal with a verb in the imperative (2nd sing.), Followed by three phrases in apposition in ṣirāṭ (7a, b and c). It contrasts with the brevity of the two coordinated sentences of verse 5, the incomplete (2nd sing. Person), which in turn are distinguished from verses 1-4 in nominal form. This syntactic difference between the three grammatical units of the Sura (1-4, 5 and 6-7) is a clear indication of the rhetorical composition of the Sura in three pieces, as can be seen in the table above. But to understand the rhetoric of the last piece, it is necessary to return to the detailed analysis of the parallelism of the members, throughout the sura.
"
1 In the name of God, the Full-Benevolent, the inexhaustible benevolent
2 Praise be to God, the master of the worlds / men-cognitive,
3 Te Full-Benevolent, the inexhaustible benevolent
4 Sovereign of the Day of the obligatory-due-date
5a You exclusively we are devoted
b and You exclusively we ask for help.
6 Guide us in the right path which is ascending,
7a the path of those you have gratified with agreeableness,
b no (ġayr) who are reprobate,
c nor (wa lā) of those who are getting lost.
"
In bold, we will notice the repetition of "God" in the two members of the first segment (1 and 2), and, in initial terms, "You" (5a and b) and the two negations ġayr and wa lā (7b and c ). The two members 6 and 7a are connected by the word-hook (or "median" "the path".
If we remove the basmala, the binary regularity of the members is obviously disrupted.
At a second level, that of "pieces", the first piece has two parallel and synonymic segments, ver. 1 corresponding to ver. 3 (partially identical, with rhyme in -īm), ver. 2 to v. 4 (names of divine lordship, with rhyme in -īn)
1 In the name of God, The Full-Benevolent, The inexhaustible benevolent -īm
=2 Praise be to God, The sovereign of the worlds/cognitive-men, -īn
3 The Full-Benevolent, The inexhaustible benevolent -īm
=4 Sovereign of the Day of the Obligatory-due-date -īn
In an article that was too little observed by Stefan Sperl (Sperl, 1994, p. 215), a specialist in Arabic poetry, he made some fine observations
"
There is… a semantic parallelism between bi-smi llāh and al-ḥamdu li-llāh in that the names of God are in themselves expression of praise for God. Indeed, all the laudatory sentences of the invocation form part of the asmāʾ al-ḥusnā, the divine names. They are arranged in parallel fashion so as to contrast the might and mercy of the Lord with each one dually defined
Mercy Might
al-raḥmān al-raḥīm 2. Rabbi ’l-ʿālamīn
al-raḥmān al-raḥīm 4. māliki yawm al-dīn
"
The third piece contains two antithetical segments the first defines the straight path, the second the path of the lost people.
The whole piece is framed by the extreme antithetical terms "Guide us" // "Lost".
6 GUIDE us in the right path which is ascending,
7a the path of those you have gratified with agreeableness,
=b no (ġayr) who are reprobate,
=c nor (wa lā) of those who are getting LOST. "
This structure of the piece in two antithetical segments covers a specular structure AB/B’A’, at the level of the members
-6 GUIDE us in the right path which is ascending,
-7a the path of those you have gratified with agreeableness, (ʿalay-him),
= b no (ġayr) who are reprobate, (ʿalay-him),
= c nor (wa lā) of those who are getting LOST. "
The extreme members (6, 7c) have antithetical terms "Guide" / "Lost", as well as the close members (7a, b) "gratified with agreeableness" / "who are reprobate". They end with the same prepositional expansion ʿalay-him. Also be noted that these two structures are not situated at the same textual level the first compares segments, the second, members. So here we don't have two "choice" structures on the same level either.
Thus, the two pieces which frame ver. 5 each have a solid internal consistency.
As for their external coherence, the two are pieces of two bi-member segments, pieces which, semantically, are complementary, the first being a prayer of praise (or doxology), the last a prayer of request. The v. 5 makes the link between the two 5a referring to the above and 5b announcing the following (see above, the table of the whole text).
Finally, at the level of the entire sura, it is framed by the opposition "God" "lost", supreme good evil.
Let us also quote Sperl
"The assonance between allāh and wa-lā, echoed by the doubled lām of ḍāllīn… stresses the contrast between salvation and damnation, absolute positive and absolute negative which marks the outer limits of the prayer. "
The third piece contains two antithetical segments the first defines the straight path, the second the path of the lost people. The whole piece is framed by the extreme antithetical terms "Guide us" // "Lost".
Sperl shows, in his study, that the prayer genre, in the East, is generally composed of three times which he calls "invocation - worship - petition" (corresponding to the three pieces of Fātiḥa) and that demand (petition) involves both a request for benefit and a request for protection against evil. He gives in support the example of the Pater and a Babylonian prayer, particularly evocative for its similarities with the finale of the Fātiḥa (without there being of course the least direct influence of the first on the second) “May my god and my goddess, who for many days have been angry with me, in truth and justice be favorable to me; may my road be propitious; may my path be straight. "
In summary, the detailed rhetorical analysis of the Fātiḥa uses several rhetorical arguments to consider the basmala and verses 7b and c as belonging to the text of the Surah.
At the segment level, they ensure the regularity of the pairs of members (or bimembers).
At the piece level, we get a piece of two synonymic segments for v. 1-4, and a piece of two antithetical segments for v. 6-7c.
At the level of the whole sura, we obtain two complementary complementary pieces (adoration/request), framing a center.
I point out that the proposed structure of Fātiḥa is therefore based on a bundle of composition indices and not on a single one. It is often objected to me that a text for which I propose a structure, could just as easily be presented according to another structure. Symmetries, in the Quranic text being very numerous, this is actually possible.
However, this does not mean that all structures are equivalent. To find the right structure, you need to accumulate as many composition indices as possible, and never settle for just one. Roland Meynet (the father of popularization of the rhetorical analysis on the bible) often insists on this point, and with good reason. We also understand that this progressive work starting from the text protects the analyst, as much as possible, from the danger of projecting onto the text a structure of his invention (another objection that is often made to me).
I hope that this long stop on the rhetorical analysis of the Fātiḥa may have dissipated some misunderstanding on this methodology applied to the Great Quran (characterized by the "balance, harmony and interdependence of the textual units between them, forming a all coherent - just like our universe", and a way to have a better understanding of the text from the text itself).
Peace be upon you and may Allah guide us to have a better DETAILED understanding of his Last Holy Scripture.