COBHUNI Lecture: The Effects of Rhyme in the Quran
21 June 2016
Lecture by Dr. Devin Stewart, Emory University, Atlanta
on tuesday, june 21st | 2 pm, Universität Hamburg | main building Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1, room 136, 20146 Hamburg
The Qur‘an rhymes: about 86% of the verses of the Qur‘an exhibit end-rhyme. Moreover, rhyme affects the forms of verse-final words, the clausulae or cadenced phrases that close verses, and the syntax of entire verses, which are modified in various ways in order to produce end rhyme. However, rhyme is often studiously ignored both in traditional commentaries on the Qur‘an and in Western Qur‘anic studies scholarship, and this has implications for the analysis and translation of the text. This lecture will provide an overview of the ways in which rhyme shapes the Qur‘anic text, showing how attention to rhyme produces an improved understanding of the text.