5 Formulas and refrains 2 / 17

The imperative قل at the opening of a sura

Established rule 3 examples 1 min

Five suras open with the imperative قُلْ ("Say"): 72, 109, 112, 113 and 114. Everything that follows is speech the reciter must utter himself; the translation therefore always keeps "Say:" at the head.

The test covered all 114 suras: only these five begin with قل. In each, the text does not speak to the reader, it gives him the words to say: "Say: He is God, the Absolute Singularity" (112), "Say: I seek refuge…" (113, 114), "Say: O you who disown!" (109), "Say: It has been revealed to me…" (72).

Dropping قل in translation would turn these suras into God's statement about Himself, or into a narrative; keeping it gives the reader his place: he is the one who speaks. All six languages keep it: « Dis : », « Say: », « Di: », « Di': », « Katakanlah: », « Скажи: ».

Sura 72 confirms it from within: four more قل divide its ending (72:20, 72:21, 72:22, 72:25), each introducing a new utterance.

In the text

Example 112:1

قُلْ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ

“Say: He is God, the Absolute Singularity.”

Without "Say" the sentence would become God's declaration; with it, the reciter is the one affirming it.

Example 109:1

قُلْ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْكَٰفِرُونَ

“Say: O you who disown!”

The words are put in the reciter's mouth; he himself addresses those who disown.

Example 72:1

قُلْ أُوحِىَ إِلَىَّ

“Say, "It has been revealed to me”

The only long sura of the group; four more قل divide its ending.

In the text

In the same theme