We have seen that the words “Name+God+Gracious+Merciful” forming “Bismillahirrahmanirraheem” are coded with 19. These words are used throughout the Quran. In some verses, the word “God” is used more than once and in some verses both “God” and “Merciful” or “Gracious” are used together. Katerina Kullman, a Swedish muslim, was curious about how many verses have at least one of these four words and she was the first person who witnessed this interesting characteristic. If you write two 19s consecutively, you get the number 1919 and this number is the number of verses which have at least one of the four words that form Basmalah. The suras that start with initial letters are important elements for the system of 19 in the Quran (We will study these suras in the following pages). When we look at the distribution of those 4 words in the suras that start and do not start with initial letters, we reach this conclusion: Of the 1919 verses mentioned, 1083 (19×57) of them have initial letters and 836 (19×44) have no initial letters.
| The number of verses in which the words forming the Basmalah are used. | 1919 (19×101) |
| The number of verses in which the words forming the Basmalah are used in the suras with initail letters. | 1083 (19×57) |
| The number of verses in which the words forming the Basmalah are used in the suras with no initail letters. | 836 (19×44) |
We counted the words in the numbered verses and found out that the words forming the Basmalah were the multiples of 19. It is clear that the Basmalah is the first numbered verse of sura “The Prologue,” which is the first sura. Many people probably have not understood why the Basmalah is numbered only in the sura “The Prologue” all through the Quran. And some people have thought that the Basmalah that is at the beginning of the sura “The Prologue” was numbered by mistake, or that other Basmalahs were placed at the beginning of other suras to imitate the sura “The Prologue.” The code 19 provides a conclusive explanation for this peculiarity and puts an end to all the debates and suspicion on this subject. Does God not say in the 31st verse of the sura “The Hidden” that 19 will dispel the suspicions?
After reading the following Quotation from a Christian Arabic Language professor on the beauty of the Quran, I started re-learning to read the Quran in Arabic.
“The Quran was revealed in Arabic. It is a matter of faith in Islam that it is of divine origin, it is inimitable and hence to translate is always to betray. Muslims have always deprecated and at times prohibited any attempt to render it in another language.
Anyone who has read it in the original is forced to admit that this caution seems justified. No translation however faithful to the meaning has ever been fully successful.
Arabic when expertly used is a remarkably tense, rich and forceful language.
And the Arabic of the Quran is by turns, striking, soaring, vivid, terrible, tender and breathtaking.
As Prof Gibb has put it, “No man in 1500 years has ever played on that deep toned instrument with such power, such boldness and such range of emotional effect.”
It is meaningless to apply adjectives such as “beautiful” or “persuasive” to the Quran, its flashing images and inexorable measure go directly to the brain and intoxicate it. It is not surprising then, that a skilled recitor of the Quran can reduce an Arabic speaking audience to helpless tears.”
QUOTATION TAKEN FROM THE BOOK:
TITLE: Islam
AUTHOR: John Alden Williams ( a non-Muslim Arabic scholar)
PUBLISHER: Prentice Hall International, London 1961
The following Quotation taken from the foreword of Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall’s Glorious Quran reinforces the above views of Prof. Alden equally effectively and forcefully.
“The Quran can not be translated. That is the belief of old- fashioned sheykhs and the view of the present writer. The Book is here rendered almost literally and every effort has been made to choose befitting language.
But the result is not the Glorious Quran, that inimitable symphony, the very sounds of which move men to tears and ecstasy.
It is only an attempt to present the meaning of the Quran: and peradventure something of the charm: in English.
It can never take the place of the Quran in Arabic nor is it meant to do so.