Muhammad, the Qur'an and Islam
that vv. 17-33 and vv. 48-60 were probably added in the second Meccan
period, whereas Bell, following others, held vv. 17f for Medinan.
[76] Cf. Qur'an 81:22; 53:1; 51:39,42; 52:29; 54:9; 37:35; 26:26; 15:6;
etc.
[77] See n. 21, above.
[78] See Andrae, Ursprung, p. 133, and Appendix D, p 363.
[79] The use of }yu (v. 37) from Aramaic and » ̄\À£ (v. 39) from the
Christian-Palestinian dialect of Syriac (Jeffery, Vocabulary, pp. 128, 244)
imply closer contact with those who "studied" books or had contact with
Palestine; both of which circumstances seem to agree better with
Muhammad's ministry in Medina.
[80] The description of the alleged contents of these scrolls (87:16f) seems
to indicate apocryphal works such as the Apocalypse of Abraham and the
Apocalypse of Moses; see the references in Appendix D, p. 363. Another
mystery regrarding this verse (87:19) is that the Qur'anic names for
Abraham and Moses do not appear to have predated Muhammad, and there
are very many theories as to how Muhammad may have arrived at such
adaptations; (see Jeffery, Vocabulary, pp. 44f, 274f.)
[81] See Nöldeke and Schwally, GQ, vol. 1, p. 97.
[82] Fig and olive trees are common Biblical metaphors. An oath by
Mount Sinai also appears in the Testament of Ephraem the Syrian (Nicene
and Post-Nicene Fathers, vol. 13, p. 134). The word used in 95:2 for "Sinai"
seems to come from the Christian-Palestinian dialect of Syriac (Jeffery,
Vocabulary, p. 184), but here (95:2) Muhammad has changed the word to
"Sinin" (cf. Qur'an 23:20 were the word is given correctly) in order to fit
the rhyme scheme of the sura; see Nöldeke and Schwally, GQ, vol. 1, p. 40,
n. 2.
[83] Carm. Nisib. 74:1-4; see Rudolph, Koran, p. 563, n. 5.