What the Koran really says : language, text, and commentary / edited with translations by Ibn Warraq.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

PART 1. INTRODUCTION : 1. Introduction / by Ibn Warraq -- 2. What Is the Koran? / by Toby Lester -- PART 2. BACKGROUND : 1. Towards a Prehistory of Islam / by Yehuda D. Nevo -- PART 3. A QUESTION OF LANGUAGE : 1. Syriac Influence on the Style of the Koran / by Alphonse Mingana -- 2. Some Additions to Prof. Jeffery's Foreign Vocabulary of the Qur'an / by D.S. Margoliouth -- 3. The Arabic Readers of the Koran / by Paul E. Kahle -- 4. The Beginnings of Classical Arabic / by C. Rabin -- 5. The Role of the Bedouins as Arbiters in Linguistic Questions and the Mas'ala Az-Zunburiyya / by Joshua Blau -- 6. Some Suggestions to Qur'an Translators / by A. Ben-Shemesh -- PART 4. SOURCES OF THE KORAN: ESSENIAN, CHRISTIAN, COPTIC : 1. Introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls / by Ibn Warraq -- 2. The Qumran Scrolls and the Qur'an / by Eric R. Bishop -- 3. An Essenian Tradition in the Koran / by Marc Philonenko -- 4. A Qumranian Expression in the Koran / by Marc Philonenko -- 5. A Possible Coptic Source of a Qur'anic Text / by Wilson B. Bishai -- 6. Introduction to Raimund Kobert / by Ibn Warraq -- 7. The Shahadat az-zur: The False Witness / by Raimund Kobert -- 8. On the Meaning of the Three Final Words of Sura XXII. 30-31 / by Raimund Kobert -- 9. Early and Later Exegesis of the Koran: A Supplement to Or 35 / by Raimund Kobert --

PART 5. SURAS, SURAS, SURAS : 1. Introduction to Sura IX.29 / by Ibn Warraq -- 2. Some Minor Problems in the Qur'an / by Franz Rosenthal3. Koran IX.29 / by Claude Cahen -- 4. A Propos de Qur'an IX.29: Hatta Yu'tu L-Gizyata wa-hum Sagiruna / by Meir M. Bravmann and Claude Cahen -- 5. The Ancient Arab Background of the Koranic Concept al-Gizatu 'an Yadin / by Meir M. Bravman -- 6. "'An Yadin" (Qur'an IX.29): An Attempt at Interpretation / by M.J. Kister -- 7. Koran and Tafsir: The Case of "'an Yadin" / by Uri Rubin -- 8. Koran XXV.1: Al-Furqan and the "Warner" / by C. Heger -- 9. The Buddha Comes to China / by Michael Schub -- 10. The Secret Identity of Dhu l-Kifl / by Michael Schub -- PART 6. EMENDATIONS, INTERPOLATIONS : 1. Studies Contributing to Criticism and Exegesis of the Koran / by J. Barth -- 2. A Qur'anic Interpolation / by A. Fischer -- 3. Regarding Qur'an CI.6 by / A. Fischer -- 4. Three Difficult Passages in the Koran / by C.C. Torrey -- 5. A Strange Reading in the Qur'an / by C.C. Torrey -- 6. Some Proposed Emendations to the Text of the Koran / by James A. Bellamy -- PART 7. RICHARD BELL: INTRODUCTION AND COMMENTARY : 1. Introduction to Richard Bell / by Ibn Warraq -- 2. From INTRODUCTION TO THE QUR'AN / by Richard Bell -- 3. From A COMMENTARY ON THE QUR'AN / by Richard Bell.

PART 8. POETRY AND THE KORAN : 1. The Strophic Structure of the Koran / by Rudolf Geyer -- 2. On the Koran / by Julius Wellhausen -- 3. On Pre-Islamic Christian Strophic Poetical Texts in the Koran: A Critical Look at the Work of Gunter Luling / by Ibn Rawandi -- PART 9. MANUSCRIPTS : 1. The Problem of Dating the Early Qur'ans / by Adolf Grohmann -- 2. Observations on Early Qur'an Manuscripts in San'a / by Gerd-R. Puin Languages -- E. Semitic Languages Family Tree -- F. Origin of the Alphabet -- G. Development of Aramaic Scripts -- H.A Comparative Table of Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic Scripts -- I.A Comparative Table of Nabataean and Arabic -- J. Nabataean and Arabic Inscriptions -- K. The Arabic Alphabet -- L.A Dot or Two Can Make All the Difference -- M. Arabia and the Near East -- N. List of Contributors.