What it says about itself
From WikiIslam
Understanding what the Koran is begins with the defining of the term itself. Let's see what the Koran actually claims to be...
القرءان = “alqur-ana”
“alqur-ana” definition:
Proper noun. Originally meaning the Collection; “I collected together the thing” or “I read, or recited, the book or scripture”; and then conventionally applied to signify the Book of God that was revealed to Muhammad; it also signifies the Revelation, meaning that which is termed the mighty, or imitable which is read, or recited, and written in books or volumes. A name for the Book of God, like the book of the Law revealed to Moses and the Gospel.
قرءان is so called because it has collected the histories of the prophets, and commands and prohibitions, and promises and threats, and the verses or signs, and the chapters.
It comes from the root “qara’a”, which has the primary signification he collected together the thing; put it, or drew it, together; part to part, or portion to portion. He read, or recited, the scripture chanting; he read or recited anything in any manner, without, or from, or in a book.
References:
An Arabic-English Lexicon, E.W. Lane, volume seven, pp. 2502 - 2504
The Dictionary of the Holy Qur’an, 1st edition, Abdul Mannan Omar, pp. 448 - 449
The classic Arabic definition is really quite revealing.
We have the following proclaimed regarding the original meaning applied to the Koran:
• It’s a collection
• A collection of books or scriptures
Whether this collection is read or recited, it still suggests that it emanates from a collected repository of things already written down.
It was only later that the meaning changed to signify the Book of God that was revealed to “Muhammad”…and we already understand that the “Muhammad” spoken of in the Koran is actually the Biblical Jesus Christ.
Thus, the Koran is Jesus’ book!
This would account for the scores of suras that are titled after Him, and revolve around Him.
“Alqur-ana” also means Revelation – which is most appropriate, as >50% of the Koran is directly copied from the Book of Revelation.
The root “qara’a” takes us one step deeper with the primary definition “he collected together the thing; put it, or drew it, together; part to part, or portion to portion."
This gives us great insight as to why the Koran was written in the fashion that it was – as the authors who pieced it together and performed the translation, actually did so piecemeal. These pieces, taken in large part from the Book of Revelation, are actually the paraphrased Arabic counterparts to the Holy Bible, known as suras.
