Note 65 — HISTORY OF AL-HAJJAJ BIN YUSUF AND THE YOUNG SAYYID.[42]

This passage is not Koranic, and, according to Prof. Houdas, the word “Muhkaman” is never found in the Holy Volume. [The passage is not a literal quotation, but it evidently alludes to Koran iii. 5: “Huwa’llazí anzalá ’alayka ’l-kitába min-hu áyátun muhkamátun” = He it is who sent down to thee the book, some of whose signs (or versets) are confirmed. The singular “muhkamatun” is applied (xlvii.) to “Súratun,” a chapter, and in both places the meaning of “confirmed” is “not abrogated by later revelations.” Hence in the sequel of my first quotation these portions are called “the mother (i.e. groundwork) of the book,” and the learned Sayyid is not far from the mark after all.—St.]