72:1-Note by sam:

72:1-Note by sam:

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2. Many chapters have defining characteristics. Here that characteristic is annahu or that (it), and closely-related constructions. The verse at 72:1 identifies what was revealed to the Messenger, and other translators tend to render along the lines I have here in terms of the construction mentioned above. Thereafter, translators tend to elide this construction where it reappears. I can understand that because where this feature appears elsewhere in the broader text of the Qur’an it is often redundant in English. So on first blush it makes sense to elide it in the remainder of the sūrah also. But it occurs in the present sūrah with such frequency that I was compelled to consider this feature as significant in some way. My conclusion is that it appears so repeatedly in the chapter for two reasons. Firstly, the subject matter itself treats of al jinn, whom we understand to be representative of the dominant men who sit atop any society — including ours — and rule. In our broader discussion of that topic (see Article SJC-https://t.ly/i8Py), we identify a correlation between the powers wielded by ruling elites and the effective use of esoteric or occult powers by those elites. Thus, this repeated feature emphasises the fact of this sūrah’s revelation to the Messenger, effectively linking all sentences which contain the feature with the opening statement: Say thou: it is revealed to me, that[...]. Moreover, the recurrent accent upon the word that, while easily (and, again, correctly) elided in other circumstances, serves here not only to put the reader in mind of this sūrah as something revealed to Muḥammad, but juxtaposes that fact with the words of al jinn who describe historical attempts to force access to the heavenly realms to obtain information, and that such attempts are now all but futile. Thus, this format itself makes plain that the revelation given to Muḥammad is superior to whatever the schemes of al jinn might be. Secondly, this same mechanism sets in place an emphasis on the revealed nature of verse 72:19 — which falls outside that segment which comprises the words of al jinn — effectively pulling it back into a focus with the same emphasis on revelation as the statements of al jinn. Finally, the same mechanism serves a different but related function at 72:27. Without the, perhaps, pedantic emphasis which results from my rendering of this sūrah, these important points would be lost.