سورة

See also: سوره and شوره

Arabic

سُورَة

Etymology 1

Assigned to the root س و ر (s-w-r). It is not clear from which word it was borrowed, it might be from Classical Syriac ܫܘܽܪܳܐ (šūrā, “wall; also figuratively for any divider”), compare سُور (sūr, “wall”) from the same word, or from Classical Syriac ܣܽܘܪܓܳܕܳܐ (sūrgāḏā, “line; writing”), or from Hebrew סִדְרָה (siḏrā, “technical term for the section marks in the Hebrew scriptures”), or from Hebrew שִׁיר (šīr, “lyric song; poem”), or from a variant vocalization of Classical Syriac ܣܻܝܪܳܐ (sīrā, “thread; chapter, topical division of a book”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /suː.ra/

Noun

سُورَة • (sūra) f (plural سُوَر (suwar))

1. (Islam) sura, surah

   Meronym: آيَة (ʔāya)

   Holonym: اَلْقُرْآن (al-qurʔān)

   Hyponyms: سُورَة مَدَنِيَّة (sūra(t) madaniyya), سُورَة مَكِّيَّة (sūra(t) makkiyya)

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 2:23:

     وَإِنْ كُنْتُمْ فِي رَيْبٍ مِمَّا نَزَّلْنَا عَلَى عَبْدِنَا فَأْتُوا بِسُورَةٍ مِنْ مِثْلِهِ وَٱدْعُوا شُهَدَاءَكُمْ مِنْ دُونِ اللهِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ

     wa-ʔin kuntum fī raybin mimmā nazzalnā ʕalā ʕabdinā fa-ʔtū bisūratin min miṯlihi wa-dʕū šuhadāʔakum min dūni llāhi ʔin kuntum ṣādiqīna

     And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our Servant [Muhammad], then produce a surah the like thereof and call upon your witnesses other than Allah, if you should be truthful.

Declension

Declension of noun سُورَة (sūra)

Singular	singular triptote in ـَة (-a)
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	سُورَة sūra	السُّورَة as-sūra	سُورَة sūrat
Nominative	سُورَةٌ sūratun	السُّورَةُ as-sūratu	سُورَةُ sūratu
Accusative	سُورَةً sūratan	السُّورَةَ as-sūrata	سُورَةَ sūrata
Genitive	سُورَةٍ sūratin	السُّورَةِ as-sūrati	سُورَةِ sūrati
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	سُورَتَيْن sūratayn	السُّورَتَيْن as-sūratayn	سُورَتَيْ sūratay
Nominative	سُورَتَانِ sūratāni	السُّورَتَانِ as-sūratāni	سُورَتَا sūratā
Accusative	سُورَتَيْنِ sūratayni	السُّورَتَيْنِ as-sūratayni	سُورَتَيْ sūratay
Genitive	سُورَتَيْنِ sūratayni	السُّورَتَيْنِ as-sūratayni	سُورَتَيْ sūratay
Plural	basic broken plural triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	سُوَر suwar	السُّوَر as-suwar	سُوَر suwar
Nominative	سُوَرٌ suwarun	السُّوَرُ as-suwaru	سُوَرُ suwaru
Accusative	سُوَرًا suwaran	السُّوَرَ as-suwara	سُوَرَ suwara
Genitive	سُوَرٍ suwarin	السُّوَرِ as-suwari	سُوَرِ suwari

Descendants

• → Azerbaijani: surə
• → Chinese: 蘇拉／苏拉 (sūlā)
• → German: Sure
• → English: sura, surah
• → Latin: azoara
• → Classical Persian: سُورَه (sūra)
  • Dari: سُورَه (sūra)
  • Iranian Persian: سورِه (sure)
  • Tajik: сура (sura)
• → Russian: су́ра (súra)
• → Swahili: sura
• → Ottoman Turkish: سوره
  • → Turkish: sure
• → Uzbek: sura

Etymology 2

Root
س و ر (s-w-r)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saw.ra/

Noun

سَوْرَة • (sawra) f

1. severity, vehemence, sharpness

Declension

Declension of noun سَوْرَة (sawra)

Singular	singular triptote in ـَة (-a)
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	سَوْرَة sawra	السَّوْرَة as-sawra	سَوْرَة sawrat
Nominative	سَوْرَةٌ sawratun	السَّوْرَةُ as-sawratu	سَوْرَةُ sawratu
Accusative	سَوْرَةً sawratan	السَّوْرَةَ as-sawrata	سَوْرَةَ sawrata
Genitive	سَوْرَةٍ sawratin	السَّوْرَةِ as-sawrati	سَوْرَةِ sawrati

References

• Ahrens, Karl (1930) “Christliches im Qoran. Eine Nachlese”, in Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft‎^[1] (in German), volume 84, page 19
• Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 238
• Freytag, Georg (1833) “سورة”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum‎^[2] (in Latin), volume 2, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 374
• Jeffery, Arthur (1938) The Foreign Vocabulary of the Qurʾān (Gaekwad’s Oriental Series; 79), Baroda: Oriental Institute, pages 180–182
• Lane, Edward William (1863) “سورة”, in Arabic-English Lexicon‎^[3], London: Williams & Norgate, page 1465
• Nöldeke, Theodor (1910) Neue Beiträge zur semitischen Sprachwissenschaft‎^[4] (in German), Straßburg: Karl J. Trübner, page 26
• Wehr, Hans (1979) “سورة”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN, page 514