ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I explore a strategic concern of scripture: the intended range of a revelation which determines and extends its relationship of legitimate authority to the wider disbelieving world. I examine the intended relevance and putative scope of ‘an Arabic Quran’ (qura¯nan ‘arabiyyan: Q;12:2; 20:112; 39:28; 41:3; 42:7; 43:3). The book was revealed to one man and conveyed to a particular people at a given place in time. Can a book speak to the actual condition of one people while retaining the capacity to speak to the common human condition of all peoples? What was addressed to one temporary community of the past must be experienced as though it were addressed to a permanently ahistoric community located anywhere in subsequent history, so that the authority of theword transcends the (original) context of the word. This is an ambition of revelations which claim universal validity across generations. Is this attempt at transcendence of an original locale a coherent aspiration for any book, sacred or mundane?
