The act of substituting an extended form with an abbreviated...

The act of substituting an extended form with an abbreviated version has been in practice since ancient times, although its use has assumed greater proportions in our times, for we observe numerous instances wherein elongated expressions and names of organizations have been condensed into a small and single word.

It is necessary to mention that these various interpretations of the Broken Letters are in no way contradictory to one another since it is possible for all of them to be intended together – viewing them as various latent and hidden meanings of the Noble Quran. (6) 4. There is a possibility that all or at least some of these Broken Letters possess specific meanings – just as a word encompasses a meaning within itself.

Incidentally, we observe that numerous traditions and many commentators, in connection with the beginning of the chapters ‘Taha’ and ‘Yasin’, state that طه (Taha) is in the meaning of ياَ رَجُل (‘O’ Man!)’. In addition to this, we also come across certain Arab poems, some of which are probably associated with the period coincident with the onset of Islam or even before it, in which the word ‘Taha’ possesses a meaning similar to “O’ Man!’ or something close to it.

(7) As one reliable source has informed us, a few Western scholars involved in the study of Islamic issues have generalized this notion to include all the Broken Letters and are of the belief that these Letters, located at the start of the chapters, are words possessing a specific meaning, some of which have been pushed into oblivion with the passage of time, while others have managed to reach us.

For otherwise, as they reason, it appears very improbable that the Arab polytheists would hear the Broken Letters, not comprehend their meanings and at the same time not use it as a pretext for mocking and ridiculing – and history has not recorded a single instance where these foolish cavaliers had ever used the Broken Letters as an excuse to react in this fashion.

Although it appears difficult to accept this theory, universally and with respect to all the Broken Letters, its applicability with respect to some of them is quite acceptable; however, this is an aspect that has been an object of discussion in the Islamic sources too.