Al-An'am[1] (Arabic:ٱلْأَنْعَامْ,al-ʾanʿām;meaning: The Cattle)[2] is thesixth chapter (sūrah) of theQuran, with 165 verses (āyāt). Coming in order in the Quran afterAl-Fatiha,Al-Baqarah,Al 'Imran,An-Nisa', andAl-Ma'idah, this surah dwells on such themes as the clear signs of Allah's Dominion and Power, rejecting polytheism and unbelief, the establishment ofTawhid (pure monotheism), the Revelation, Messengership, and Resurrection. It is a "Meccan surah", and it is believed to have been revealed in its entirety during the middle stage of the Meccan period of Islam.[3] This explains the timing and contextual background of the believedrevelation (Asbāb al-nuzūl). The surah also reports the story ofIbrahim,[4] who calls others to stop worshiping celestial bodies and turn towards Allah.
The idea of textual relation between the verses of a chapter has been discussed under various titles such asnazm andmunasabah in non-English literature andcoherence,text relations,intertextuality, andunity in English literature.Hamiduddin Farahi, anIslamic scholar of theIndian subcontinent, is known for his work on the concept of nazm, or coherence, in the Quran.Fakhruddin al-Razi (died 1209 CE), Zarkashi (died 1392) and several other classical as well as contemporary Quranic scholars have contributed to the studies.[8] The entire Qur'an thus emerges as a well-connected and systematic book.[9] Each division has a distinct theme. Topics within a division are more or less in the order of revelation. Within each division, each member of the pair complements the other in various ways. The seven divisions are as follows:
^Ünal, Ali. (2008).The Qurʼan with annotated interpretation in modern English. Somerset, N.J.: Tughra Books. p. 267.ISBN978-1-59784-144-3.OCLC234244740.
^Wherry, Elwood Morris (1896).A Complete Index to Sale's Text, Preliminary Discourse, and Notes. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, and Co. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
