An Introduction to
The Evolutionnary Course of the Quran
 
The Cultural Foundation of Mehdi Bazargan Publication
Translation by: Bagher Asadi
Published in June of 2019
Number of Pages: 299

“The Evolutionary Course of the Qur’an” (Seyr-e Tahawwul-e Qur’an), a two-volume work, is widely considered as one of the major intellectual works of the late Mehdi Bazargan (1907-1995), the prominent reform-minded Muslim thinker, university professor, public servant, entrepreneur, political activist, and the first prime-minister of the post-revolutionary Iran. He wrote the book – in Persian - during the years 1344-45 (1965-1966) while serving a ten-year sentence as a political prisoner under the Pahlavi regime. The first volume was published in 1355 Solar Hijri (1977). The preparation of the second volume, comprising of charts and curves, by Bazargan’s elder son, Abdolali Bazargan, took a number of years and came out in early 1981.

Bazargan’s method of research, and more importantly, his illuminating findings in deciphering – and explaining - the evolutionary course in the revelation of the Holy Qur’an, goes beyond all historiographical works in the Muslim world as well of as such prominent Western Orientalists as Theodore Nöldeke and Regis Blachere. It represents a major step forward in this important field at the time. The work is the product of rigorous research with historical significance and import; equally a solid foundation for further exploration and analysis. Despite some valuable efforts during the past decades to translate the book into English, most notably in the 1980s by Dr. Ali Asghar Agah, a Muslim student/academic activist in the United States, it has not yet been made available to English-speakers. A Turkish translation of the book was published in 1998. An Arabic translation has also appeared in recent years.

The Cultural Foundation of Mohandes Mehdi Bazargan (established 1995), in charge of collection of his works, has thus far compiled and published 30 volumes, inclusive of books, pamphlets, essays, articles, and lectures, and expects to publish 4 more volumes within the next two years. Following an 8-year expert review, including thorough the use of advanced computer software, all the quantitative data, statistical tables and charts, and curves in the original 2-volume version of “The Evolutionary Course of the Qur’an,” have been checked and assessed for accuracy in reproduction. The outcome of the review has been compiled and re-arranged in Volumes 12 and 13 of the Collected Works. Volume 12, containing volume I of the “Seyr-e Tahawwul-e Qur’an,” includes the ‘temporal sequence of the Qur’an’ and all relevant tables and diagrams, and the rationale for their calculation. Volume 13 includes ‘thematic evolution’ and ‘substantive evolution’ of the Qur’an.

The Cultural Foundation, acutely aware of the obvious lacunae in regard with an English translation of the late Bazargan’s work, has discussed the matter at different junctures of time. However, considering the fact that an English rendition of the detailed two-volume book – now Volumes 12 and 13 -- replete with numerous mathematical equations, hundreds of tables, charts and diagrams, and corresponding complex argumentation, could simply prove too technical and cumbersome for general, non-technical readership, the Foundation ultimately resolved to settle for a brief, compact introduction of the work. The principal objective of the preparation of the present book is to open a window into Bazargan’s intellectual journey of exploration. The Foundation believes the synopsis presented in this book, based on the material in Volumes 12 and 13, will serve to familiarize non-Persian-speaking readers, both Muslims and non-Muslims, and more specifically, Qur’anic scholars, with a succinct expose of Bazargan’s valuable contribution and its quite enlightening findings and conclusions. And, needless to say, the elaborate presentation of Bazargan’s journey of exploration, as fully contained in Volumes 12 and 13, will remain the enduring, and sole authoritative source on the detailed discussions, and all finer points and subtleties relating to the initial questions and concerns, rationale for the research, the research method, reasoning, analysis, and findings and conclusions.

The Foundation has also decided to include in the present volume the rather recent research article of Dr. Behnam Sadeghi under the title of “The Chronology of the Qur’an: A Stylometric Research.” This landmark research could be considered as the first rigorous evaluation of Bazargans’s work on the “Chronology of the Qur’an.” He writes: “Bazargan’s work has inspired mine and provided the starting point. Its focus on style and quantitative cast are methodological features that carry over into my work.” Thus, he considers his seven-phase chronology as Modified Bazargan Chronology (pp. 211, 212, and 215).

The Foundation deems it necessary to express gratitude to Amb. Bagher Asadi, a retired career Iranian diplomat, for his dedication and hard work throughout the preparation of this book, including, in particular, for writing: 1- a compact Introduction on the life and thought of Mehdi Bazargan as the necessary background for the volume, and 2 - the synopsis of Bazargan’s seminal work. We are also thankful to Dr. Seyyed Ali Mahmoudi, diplomat and professor of political sciences (School of International Relations, Tehran), whose serious interest in and effective pursuit of the idea of the preparation of a compact synopsis instead of the full rendition of the original work made the present volume possible. A special words of thanks is also due Dr. Agah, whose invaluable effort in translating the bulk of the original work – in the 1980s – was, for a host of reasons, left incomplete even if, as Asadi humbly states, has provided the solid foundation for his prose. We also express our deep appreciation to a number of Iranian academics, inside the country and in diaspora, including Mr. Abdolali Bazargan, for his full cooperation and also for his provision of the resources and services necessary for publishing the present volume. We also express our gratitude to Dr. Mohammad Hossein Baniasadi, who has also meticulously and patiently read the entire draft synopsis and made extremely useful comments and observations of a lingual and substantive nature. Dr. Farhad Bebahani’s creative effort in preparing a condensed version of the quite detailed chronological tables of the Qur’anic verses in the original work is also greatly appreciated. All these valuable contributions have indeed helped enrich the final outcome. A fuller list of all the contributions to the ‘synopsis,’ at various stages, is duly acknowledged by the author at the end of that text.