surah
Enable an AI agent to identify a surah of the Qur'an, assess the evidence and completeness of its representation, and select appropriate retrieval, comparison, citation or presentation actions.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
6 bundles · 11 layers · 18 findings · 29 questions
Chapter identity Establishes which Qur'anic chapter is being represented and how its labels resolve.
Canonical location
Locates the chapter within the Qur'an without substituting a proposed historical sequence.
Chapter position
Records the chapter's position in a specified ordering and the evidence supporting its identification.
- Which canonical chapter position identifies this surah, and which reference establishes it? definition
- Does any supplied number instead describe revelation chronology or another ordering? boundary
Names and aliases
Separates attested chapter names from transliterations, translations and informal labels.
Name resolution
Connects each usable name to the chapter identity with its language and attestation.
- Which Arabic names and naming variants are attested for this chapter? provenance
- Which transliterations or translated labels can be resolved unambiguously to this surah? definition
Chapter boundaries and references Defines the extent of the surah and the conventions needed to address its passages.
Opening and closing
Identifies the chapter's textual limits separately from surrounding headings and presentation material.
Boundary treatment
Records how the selected representation handles the opening basmala and the end of the chapter.
- How is the opening basmala, where present, displayed and numbered in this representation? boundary
- What establishes the final textual span, and which adjacent headings or annotations are outside the surah? boundary
Ayah addressing
Makes verse references interpretable within a declared counting convention.
Verse segmentation
Records the count and segmentation basis required to locate and compare ayat.
- How many ayat does this representation identify, and under which counting convention? measurement
- What verified mapping is needed before a verse reference can be transferred to another representation? action
Textual and mediated representations Connects the surah to particular Arabic texts, readings, translations and recitations.
Arabic textual basis
Identifies the evidence and conventions behind an available Arabic representation.
Reading and witness
Records established reading affiliations and source artefacts without inferring them solely from a surah name.
- Which edition or witness supplies this Arabic text, and what reading or transmission does it explicitly identify? provenance
- Which observed differences are documented as reading, orthographic or editorial differences, and which remain unexplained? boundary
Translation and recitation links
Relates mediated expressions to the passages they represent.
Representation alignment
Records the basis and limits of links from Arabic passages to translated text or recitation segments.
- Which translator or reciter and source artefact are responsible for each linked representation? provenance
- What evidence supports each verse-to-translation or verse-to-audio alignment, including merged or repeated spans? measurement
Discourse and revelation context Records attributed accounts of the surah's internal organisation and historical setting.
Internal discourse
Relates proposed sections, themes and shifts of address to identifiable verse spans.
Attributed sectioning
Records interpretive divisions without replacing the surah's chapter and ayah boundaries.
- Which verse spans are described as discourse sections, and who proposes those divisions? provenance
- Which proposed divisions depend on interpretation rather than explicit chapter or verse boundaries? boundary
Revelation attributions
Separates whole-chapter classifications from accounts applying to particular passages.
Context and chronology
Preserves the source, scope and disagreement of revelation classifications and occasion reports.
- Which sources classify the surah as Meccan or Medinan, and do they identify exceptions or disagreement? provenance
- Does each reported occasion or chronological claim concern the whole surah or only specified ayat? boundary
Coverage and agent use Determines whether available representations support the requested surah-level operation.
Surah coverage
Assesses whether the available material covers the identified chapter under its stated conventions.
Coverage assessment
Records missing, duplicated or unresolved passage spans and the basis of completeness claims.
- Are all expected verse spans present exactly as required by the declared representation and counting convention? measurement
- Which missing, duplicated or unresolved spans prevent whole-surah retrieval or analysis? action
Citation and presentation
Sets evidence-based conditions for quoting, comparing and displaying the surah.
Operation readiness
Connects the intended action to the reference precision, attribution and use conditions it requires.
- Which chapter and verse references, textual basis and translator or reciter credits must accompany this output? action
- What source-specific reuse conditions or explicitly requested presentation conventions apply to the selected text, translation or recording? action
- Can the requested comparison or presentation preserve the distinction between Arabic text, translation, commentary and agent-generated paraphrase? action
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Kinds and varieties
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of surah this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Identifiers and schemes
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of surah this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Standards and regulation
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of surah this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of surah this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Typical measurements
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of surah this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of surah this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Regional variation
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of surah this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of surah this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Information and virtual systems
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- INF
- Domain
- INF.MED
- Other names and narrower kinds
- Al-Musabbihat, Meccan surah, Medinan surah, Secondary Suras, Four Quls
What it is Filled
A surah is one of the 114 named, sequentially ordered chapters of the Qur'an, each a bounded unit of verses whose internal verse order is treated in Islamic scholarship as fixed by prophetic instruction; scholars differ over whether the entire chapter order in the Uthmanic mushaf was prophetically prescribed.
In scope
- Surah identity, canonical position and attested naming variants
- Chapter boundaries, verse segmentation and reference conventions
- Relationships to Arabic textual witnesses, readings, translations and recitations
- Attributed descriptions of internal discourse and revelation context
- Representation completeness and conditions for reliable citation and presentation
Out of scope
- The Qur'an as a complete work and the organisation of an entire mushaf
- Individual ayat as independently modelled textual units
- Manuscript objects, printed editions, digital files and recordings as artefacts
- Translation works, tafsir works and their authorship or publication histories
- Prayer performances, recitation events and religious rulings as independent subjects
Why it exists Filled
Enable an AI agent to identify a surah of the Qur'an, assess the evidence and completeness of its representation, and select appropriate retrieval, comparison, citation or presentation actions.
Distinguishing features Filled
- The referent is identified as a chapter of the Qur'an, rather than any passage concerning a religious theme.
- A surah has a chapter identity; an ayah or an arbitrary verse range identifies a smaller passage rather than another surah.
- A juz' or other reading division is distinguished by its own partition scheme and is not treated as a surah merely because it overlaps one.
- An Arabic text, translation or recording represents a surah; its language, file identity or performer does not establish a new surah identity.
- Alternative names must be resolved against chapter identity before they are treated as separate registered things.
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Alter, misquote or invent verses.
- Mock or desecrate the text.
- Present a translation as the Qur'an itself.
- Use verses out of context to incite hatred.
Only with a human decision
- Publishing a new translation or commentary.
May
- Quote surahs from recognized editions with numbering and translation.
- Explain their structure and traditional order.
Moral aspects Filled
- For Muslims the Qur'an is sacred; misuse causes deep offence.
- Out-of-context quotes are used to stoke hatred.
Who is affected
- Muslims
- Readers
Owners Filled
Steward
Muslim communities and scholarly traditions; printed editions are certified by recognized bodies.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q1980247 - registry parent class
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.surah
- Wikidata: Q234262 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q234262)
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
- Canonical chapter position: Ordinal position in an explicitly identified Qur'anic ordering
- Attested names: Arabic names, transliterations and translated labels linked to attestations
- Verse count: Number of ayat under a named verse-counting convention
- Opening basmala treatment: Explicitly described presence, presentation and numbering treatment in a specified representation
- Reading and textual basis: Links to identified qira'a, riwaya, textual witness or edition where established
- Representation coverage: Complete under stated convention | excerpt | missing spans | not assessed
- Revelation-context attribution: Source-attributed classification or account, with disputed and unknown values allowed
- Reference alignment: Verified for declared representations | partial | conflicting | unverified
Plane INF: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- A chapter heading commonly gives a surah name and may include its position in the sequence of 114 chapters.
- Verse markers divide the chapter text into numbered units, although numbering conventions can differ between editions.
- A heading and opening passage checked against a reliable Quran text distinguish a surah from commentary or an unrelated Arabic passage.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- Resolve a surah name, transliteration or chapter reference to its registered identity.
- Retrieve the whole surah or a verse span using a declared textual and numbering basis.
- Compare representations while preserving differences in readings, segmentation and translation.
- Check coverage and generate citations that identify the relevant representation.
- Present attributed thematic or revelation-context descriptions with their uncertainties.
- Link Arabic passages to translations or recitation segments when alignment evidence is sufficient.
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Incorrect chapter or verse attribution can corrupt citations and mislead study or religious practice.
- Presenting a translation or commentary as the Arabic source text can misrepresent its status and meaning.
- Ignoring textual context or interpretive differences can produce misleading claims about religious teaching.
Standards and interfaces not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
No generally applicable technical standard or regulation defines a surah as a religious chapter unit.
Context of use required Filled
- A surah provides a named chapter unit for reading, reciting, studying and citing the Quran.
- It is encountered in printed scripture, digital texts, audio recitations, worship and scholarly commentary.
- Retrieval and comparison use its chapter identity together with verse references and the relevant textual or recitational tradition.
Sources Filled
- Surah - Canonical count of 114; length extremes; Meccan/Medinan rule; basmalah exception at al-Tawbah; liturgical use in ṣalāt; chronological vs muṣḥaf order; alternative titles; authority-control identifiers.
- surah (Q234262) - Class identifiers (Wikidata, GND, Dictionary of Qur'anic Usage, Freebase) and the definition of a surah as a Qur'anic chapter composed of āyāt.
- List of chapters in the Quran - Kufic/Kufan verse enumeration as the common 6,236-ayah count; 29 muqaṭṭaʿāt openings; Egyptian Standard and Nöldeke chronological columns; per-surah numbering 1-114.
- The Divisions of the Quran: Ayah, Surah, Juz, Hizb, Manzil, Ruku, and Sajdah Explained - Surah as a tawqīfī chapter versus later tawfīqī recitation divisions; etymology as a bounded enclosure; length range 3-286 āyāt.
- The Structure & Division of a Surah (Chapter) - 114 suwar; verse-total variation when the basmalah is counted; roughly descending-length arrangement; Makkan vs Madinan thematic profiles.
Open questions
- Does the registry intend surah to mean exclusively a chapter of the Qur'an, and does an existing Vercy model already own that concept?
- Which references will establish canonical chapter identity and attest alternative names?
- Which verse-counting conventions, readings and basmala treatments must the first implementation support?
- Which scholarly or traditional sources will ground revelation-context and discourse descriptions, and how will disagreements remain visible?
- Which existing neighbouring models should own editions, readings, translations and recitations so this model can link to them without duplicating their responsibilities?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q234262/spec.json