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This is a series of seven Surahs (40-46) to which are affixed the Abbreviated Letters Ha Mim. Chronologically they all belong to the same period, the later Makkan Period, and they immediately follow the last Surah in time. As to the precise meaning of Ha Mim no authoritative explanation is available. If Mim here has a signification similar to Mim in Alif, Lam, Mim, it means the End of things, the Last Day, and all these Surahs direct our special attention to that Ha, the emphatic guttural, in contrast with the softer breathing of Alif, may be meant to suggest that the Beginning is only for the End, the Present for the Future, and to emphasize the eschatological element in Faith. But this is mere conjecture, and should be taken for no more than it is worth. The general theme of the whole series is the relation of Faith to Unfaith, Revelation to Rejection, Goodness to Evil. Truth to Falsehood. Is it permissible to connect the abbreviated Letters Ha Mim with these ideas as expressed in the word Hamim? Another suggestion worthy of consideration is that Ha stands for Hayy, and Mim for Qayyum. These are two attributes of Allah, meaning, - the Living, and - the Self-Subsisting, Eternal. The one points to Life, and Revelation, and the other to the Hereafter and Eternity; and both these matters are specially dealt with in the seven Ha Mim Surahs. The first letter of Hayy (Ha) is appropriate for life, and the last letter of Qayyum is appropriate for the Last Days, the Ma'ad, the Hereafter. Again this is mere conjecture, and should not be taken for more than it is worth. Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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