O MAN!
1
Asad Translation Note Number :
According to some commentators, the letters t and h (pronounced ta ha) which introduce this surah belong to the group of al-muqatta'at - the "single [or "disjointed"] letters" - which are prefixed to a number of the Qur’anic surahs (see Appendix II). However, in the opinion of some of the Prophet’s Companions (e.g., Abd Allah ibn Abbas) and a number of outstanding personalities of the next generation (like Said ibn Jubayr, Mujahid, Qatadah, Al-Hasan al-Basri, Ikrimah, Ad-Dahhak, Al-Kalbi, etc.), ta ha is not just a combination of two single letters but a meaningful expression of its own, signifying "0 man" (synonymous with ya rajul) in both the Nabataean and Syriac branches of the Arabic language (Tabari, Razi, Ibn Kathir), as well as in the - purely Arabian - dialect of the Yemenite tribe of 'Akk, as is evident from certain fragments of their pre-Islamic poetry (quoted by Tabari and Zamakhshari). Tabari, in particular, gives his unqualified support to the rendering of ta ha as "0 man".
