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inspiration, of course, but one whose literal aspect is of secondary importance? Second, this divergence shows to what extent the contours of the Koranic text were imprecise when the Prophet died, which opened the way to multiple possible canons.

     

Tradition has never concealed the fact that the revealed text underwent interpolations that then passed for authentic passages of the Koran: the archangel Gabriel dictated verses to Muhammad and indicated to him the place where they ought to be inserted-"in this chapter or that." This mythic scenario was conceived to legitimize a posteriori the work of the manifestly arbitrary composition of the Koranic surahs on the basis of those parts of the revealed texts that had a thematic unity. Therefore, most of the surahs of the current Koranic canon are formed of aggregates of revelations, which make them heterogeneous compositions.
    This phenomenon inside the surahs is further accentuated by further interpolation within each of the constitutive parts of a surah. In effect, words or phrases may occur inside a thematic development but be distinct from it, either at the level of the composition or at the level of the meaning. Consequently, these interpolations betray a work of textual recomposition of the initial flow and thus constitute so many traces of interventions-divine or human-which are not concerned with being in harmony with the initial text.
    The first clue to interpolation is the abnormal proportion taken up by one verse among the other verses in the surah. For example, the verse 2:102 contains thematic developments on the magic used by Solomon and it explains that he cannot be held responsible for it, for instead the fault belongs with the angels Harut and Marut, who taught the magic to humans. This argument in favor of Solomon is composed of a single verse that is exceptionally long, eight lines, as opposed to an average of two lines for the surrounding verses. The same is true of this verse: "The angels and the Spirit ascend to Him in the course of one day whose duration is fifty thousand years" (70:4). This is three times longer than the other verses of the same surah and does not have the same rhyme. It is an interpolation that might have been introduced here in the guise of a gloss of the preceding verse, which also mentions the ascent to heaven.

    Another category of interpolation consists of the presence of one verse (or more) without a logical link to the idea developed in the text that it interrupts. For example, in the surah "The Heifer," verses 153 to 162 have the theme of encouragements addressed to believers after a military defeat. But in the middle of this development, verse 158 suddenly announces the authorization of the rite of walking around al- Safa and al-Marwa, two stations belonging to the pilgrimage route to Mecca. And then the following verses resume the prior thematic development.
    Verse 3:92 announces the necessity of almsgiving, without being tied to the preceding theme devoted to the punishments awaiting different categories of infidels.
    Verse 5:69 offers a particular case of interpolation, since it repeats word for word verse 2:62. This verse 5:69 was very probably introduced here inadvertently, inasmuch as it expresses a positive appreciation of the "followers of scripture" and other believers, whereas the context in which it is reproduced is marked by recriminations against them.
    Another verse without a tie to its context is 5:109. It is caught between two thematic developments-before it, on the testaments of the dying, and after it, on Jesus-while it itself is devoted to prophecy and what is demanded of the prophets on the Day of Judgment.
    One also wonders why the brief verse 57:17, devoted to divine omnipotence, has a place in a context devoted to hypocrites.
    We may also find a sequence of verses comprising an interpolation in the middle of a development devoted to a different theme. For example, verses 29:18-23 interrupt the story of