1. Introduction

Sajʿ is commonly known as rhymed prose. It is said to have rhyme but no meter, distinguishing it from poetry (qarīḍ), which features both rhyme and meter. Sajʿ is often associated with the text of the Qurʾān, because large parts of the Qurʾān were composed in this type of rhymed prose. (In her study of the early Qurʾānic suras, Neuwirth (1981) expresses her doubt whether this rhyme can be considered sajʿ.)

The Arabic lexicographers usually derive the term sajʿ from the r…