The common wisdom is that Christians and Muslims should dialogue only about what they agree on. This book takes a different approach. As the author observes, “If we focus only on our common ground, we will miss some of the motivating force of our traditions, because that force derives not only from what we hold in common, but also from those convictions that keep us apart.”

This book studies the composition or structure of Sūrat Maryam – the 19th sūra of the Qur’an – according to the principles of Semitic rhetoric. Sūrat Maryam has, in recent decades, been the subject of numerous studies by scholars of Islamology and Qur’anology. The general structure of the sūra, however, is not unanimously recognized among researchers, due to certain inconsistencies in rhyme and content of the text. This book takes a literary approach to the Qur’an, following the rules of a method well known in Qur’anic studies – rhetorical analysis. The book first analyses the sūra as it appears in the Qur’an today in the Muslim world, before focusing on a large section which shows a great literary unity, isolatable from the rest of the sūra. Through the assiduous and detailed reading of the sūra, its complex structure is gradually revealed. Other contexts are also considered: first, that of other sūras of the Qur’an, if they can shed light on the meaning of the sūra under study; and second, that of the Bible or the Jewish and Christian apocrypha. The book will be of particular interest to scholars working in Qur’anic studies and Biblical studies, and those focused on Christian–Muslim relations.