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Résumé :

Evidence of the existence of a complete and written original of the Greek translation of the Qurʾān. A philological examination of the ms. Vat. gr. 681: The article explores the Greek translation of the Qurʾān available to Nicetas of Byzantium (9th/10th century). It presents a philological examination of his Ἀνατροπὴ τοῦ Κορανίου (‘Refutation of the Qurʾān’) preserved in the manuscript Vat. gr. 681. It specifies the character of the original Qurʾānic translation that Nicetas used. The paper argues that there was a complete and full translation into Greek of the Qurʾān which was available to Nicetas in its entirety. It furthermore examines whether the translation was transmitted in a written or oral form and concludes that Nicetas used a written version of the Greek Qurʾān. In addition, through a comparison of the Greek translation, as preserved in Nicetas’ work and therefore called Coranus Graecus, and the Arabic Qurʾānic text, evidence is given that the Arabic copy of the Qurʾān, which has been used by the translator(s), was itself a written text, too. Finally, the study offers a perspective on the question of whether the Greek translation of the Qurʾān was based on the nowadays widespread Qurʾānic reading of Ḥafṣ ʿan ʿĀṣim or whether hints for variant readings are documented in the Coranus Graecus.