The aya

The aya in Qur'anic-sciences usage is the division of the sura bounded by separators; every sura comprises a number of ayat ¹.

The Itqan treats the meaning of aya alongside sura and Qur'an among the first tafsir terms ¹.

Aya, plural ayat, first meant a sign, token or miracle. It is so used in pre-Islamic poetry, and it is the equivalent of the Hebrew 'ot and the Aramaic atha; the plural 'otot occurs in the Lachish letters for fire-beacons used for signalling. The Qur'an keeps this sense: the ark is called the token of Saul's kingship, and the sun and moon are signs of day and night. The wonders of nature are tokens of God's presence and power, and portents from which men should take warning. The messengers whom God sends rehearse these demonstrations of His power, wisdom and judgment, and communities are condemned for rejecting the signs rehearsed to them. From wonder to miracle is an easy step, and by a further step accounts of such tokens of God's might were called His signs; by a final step each verse of such an account became a sign. The entry notes that the particular religious use, of signs that attest the divine presence and accompany the work of the prophets, corresponds to Jewish and Christian usage. ²

In the Masora of the Qur'an, aya always means a verse. There was considerable discussion of verse-endings, of verse-numbering, and of the special merits (fada'il) of certain verses, such as the Throne Verse and the Light Verse, which were held to bring particular blessings on those who recited them in specified ways. ³