Let's Read the Qur'an as Literature

Cafe Society
1

Okay, folks. I tried to do this in the wrong forum and, of course, it got hijacked. Mea culpa and all that.

Anyway, let’s examine the Qur’an purely as literature. What are the themes? Who are the characters? What’re the interactions between the characters? These are standard essay questions I remember from the last serious literature course I took. Feel free to add any other essay questions you remember from your serious literature classes.

I think Muslims can do this without violating any rules of Islam (aren’t they required to learn, not just memorize, the Qur’an?).

This link in Post #67 of the above-linked thread is the version I’m going to be using (thanks, Kalhoun); however, I don’t see anything wrong with other posters/participants using other English versions. If you do, though, please indicate that you’re doing that.

I think we should also follow jjimm’s and his three predecessor suggesters’ suggestion to break this into “bite-sized chunks.” Since the first surah is quite short and the second is quite long, we’ll do the first two surahs in this thread. Then the next chunk will be in subsequent threads.

Folks, please please please please leave the hijacking out of this. What people are doing today has no bearing on what was written way back when. It’s the other way around: what was written way back when has bearing on what they’re doing–in whatever way the people doing whatever they’re doing today interpret what was written way back when.

Yes, I understand that literary analysis is interpretation. I’m not in this with the idea of what the “correct theological interpretation” is. I firmly believe that we of the Teeming Millions are smart enough to take even our own religious texts, let alone another faith’s, and dissect it as literature. Political commentary of any group’s activities should go in GD; bashings of the same should, of course, go in the BBQ Pit.

Now that I’ve said all that, from the second link above:

Since versification is one of my hobbies (yes, I have strange hobbies), I notice one thing immediately. The actual beginning of the surah is not considered a verse of it. Most, but not all, surahs begin with that phrase. I don’t recall if there’s a technical term for it.

So, the first words are of the author, who has not identified himself as yet, declaring that his words will be witnessing.

The first verse does not specifically postulate monogamy; however, it does say that only God should be worshipped. The latter part of the first versee and all of the second and third verses are merely names of God. The fourth verse and fifth verses are an explicit petitionary prayer to God to keep the author’s audience living right as opposed to the choice of those mentioned in the latter part of the sixth verse.

That’s my summation of it. Feel free to correct me where I’m wrong or left anything out.

2

Good for doing this, Monty, and here’s hoping that this won’t get hijacked.

As I mentioned in the other thread, I find it interesting that right from the outset, there is a sort of “us against them” mindset taken for granted. The third verse mentions Allah as Master of the Day of Judgement and beneficient and merciful. So the writer is defining himself in distinction from someone else, and also the two aspects of Allah (merciful to the believers, punisher of the unbelievers). Probably at the time of writing, the author was reacting against the animist religions of the area, but also (as will become clear in the Cow chapter) against Jews and the other People of the Book as well.

And the question of who is the author (in a literary sense) becomes interesting. It addresses Allah, so from a structural point of view, it is Muhammed talking, but the Q’uran is supposed to be coming from God. So is this first chapter God talking, or Muhammed? Since Muhammed is addressing Allah, wouldn’t it seem that Muhammed is interpreting the word of Allah - so the first chapter of the untranslatable Q’uran is itself a translation?

And a technical question - in Arabic, is the Q’uran written in prose or as poetry? That is, is it written in a developed literary format, or as straightforward prose? I am coming at this from the distinction between, say, the Psalms and the book of Job in the Old Testament, and the Acts of the Apostles in the NT. The literary formats of these works are quite different. Which, if either, is closer to the structure of the Q’uran?

I hope very much a Muslim, or at least a speaker of Arabic, can participate in this thread.

Regards,
Shodan

3

For what it’s worth, I think it’s generally accepted by most Muslims that while the words of the Quran are the words of God, the Quran itself is narrated verbatim by the Archangel Gabriel. Thus while the speaker does not explicityly identify himself (I don’t think he ever does in the Quran, but don’t hold me to that), most, if not all Muslim readers will know that the speaker is Gabriel.

The “Names of God” listed in the first few verses are actually superlative forms of those qualities (at least they are superlatives in Arabic). Thus God is not just merciful, but the Most Merciful - the most absolutely merciful that it is ever possible to be. As no-one can ever be more merciful than God, the superlative forms of these adjectives are reserved solely for God and their application to persons or mundane things is considered blasphemous. Thus, while you might find many Arab men called “Kareem” (Kind), you will never find one called “Al-Kareem” (The Most Kind).

4

Is it “most kind” or “perfectly kind” for a description of deity?

5

Shodan,

While one might come away from a reading of this first surah with an “Us vs Them” mentality, the “us” is supposed to be “we who are tryimg to do our best to please God and live as he taught us”, while the “them” is supposed to be “those who have heard yet deliberately ignored his message or who have wandered off the straight path”.

It’s a plea to God to help us live our lives well, and for his help in staying a difficult course. It isn’t supposed to be a “Muslims vs Jews/Christians” thing, more of a “those of us who are trying vs those who aren’t” thing…

6

It’s “Most Kind”, but the perfection is implied and understood because of the superlative form. The idea is that because God is perfect, no-one can be more merciful than him.

7

It’s called the basmalah. This word was coined using consonants from the phrase Bismillah al-rahman al-rahim. Yes, that’s where Queen (“Bohemian Rhapsody”) got it from. Freddie was Zoroastrian, but he came from Zanzibar,* a Muslim country where this phrase is heard constantly in everyday conversation.

Fun quiz–Name the one surah that (on purpose) does not begin with the basmalah?

Not sure what you mean by witnessing. There are other surahs that start with words of witnessing, mostly shorter ones numbered in the 80s and 90s. (There are 114 surahs altogether, with the longest ones front-loaded and then decreasing in length to real tiny ones at the end. This is like the performance of a raga which starts very slow and gets very fast by the end)

Monolatry is taken to be implied by the praise in the first verse you noted, and even more so in the 4th because of the grammatical construction.

Object pronouns in Arabic grammar are normally suffixed at the end of the verb. Verse 4 uses an unusual construction in which the object pronoun is made to go as an independent word in front of the verb, for emphasis. That’s why the translators always phrase this verse Yoda style. Actually, it’s as unusual in Arabic grammar to put the verb after the direct object as it is in English. This positional emphasis placed on the second person pronoun “Thee we worship” is taken to mean “Thee (only) we worship.” But you’re right, there’s no explicit monolatry in this surah (there is in other surahs). Not monogamy, nobody’s getting married until surah 2.

*Recently some fans in Zanzibar tried to organize a memorial celebration of Freddie’s birthday, but it was blocked by stupid Islamic fundamentalists because Freddie was gay. :mad:

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Argh! I did use the wrong word. The correct word is monotheism.

9

By witnessing, I mean testifying. For example, in my church we have a Fast and Testimony meeting one Sunday a month. At the end of the testimony, the testifier/witnesser will say, “In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.” The beginning of the first surah reminds me of that; however, in this case the invocation of deity is done at the beginning of the testimony, not at the end as we do it.

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You’re right Monty. Muslims say Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim before pretty much anything. It’s used both to call for Gods aid in performing a difficult task, or sanctify an action or event by dedicating it to Him. For example, a Muslim is supposed to say Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim before performing a ritual Halal slaughter, but he may also use it before addressing a crowd, or carrying a heavy pan of boiling water. It’s very commonplace.

11

I agree with you. I am not saying that this part is anti-Semitic, just that it begins by drawing distinctions. This first talks almost equally about the goodness of God, and His wrath against the unbelieving. He is beneficial and merciful (good), and also Master of the Day of Judgement (bad). “Lead us in the right path” (good), "not the path of " the ones God is angry at, or who have strayed away (bad).

Correct, I am getting ahead of the text.

I am not saying this “us vs. Them” structure is a bad thing, just an interesting one. Right from the outset, Muslims are defining themselves in terms not only of what they are, but what they are not.

Gabriel, not Muhammed - thanks. That makes sense.

Do you know if this Gabriel is considered the same one mentioned in the book of Daniel and Luke? Daniel especially, since it is a book of prophecy.

Regards,
Shodan

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Qur’an. The apostrophe goes after the r. If nothing else, I hope people leave this thread with correct apostrophe placement. That thing, the glottal stop known as hamzah, isn’t a random decoration sprinkled on words like jimmies on ice cream. It stands for a consonantal phoneme. It would be like writing “Blibe” instead of “Bible.”

Neither–it’s called saj‘, which means ‘rhymed prose’. It’s a third form of “developed literary format,” in addition to prose and poetry. It’s suited to declamatory, incantatory effect and was traditionally used for the utterances of soothsayers in Pagan Arabia. Most books written in Classical Arabic start with a passage of saj‘ to introduce the theme of the book, before settling into regular prose. The entire Qur’an is in saj‘, though some passages are very lyrical while others are very prosaic. The sound of reciting saj‘ aloud is integral to the whole multimedia experience of Qur’an. That’s why translations aren’t able to replace the original, if anyone was wondering.

Here is the pronunciation of al-Fatihah (surah 1), to give an idea. This is recited many times a day by each Muslim. The long vowels (here transcribed double) are necessary for the rhythm.

al-hamdu lillaahi rabbil-‘aalamiin
ar-rahmaanir-rahiim
maaliki yawmid-diin
iiyaaka na‘budu wa-iiyaaka nasta‘iin
ihdinas-siraatal-mustaqiim
sirat alladhiina an‘amta ‘alayhim ghayril-maghdubi ‘alayhim wa-lad-daalliin.

After which they say “aamiin” (Amen), which rhymes too. You can’t begin to appreciate the effect this book has on Muslims until you consider the effect of such rhythmic, rhymed chanting on the brain, emotions, endorphins, endocrines, etc. The Qur’an is emphatically not the unimpressive dry text you see in translation on the page. At best that’s a dried flower pressed between the pages. The real Qur’an as experienced in the daily lives of Muslims is a living sound vibration that affects their endocrine system.

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The two names are al-Rahman and al-Rahim. They’re both derived from the same root, r-h-m. The basic word formed from this root is rahim which means ‘womb’. There is a hadith qudsi in which Allah is explicitly linked to the mother’s womb because of the derivation of these names.

The way the uterus perfectly provides for all the needs of a fetus–warmth, protection, nourishment, respiration, all vital functions–serves as the metaphor for Allah taking care of the universe this way. As Monica Sjöö wrote in her book The Great Cosmic Mother, mammalian wombs are like replicas of the original warm oceanic environment in which life first developed. The “Cosmic Womb” (jagad-yoni) is a concept known in Hinduism too, while in the Hebrew language the association of the root r-h-m with womb and mercy is also known and commented upon by rabbis.

The way the two names al-Rahman and al-Rahim are used in tandem to suggest different elaborations of the same concept is hard to convey in translation. The usual phrase I’ve heard is “most compassionate, most merciful”. These are augmentative forms of the root, but not superlative. The superlative form ‘most merciful’ would be al-arham, which is used a lot in other invocations. The usual exegesis of these 2 names is that al-Rahman is mercy for the universe in general–the same sun and rain fall on the good and the wicked alike–while al-Rahim is individually experienced mercy. Macrocosmic and microcosmic, like ocean:biosphere::Mom’s uterus:me.

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While I’m not so sure about the endocrine system, the sound of the Qur’an as it is recited aloud is integral to the whole experience. There’s something very powerful about hearing hundreds, if not thousands of voices saying “A-meen” at the same time at the end of the Fatiha. It almost literally shakes the ground.

15

Johanna,

I though *Rahim * meant “Merciful”, not “Womb”. Can you provide a cite for this? I have to say I’ve never heard it used that way before, but then I don’t spend much time around arabic Maternity Wards… :slight_smile:

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To elaborate on Shodan’s take on the “us versus them”: the Qu’ran seems to open with an address to people who are assumed to already have some kind of understanding of what it might mean to be on the right path as opposed to being on the path of those who have gone astray.

Without this being read as too much of a factual inquiry into the historical (and thereby probably hijacking this thing yet again), but just as a surmise of the reader: sounds like the author assumes in the reader an already-existing understanding of some religious or spiritual content.

Or, alternatively: Dear Allah, before I get started with address these folks my students, be with us all and keep us on the right path? An invocation prior to the process?

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Thanks, this is the sort of thing I was wondering.

Is the parallelism of the first surah a part of that literary type? (beneficient and merciful/Master of the Day of Judgement, right path/not the path of unbelievers). It is a common structure in the Psalms and other poetic structures in the Bible (Ruth’s “Entreat me not to leave thee, nor to return from following after thee”, etc.).

Regards,
Shodan

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The cite is pages 331-332 in A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic by Hans Wehr, 3rd ed.*

Arabic words are built upon verbal roots, so the dictionary entry for a root always starts with the verbal forms and then come the nouns and adjectives.

رحم rahima to have mercy (upon someone), have compassion (for someone); to spare, let off (someone); to be merciful.
II رحم عليه rahhima ‘alayhi to say to someone: rahimaka Allah may God have mercy on you [said after someone sneezes, the Islamic “Gesundheit”]; to ask God to have mercy (upon someone); plead for God’s mercy (for what has happened)
V *tarahhama = *II rahhima
VI tarāhama to show human understanding for one another, love and respect one another
X istarhama to ask (someone) to have mercy

رحم rahim, rihm f., pl. أرحام arhām uterus; womb; relationship; kinship | ذووالأرحامأرحام dhawu al-arhām relatives on the maternal side

رحمة rahmah pity, compassion; human understanding, sympathy, kindness; mercy

رحيم rahīm pl. رحماء ruhamā’ merciful, compassionate

–Well, I hope that’s enough to give the idea. There are a lot more similar words under this entry.

*Hans Wehr is the dictionary used by every American serious student of Arabic. Trust me on this.

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Remember, the surahs aren’t in date order…they’re in length order. In fact, some of the first, longer, surahs were some of the latest.

20

I did not know that, thanks.