797
edits
Qur'an: Difference between revisions
m
→Saj' and Soothsayers (kuhhān): grammar fix
| [unchecked revision] | [checked revision] |
(→Saj' and Soothsayers: Added paragraph to this section.) |
m (→Saj' and Soothsayers (kuhhān): grammar fix) |
||
| Line 39: | Line 39: | ||
Many academics (and traditional Islamic scholars) have noted the comparison of the style with a pre-Islamic form of what one would consider a type of poetry or "rhymed prose" known as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saj%27 Saj'].<ref>Stewart, Devin J. “Sajʿ in the ‘Qurʾān’: Prosody and Structure.” ''Journal of Arabic Literature'', vol. 21, no. 2, 1990, pp. 101–39. ''JSTOR'', <nowiki>http://www.jstor.org/stable/4183221</nowiki>. Accessed 2 Feb. 2025.</ref> It was heavily associated with Soothsayers (sg. kāhin pl. kuhhān).<ref>''Ibid. pp. 103'' & Stewart, Devin (2006). "Soothsayer" Entry. ''[https://archive.org/details/EncyclopaediaOfTheQuranVol5/page/n81/mode/2up Encyclopedia Of The Quran Vol 5.] Brill. pp. 78–80.'' </ref> Neuwirth (2019) notes, although the Qur’an presents only a polemical stance toward the soothsayers, it nonetheless attests a clearly perceived formal relationship to the mantic forms of discourse of the early Arab seers, who's oracular pronouncements were marked by metrically undefined rhyming prose, which bore similarities to the early Meccan suras—particularly in their use of introductory oath clusters, a structure not found elsewhere.<ref>Neuwirth, Angelika. The Qur'an and Late Antiquity: A Shared Heritage (Oxford Studies in Late Antiquity) (p. 425). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition. </ref> | Many academics (and traditional Islamic scholars) have noted the comparison of the style with a pre-Islamic form of what one would consider a type of poetry or "rhymed prose" known as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saj%27 Saj'].<ref>Stewart, Devin J. “Sajʿ in the ‘Qurʾān’: Prosody and Structure.” ''Journal of Arabic Literature'', vol. 21, no. 2, 1990, pp. 101–39. ''JSTOR'', <nowiki>http://www.jstor.org/stable/4183221</nowiki>. Accessed 2 Feb. 2025.</ref> It was heavily associated with Soothsayers (sg. kāhin pl. kuhhān).<ref>''Ibid. pp. 103'' & Stewart, Devin (2006). "Soothsayer" Entry. ''[https://archive.org/details/EncyclopaediaOfTheQuranVol5/page/n81/mode/2up Encyclopedia Of The Quran Vol 5.] Brill. pp. 78–80.'' </ref> Neuwirth (2019) notes, although the Qur’an presents only a polemical stance toward the soothsayers, it nonetheless attests a clearly perceived formal relationship to the mantic forms of discourse of the early Arab seers, who's oracular pronouncements were marked by metrically undefined rhyming prose, which bore similarities to the early Meccan suras—particularly in their use of introductory oath clusters, a structure not found elsewhere.<ref>Neuwirth, Angelika. The Qur'an and Late Antiquity: A Shared Heritage (Oxford Studies in Late Antiquity) (p. 425). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition. </ref> | ||
Gelder (2012) | Gelder (2012) discusses early examples in his paper "''Examples of Early Rhymed Prose (Sajʿ)"'', noting that in pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, as well as mantic utterances of soothsayers and diviners, it was used for special occasions and genres: pithy sayings, maxims, proverbs, speeches of heightened emotion or for solemn occasions.<ref name=":0">Gelder, Geert Jan van. "Examples of Early Rhymed Prose (Sajʿ)". ''Classical Arabic Literature: A Library of Arabic Literature Anthology'', New York, USA: New York University Press, 2012, pp. 110-113. <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814745113.003.0040</nowiki></ref> An example provided is from the mother of the pre-Islamic poet-brigand Taʾabbaṭa Sharrā, lamenting her son: ''wā-bnāh wa-bna l-layl * laysa bi-zummayl * sharūbun lil-qayl * raqūdun bil-layl * wa-wādin dhī hawl * ʾajazta bil-layl * taḍribu bidh-dhayl * bi-rajlin ka-th-thawl O son, son of the night * he is no coward taking flight * who drinks at noon bright * or sleeps at night * many a wadi full of fright * you crossed at night * shaking your coat’s hem * with men like bees in a swarm.''<ref name=":0" /> | ||
Hoyland (2001) writes about pre-Islamic Arabia. | Hoyland (2001) writes about pre-Islamic Arabia. | ||