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(→Saj' and Soothsayers (kuhhān): Added a section on Saj's wider link with poetry and Arabia from MVP's blog - will continue with a section on Pre-Islamic Poetry and the Quran.) |
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The '''Qur'ān''' (القرآن) is the central religious text of [[Islam]]. Muslims believe the Qur'an to be the book of divine guidance and direction for mankind. They also consider the text in its original [[Arabic]], to be the literal word of [[Allah]]<ref>[{{Quran-url-only|2|23}} Qur'ān, Chapter 2, Verses 23-24]</ref> revealed by the angel Jibreel ([[Gabriel]]) to [[Muhammad]] over a period of twenty-three years<ref>''Living Religions: An Encyclopaedia of the World's Faiths,'' Mary Pat Fisher, 1997, page 338, I.B. Tauris Publishers, </ref><ref>[{{Quran-url-only|17|106}} Qur'an, Chapter 17, Verse 106]</ref>, and view the Qur'an as God's final revelation.<ref>[{{Quran-url-only|33|40}} Qur'an, Chapter 33, Verse 40]</ref><ref>Watton, Victor, (1993), ''A student's approach to world religions:Islam'', Hodder & Stoughton, pg 1. ISBN 0-340-58795-4</ref> | The '''Qur'ān''' (القرآن) is the central religious text of [[Islam]]. Muslims believe the Qur'an to be the book of divine guidance and direction for mankind. They also consider the text in its original [[Arabic]], to be the literal word of [[Allah]]<ref>[{{Quran-url-only|2|23}} Qur'ān, Chapter 2, Verses 23-24]</ref> revealed by the angel Jibreel ([[Gabriel]]) to [[Muhammad]] over a period of twenty-three years<ref>''Living Religions: An Encyclopaedia of the World's Faiths,'' Mary Pat Fisher, 1997, page 338, I.B. Tauris Publishers, </ref><ref>[{{Quran-url-only|17|106}} Qur'an, Chapter 17, Verse 106]</ref>, and view the Qur'an as God's final revelation.<ref>[{{Quran-url-only|33|40}} Qur'an, Chapter 33, Verse 40]</ref><ref>Watton, Victor, (1993), ''A student's approach to world religions:Islam'', Hodder & Stoughton, pg 1. ISBN 0-340-58795-4</ref> | ||
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=== Orality === | === Orality === | ||
Archer (2020) when discussing the Qur'an in relation to Professor [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_J._Ong Walter J. Ong]'s classical studies on orality and oral cultures (where literacy was either low or non-existent - like much of the ancient world), states that much of the Quran, shows signs of oral composition stylistically (as opposed to beginning as a written text), noting several common trends recognised by Ong.{{Quote|<i>A Place Between Two Places: The Quranic Barzakh (Islamic History and Thought). pp. 77-78 footnote 33.</i> George Archer. Published by Gorgias Press, 2020. ISBN 10: 1463239874 / ISBN 13: 9781463239879|• <i>“Additive rather than subordinate”</i>: Unlike written language which switches terms and grammatical constructions to break monotony, oral performances create much longer strings of repeating combinations. For example, consider the “and...and...and...” so typical of the books of the Pentateuch, the Gospel of Mark, or classical Arabic generally. | Archer (2020) when discussing the Qur'an in relation to Professor [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_J._Ong Walter J. Ong]'s classical studies on orality and oral cultures (where literacy was either low or non-existent - like much of the ancient world), states that much of the Quran, shows signs of oral composition stylistically (as opposed to beginning as a written text), noting several common trends recognised by Ong.<ref>He also heavily expands upon these and other factors in a more comprehensive and up-to-date work focusing solely on the Qur'ans relation to orality in: ''The Prophet's Whistle: Late Antique Orality, Literacy, and the Quran, University of Iowa Press 2024,'' ''George Archer.'' E.g. | ||
Memory (p. 31). Kindle Edition. | |||
Repetition (p. 33) Kindle Edition. | |||
Significance and Embodiment (p. 34). Kindle Edition. | |||
Eloquence and Abstraction (p. 36). Kindle Edition. | |||
Ownership and Variant Tellings (p. 37). Kindle Edition. | |||
Familiarity (p. 37-38). Kindle Edition.</ref>{{Quote|<i>A Place Between Two Places: The Quranic Barzakh (Islamic History and Thought). pp. 77-78 footnote 33.</i> George Archer. Published by Gorgias Press, 2020. ISBN 10: 1463239874 / ISBN 13: 9781463239879|• <i>“Additive rather than subordinate”</i>: Unlike written language which switches terms and grammatical constructions to break monotony, oral performances create much longer strings of repeating combinations. For example, consider the “and...and...and...” so typical of the books of the Pentateuch, the Gospel of Mark, or classical Arabic generally. | |||
• <i>“Aggregative rather than analytic”</i>: Oral peoples prefer fixed expressions and formulas that create totalizing pictures, such as ‘the swift-footed Achilles’ or ‘the glorious October revolution.’ To the literate mind these come across as cliché, but to people who cannot look anything up references must come pre-loaded with maximal content. A simple Qurʾānic example is the Christology densely packaged in the phrase ‘Jesus, son of Mary’ and its variations. | • <i>“Aggregative rather than analytic”</i>: Oral peoples prefer fixed expressions and formulas that create totalizing pictures, such as ‘the swift-footed Achilles’ or ‘the glorious October revolution.’ To the literate mind these come across as cliché, but to people who cannot look anything up references must come pre-loaded with maximal content. A simple Qurʾānic example is the Christology densely packaged in the phrase ‘Jesus, son of Mary’ and its variations. | ||
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==== Saj' and pre-Islamic poetry ==== | ==== Saj' and pre-Islamic poetry ==== | ||
Van Putten (2016) notes that while there are differences in style in the Qur'an from typical formal pre-Islamic Classical Arabic poetry as recorded in Islamic tradition (which we often can't be certain if it actually pre-Islamic or even in a dialect similar to that of the Quran), which adheres strictly to a quantitative meter, confirmed pre-Islamic Arabian inscriptions such as the En Avdat text and the Safaito-Hismaic Baal Cycle poem, show strong structural and stylistic similarities to Quranic Saj'.<ref name=":1">[https://phoenixblog.typepad.com/blog/2016/07/the-quran-in-relation-to-pre-islamic-poetry.html ''The Quran in relation to Pre-Islamic poetry.''] PhDniX's blog. Marijn van Putten. 07/23/2016</ref> | Van Putten (2016) notes that while there are differences in style in the Qur'an from typical formal pre-Islamic Classical Arabic poetry as recorded in Islamic tradition (which we often can't be certain if it actually pre-Islamic or even in a dialect similar to that of the Quran), which adheres strictly to a quantitative meter, confirmed pre-Islamic Arabian inscriptions such as the En Avdat text and the Safaito-Hismaic Baal Cycle poem, show strong structural and stylistic similarities to Quranic Saj'.<ref name=":1">[https://phoenixblog.typepad.com/blog/2016/07/the-quran-in-relation-to-pre-islamic-poetry.html ''The Quran in relation to Pre-Islamic poetry.''] PhDniX's blog. Marijn van Putten. 07/23/2016</ref> One example is the Baal Cycle poem which features a 4-4-4 stress pattern and a triadic rhyme closely resembling Quranic Saj', and the En Avdat inscription which is harder to classify but still shows comparable features, with a 3-3-3 stress pattern and a looser triadic rhyme, which also preserves older case vowels, revealing a dialect distinct from Safaitic.<ref name=":1" /> He notes that these findings suggest that the Quran’s poetic style did not emerge in isolation, but rather continued an existing Pre-Islamic Arabic poetic tradition, reflected across different dialects.<ref name=":1" /> | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||