| In
making the present attempt to improve on
the performance of my predecessors, and to produce something which
might be accepted as echoing however faintly the sublime rhetoric of the
Arabic Qur-an, I have been at pain to study the intricate and richly
varied rhythms which apart from the message itself-constitute the Qur-an's
undeniable claim to rank amongst the greatest literary masterpieces
of mankind... This very characteristic feature-'that inimitable symphony'
as the believing Pickthall described his Holy Book, 'the very sounds of
which move men to tears and ecstasy' -has been almost totally ignored
by previous translators; it is therefore not surprising that what they
have wrought sounds dull and net indeed in comparison with the splendidly
decorated original. Arthur J Arberry The Qur-an Interpreted London: Oxford University Press, 1964, P. X  |
||
|
The
outlook of the Muslim craftsman or artist, who is never concerned with
display for its own sake, nor with progressing ever forward in his own
ingenuity, but is content to submit a man's craft to God ... reflects, I
believe, the memorable passage in the Qur-an, whithersoever you
turn there is the face of God and God is all-embracing, all
knowing." |
||
| A
totally objective examination [of
the Qur-an] in the light of
modern knowledge leads us to recognize the agreement between the two' as
has been already noted on repeated occasions.
It makes us deem it quite unthinkable for a man of Muhammad's
(Peace Be Upon Him)
time to have been the author of such statements, on account of the state
of knowledge in his day. Such considerations are part of what gives the
Qur-anic revelation its unique place, and forces the impartial
scientist to admit his inability to provide an explanation, which calls
solely upon materialistic reasoning.
|
||
|
Powered by:
|