SIGNS! WHAT SIGNS!!
An interesting read, making us aware of some of the deliberate attempts of the Orientalist on the interpretation of the Quran.
"Miracles? Cries he, what miracles would you have? Are not you yourselves there? God made you 'shaped you out of a little clay.' Ye were small once; a few years ago ye were not at all. Ye have beauty, strength, thoughts, 'ye have compassion on one another.' Old age comes-on you, and grey hairs; your strength fades into feebleness: ye sink down, and again are not. 'Ye have compassion on one another': This struck me much: Allah might have made you having no compassion on one another, how had it been then! This is a great direct though, a glance at first-hand into the very fact of things…" "(On heroes hero-worship and the heroic in history,") by Thomas Carlyle.
"This Struck Me Much" – This, that "ye have compassion on one another", impressed Thomas Carlyle most from his perusal of an English translation. I presume, the verse that motivated this sentiment is:
1. And among his signs is this: that he created for you mates from among yourselves that ye may dwell in tranquillity with them. And he has put love and mercy between your (hearts): verily in that are signs for those who reflect. (Emphasis added) (Quran 30:21)
2. And one of his signs it is, that he hath created wives for you of your own species that ye may dwell with them, and hath put love and tenderness between you. Herein truly are signs for those who reflect (emphasis added) Translation by Rev. J.M. Rodwell (MA)
3. By another sign he gave you wives from among yourselves, that ye might live in joy with them, and planted love and kindness into your hearts. Surely there are signs in this for thinking men (emphasis added) Translation by N.J. Dawood.
The first example is from the translation by Yusuf Ali, a Muslim. The second is by a Christian priest the rev. Rodwell and the last example is by an Iraqi Jew, N.J. Dawood. Unfortunately Thomas Carlyle had no access to any one of these because none of them had seen the light of day in his time. The only one available to him in 1840 was as he said in his book – "We also can read the Koran; our translation of it, by sale, is known to be a very fair one."
Taint Is In The Motive
Carlyle is very charitable to his fellow countryman. The motives of George sale, who pioneered an English translation of the Noble Quran, were suspect. He makes no secret of his antagonism to the holy book of Islam. In his preface to his translation in 1734 he made it known that it was his avowed intention to expose the man Mohammad and his forgery. He records: "who can apprehend any danger from so manifest a forgery? George Sale, And he set to work with his prejudiced translation. You will be able to judge how 'fair' and scholarly George sale was from the very verse which 'struck' (Carlyle) 'much!' Compare it with the three examples already given by a Muslim, a Christian and a Jew: And of his signs another is, that he had created you, out of yourselves, wives that ye may cohabit with them, and hath put love and compassion between you.
I don’t think that George sale was 'a male chauvinist' of his day to describe our mates, wives or spouses as sexual objects. He was only keeping to his promise, which Carlyle overlooked. The Arabic word which he (Sale) perverted is 'li-tas-kunoo' which means to find peace, consolation, composure or tranquillity; and not 'cohabit' meaning 'to live together in a sexual relationship when not legally married' (the reader's digest universal dictionary.)
Every word of the Quranic text is meticulously chosen, chiselled and placed by the All-Wise himself. They carry God's 'fingerprint', and are signs of God. And yet, the spiritually jaundiced… interpret it as they wish!
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