Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society
Chapter 5
THE STYLE AND STRUCTURE OF THE Qur’ân
The problem may be viewed in three dimensions, namely, (1) intonation, (2) diction, and (3) thought, and the Qur’an is inimitable and unique in each.
INTONATION:
No other scripture possesses that exquisite and majestic charm of melody that the Holy Qur’an has. An English scholar and orientalist of repute bears testimony to this fact when he says: “… the Glorious Qur’an, that inimitable symphony the very sounds of which move men to tears and ecstasy.”[1]
DICTION:
As regards diction: The Arabic language itself, which is the language of the Qur’an, is an extremely rich language—a fact attested unanimously by all the Arabicists of the world, Muslim as well as non-Muslim. Over and above that, there is the style employed in the Qur’an, whose depths in the dimension of meaning and heights in respect of grandeur are simply immeasurable by human genius—a fact which has given to the language of the Qur’an the status of “the purest Arabic”[2] and “the standard of the Arabic tongue”[3]—all that in a miraculous form.
“Whenever Muhammad was asked a miracle as a proof of the authenticity of his mission”, says the French scholar Paul Casanova, “he quoted the composition of the Qur’an and its incomparable excellence as proof of its Divine origin. And, in fact, even for those who are non-Muslims nothing is more marvellous than its language which with such a prehensible plenitude and grasping sonority with its simple audition ravished with admiration those primitive [4] peoples so fond of eloquence. The ampleness of its syllables with a grandiose cadence and with a remarkable rhythm have been of much moment in the conversion of the most hostile and the most skeptical …”[5]
And the American scholar, Harry Gaylord Dorman, says: “It (Qur’an) is an ever-present miracle witnessing to itself and to Muhammad, the Prophet of God. Its miraculous quality resides partly in its style, so perfect and lofty that neither men nor jinn could produce a single chapter to compare with its briefest chapter, and partly in its content of teachings, prophecies is about the future, and amazingly accurate information such as the illiterate Muhammad could never have gathered of so his own accord.”[6]
It is correct to say that the miraculous quality of the Qur’an resides only partly in its literary aspect. Its emphasis on this aspect was, however, necessitated by the arrogance of the Arabs of those days who were proud of their high attainment in literary skill. Thus the challenge was posed to them on their own terms, when the Holy Qur’an proclaimed: “Or do they say: ‘he has forged it’? Say: ‘Bring you then ten suras forged, like thereunto, and call (to your aid) whomsoever you can, other than Allaah!—, if you speak the truth’.” (11:13). “Say (O Muhammad!): ‘if the whole of mankind and jinns were to gather together to produce the like of this Qur’an, they could not produce of the like thereof, even if they backed up each other with help and support.” (17:88).[7]
It is difficult to translate any book written in any language. Much more so the Qur’an, whose miraculous language simply defies translation. All honest translators are unanimous in this behalf. “The Qur’an”, says Marmaduke Pickthall, “cannot be translated. That is the belief of old-fashioned Sheykhs and the view of the present writer.”[8] “Of all the great works,” writes Abdul Majid Daryabadi, “the Holy Qur’an is perhaps the least translatable. Arabic is not at all easy to translate into a language so widely and radically differing from it in structure and genius as English, unless it be with the aid of loose periphrasis and lax paraphrase. Even so the fire of the original is quenched, its vivacious perspicuity is lost, and the so-called literal translation looks rugged and dreary. That the language of the Arabs abounds in nuances and both the noun and the verb are extremely flexible, is a fact well known to every student of that tongue. The difficulty is increased hundredfold when one has to render into English, with any degree of accuracy and precision, a work so rich in meaning, so pithy in expression, so vigorous in style and so subtle in implications as the Holy Qur’an. To reproduce even partially its exotic beauty, wonderful grandeur and magical vivacity without sacrificing the requirements of the English idiom and usage, is the despair of the translator and an ideal impossible of attainment. The result is that every fresh attempt at translating the Holy Writ brings home, in varying degrees, the truth of the old saying that nothing is so unlike an original as its copy.”[9]
According to Eduard Montet, “… the Coran (Qur’an) … its grandeur of form is so sublime that no translation into any European language can allow us to appreciate it.”[10] Even a Christian clergyman has confessed: “The Qur’an in its original Arabic dress has a seductive beauty and charm of its own. Couched in concise and exalted style, its brief pregnant sentences, often rhymed, possess an expressive force and explosive energy which it is extremely difficult to convey by literal word for word translation.”[11]
The Qur’anic narration is so unique in its style, and so different from the writings of the world’s seers and sages, that those who are accustomed only to read human literary productions based on commonplace logical sequence and on the finitude in which human thought expresses itself—the finitude of human perception and conception having its own finite, and hence more intelligible and more crystalised, sequential emphasis—are likely to discover that their minds do not grasp truly the transcendental logic of the Qur’anic narration as it flows majestically, starting at sura al-Fatiha and ending at sura al-Nas.
A non-Muslim translator of the Holy Qur’an views this problem in his own light and tenders the following advice to the readers of translations: “In the first place, the Western reader must get rid of the assumption that the Koran is more or less like the Old Testament. The misapprehension is natural enough, when the first casual glance picks out the names of Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Jonah, Joseph, Jacob, Job: the Biblical style [12] of the popular translations does not furnish exactly a corrective. Misled by these early impressions, the reader makes the fatal mistake of trying to take it too much at once; he opens at a likely place, the beginning of a sura, and is lulled into suspicion by the familiar layout of chapter and verse; he finishes the first sura and goes on to several more; he is bewildered by the rapid and seemingly illogical changes of subject, and he quickly wearies of the frequent repetitions of themes and formulas… The Koran, like the poetry which it resembles in so many ways, is best sampled a little at a time; and that little deserves and needs meditation… He (the reader) will become gradually familiar with the Koran’s claim to be a confirmation of earlier scriptures. He will observe how the Koran assumes a knowledge of the contents of those scriptures, and only later expands the individual narratives into something like connected stories. He now follows step by step the gradual unfolding of the full prophetic powers, and when he comes to the polemic and the legislation he is readier to receive and understand them … the uninitiated enquirer … is screened from it by the double veil of a printed page and a foreign idiom. Yes, a foreign idiom, for the Koran is God’s revelation in Arabic, and the emotive and evocative qualities of the original disappear almost totally in the skilfullest translation. When appreciation rests upon these foundations, the charges of wearisome repetition and jumbled confusion become meaningless. Truth cannot be dimmed by being frequently stated, but only gains in clarity and convincingness at every repetition …”[13]
[1] Marmaduke Pickthall: Meaning of the Glorious Qur’an. Translator’s Foreword, 1st para.
[2] F.F. Arbuthnot, The Construction of the Bible and the Koran, London, p.5.
[3] George Sale: The Koran: The Preliminary Discourse, London and New York 1891, p. 47.
[4] In actual fact, the Arabs of those days were not primitive but highly civilised in respect of language.
[5] “L’Enseignement de I’Arabe au College de France”. in Lecon d’overture for 26th April, 1909.
[6] Towards Understanding Islam, New York 1948. p. 3.
[7] It should be observed that both of these verses were revealed at Makka, which proves that the Qur’an grew from the very beginning in book-form. Also: we find this challenge repeated on three other occasions, viz., 2:23; 10:38; 52:34.
[8] op. cit.
[9] The Holy Qur’an: English Translation and Commentary, Lahore and Karachi 1957, Preface, p. 9.
[10] Traduction Francaise du Coran, Paris 1929, Introduction, p. 53.
[11] John Naish, M.A. (Oxon.), D.D: The Wisdom of the Qur’an, Oxford 1937, Preface, p. 8.
[12] The text of the Bible, as we have already noted, has been composed by eminent human writers, who have very naturally adopted the popular human style. In the translations that style has become even more human. But all that has happened at the cost of loss of the Divine Truth.
[13] A. J. Arberry: The Holy Koran, an Introduction with Selections, London 1953, pp. 25-27.
to be continued . . . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment