reynolds-the-quran-in-its-historical-context-2

280 Christoph LuxenbergEdessa, which is the one best known to us from the literature and cornm,oru;usurps to itself the title of Syriac.How widely Syriac was spoken at the time ofMul;tammad in the areaknown as Syria is difficult to determine, but it seems f!_lirly certain that,Greek was the dominant literary language in the region at that period, ·common people of native origin generally spoke Syriac. 4In this light the controversies stirred by the present author's work, TheAramaic Reading of the Qur 'an, in certain scholarly circles are surprising.could be explained by the fact that many Arabists do not know Aramaic.their faith in post-Qur'anic, so-called Classical, Arabic, they are not capablemaking an objective assessment of such a historical-philological work. Yetlanguage of the Qur'an is not identical with some fictional Old Arabic,with the language of so-called pre-Islamic Arabic poetry, nor with so-calledsica! Arabic, which is based on the post-Qur' anic grammar created by theSibawayh (d. c. 180/796).Those scholars who maintain that thehermeneutical approach to the language of the Qur'an is nothing but a COJlteoitabthesis apparently have difficulty separating themselves from what might beerly called a linguistic ideology.The proposed historical critical method is designed to be above allsince it is founded on concrete cases in given Qur' anic contexts. At the sameit is directed at the restitution of the Qur'anic text on the basis oflinguistic references. This philological restitution of the Qur'anic text willas an indirect consequence a reconsideration of traditional Qur'anicwhich will appear erroneous on both linguistic and historical grounds.In order to offer a new proof of these matters we will attempt in what "'-,, --- __,.•_give a plausible response to the questions raised by certain contributors to thethe first conference at the University ofNotre Dame in 2005, 5 To this end we willa new Syro-Aramaic reading of the Siira 53 (al-Najm; "The Star"), verses 1 to ·which form a coherent unit. Through a philological analysis of these verses we ·.to demonstrate to what extent: I. the passage in fact contains Syro-Aramaicsions or words; and 2. whether, consequently, and seen from the angle of- or so-called Classical- Arabic; one might justifiably describe the language of ·Qur'an as a "Mischsprache" ("mixed language"), if not a diglossic language.Traditional reading of al-Najm (Q 53) 1-18By way of introduction to this Sfira we will provide the translation ofBell, which encapsulates the basic understanding ofthe traditional Arabtators to whom Taban refers. 64 Ibid., 19.5 QHC.6 Abii Ja'far Mul)ammad b. Jarir al-Tabari, Jiimi' al-bayiin 'an ta'wfl iiy ai-Qur'iin, ed.· Mul)ammad Shakir, Cairo: Dar al-Ma'arif, 1968,27:40-57.A new Syro-Aramaic reading of Verses 1-18 281By the star when it falls,Your comrade [ n.l: Mul;!ammad] has not gone astray, nor has he erred;Nor does he speak of (his own) inclination.It [n.2: The prophet's speaking, or message] is nothing but a suggestionsuggested,Taught (him) by One strong in power,Forceful [n.3: Eiilier in body or in intellect, according to two acceptedexplanations. This is usually taken to be Gabriel, but cf. li. 58 wheresinlilar epithets are applied to Allah]; he stood straight,Upon the high horizon,Then he drew near, and let himself down,Till he was two bow-lengths off or nearer [n.4: Or ''two bow-lengths ornearly," referring to the apparent height of the figure seen against the sky],And suggested to his servant [n.5: Mul;!ammad, who was Allah's servant]what he suggested.The heart did not falsify what he saw.Do ye debate wiili it as to what he sees?He saw him, too, at a second descent,By the sidra-tree at the boundary,Near which is the garden of the abode [n.6: This must refer to somedwelling near Mecca, unless the verse be a later insertion, and refer toheavenly places. The whole vision is often to taken, but this robs it offorce],·When the sidra-tree was strangely enveloped.The eye turned not aside, nor passed its limits.Verily, he saw one of tile greatest signs ofhis Lord [n.7: Or, he saw of thesigns of his Lord, the greatest].words, expressions, and phrases underlined in tile translation of Richard Bell,represent the Arabic understanding of this Sfira, will be discussed andiritE:mt·etE:d according to a Syro-Aramaic understanding.·~~e111mm~try remarksgical analysis of al-Najm will demonstrate that the central theme ofSfira is the polemic disseminated in the entourage of the Messenger (whoseis not cited), who is suspected of being "possessed" (by an evil spirit).in two passages (Q 23:25 and 34:8) he is accused of beingby jinn (spirits) and in five other passages he is described as majmln"crazy," according to the modem sense of the term, but rather in the senseThe Qur'an refutes the first accusation on three occasions (Q23:70; 24:46) and the second in as many passages (Q 52:29; 68:2; 81:22).Sfira addresses the cause of certain symptoms of the Prophet which hishad observed. The question is whether they were the product ofpossession or of a divine revelation.