“And the Poets, it is those straying in Evil who follow them…”
This is a Meccan sura; its name comes from v. 224, which tells us that only those who are going astray follow the poets. The import of this is that Muhammad, of course, is not a poet, and the Qur’an not merely a poetical work, but a divine revelation, although the pagans of Mecca persistently refuse to accept this.
And that refusal causes Muhammad constant distress (verses 2-9). Allah worries that Muhammad will fret himself to death over their unbelief (v. 3), and assures him that if he willed, he could send down a sign that would make them all believe (v. 4). However, there no sooner comes a new message from Allah than they reject it (v. 5) – but soon they will discover that it really is true (v. 6). Haven’t they even seen on earth the many signs of Allah’s power (vv. 7-8)?
Then verses 10-68 return yet again to the story of Moses, which we have already seen in suras 2, 7, 10, 17, and 20. The comparisons to Muhammad’s own story are frequent and unmistakable. When Allah tells him to go to preach to “the people of Pharaoh” (v. 11), Moses says to Allah: “I do fear that they will charge me with falsehood” (v. 12), just as they charged Muhammad (25:4). Moses is afraid the unbelievers will kill him (v. 14), just as they plotted to kill Muhammad (8:30). After Moses preaches to him, Pharaoh says Moses is a “veritable madman” (v. 27), just as the pagan Arabs have said about Muhammad (15:6).
Then follows the story of Moses’s miracles, and the attempts by Pharaoh’s sorcerers to replicate them. After Moses wins over Pharaoh’s sorcerers and they profess belief in Allah (vv. 47-48), Pharaoh warns them that he will punish them by amputating their hands and feet on opposite sides or crucifying them (v. 49) – the same punishment that Allah commands for those who “wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land” (5:33). But the sorcerers stand firm, hoping that Allah will forgive them for their past sins (vv. 50-51). Moses parts the sea (v. 63) and the Children of Israel pass to safety.
Verses 69-104 return to the story of Abraham (also told in suras 15, 19 and 21), again showing him confronting his people in their worship of idols. The idolaters readily tell Abraham that their idols are useless, and that they’re only worshiping them because their fathers did (v. 74). “They knew that their idols could not do anything,” says Ibn Kathir, “but they had seen their fathers doing this, so they made haste to follow in their footsteps.” This recalls Ibn Ishaq’s account of a delegation of Christians who came from the Yemeni city of Najran to see Muhammad. One of the leaders of this delegation was a bishop, Abu Haritha ibn ‘Alqama, who received money, servants, and other favors from “the Christian kings of Byzantium.” Abu Haritha, says Ibn Ishaq, knew that Muhammad was a prophet, and told the other members of the delegation that he was, but refused to accept him for fear of losing the loot that the Byzantines were lavishing upon him.
In other words, whether out of cultural inertia or love of money, the unbelievers are in bad faith: there is no consideration of the possibility that people might reject Islam simply because they don’t think it is true. Everyone knows it is true, but some find it inconvenient, for various reasons, to admit that. Says Maududi: “The mentality of the disbeliever has been the same throughout the ages; their arguments and their objections, and their excuses and subterfuges for not believing have been similar and ultimately the fates that they met have also been the same.”
Then comes, in verses 105-122, the story of Noah (also in suras 10, 11, and 23). Noah tells the unbelievers that he is only a “plain warner” (v. 115) – exactly like Muhammad (7:184). Noah then appeals to Allah to judge between himself and his people, and the people are accordingly drowned while he is saved in the ark (v. 119). This is a sign, but most still persist in unbelief (v. 121). In verses 123-140 there follows another account of the prophet Hud, whom we have met in suras 7 and 11. He too warns his people, but they reject him, and Allah destroys them (v. 139). Likewise in verses 141-159 the unbelievers reject the message of the prophet Salih (who also appears in suras 7 and 11), and are also destroyed (v. 158). Here is told again the story of the “she-camel of Allah,” a miraculous beast Salih brings forth in answer to the people’s demand for a sign (vv. 154-155). Says Ibn Kathir: “A crowd of them gathered and demanded that he immediately bring forth from the rock a she-camel that was ten months pregnant, and they pointed to a certain rock in their midst. Allah’s Prophet Salih made them promise that if he responded to their request, they would believe in him and follow him. So they agreed to that. The Prophet of Allah Salih, peace be upon him, stood and prayed, then he prayed to Allah to grant them their request. Then the rock to which they had pointed split open, revealing a she-camel that was ten months pregnant, exactly as they had requested. So some of them believed, but most of them disbelieved.” Indeed, some of them set upon the camel and hamstrung it (v. 157), for which they were duly punished.
The pattern continues. Verses 160-175 tell the story of Lot (also in suras 7 and 15). Lot castigates the unbelievers for their homosexuality (vv. 165-166) and Allah destroys them all (v. 172), rescuing Lot and his family – all except for one old woman (v. 171), a vestige of Lot’s wife of Genesis 19:26. Verses 176-191 return to the prophet Shu’aib (who also appears in suras 7 and 11). The unbelievers charge that he is bewitched (v. 185), just as they say about Muhammad (17:47), as well as a mortal man like them and a liar (v. 186) – again, just like Muhammad (17:93, 25:4).
The sura culminates with verses 192-227, which makes the point explicit: this is a revelation from Allah (v. 192), in plain Arabic (v. 194), as was prophesied in the earlier Scriptures (v. 196). Isn’t it a sign that the Children of Israel recognized it as such (v. 197)? That is, says Ibn Kathir, “is it not sufficient witness to the truth for them that the scholars of the Children of Israel found this Qur’an mentioned in the Scriptures which they study?” He asserts that “the fair-minded among them admitted that the attributes of Muhammad and his mission and his Ummah were mentioned in their Books, as was stated by those among them who believed, such as ‘Abdullah bin Salam, Salman Al-Farisi and others who met the Prophet.”
The unbelievers wouldn’t have believed a non-Arab messenger (vv. 198-199), and indeed, they will not believe until they taste hell (v. 201). Destruction will come suddenly, but Allah never destroys a population without warning it first (v. 208). So believe in Allah alone (v. 213), not the accursed poets (v. 224).
Next week: Sura 27, “The Ant” – featuring a talking ant!
(Here you can find links to all the earlier "Blogging the Qur'an" segments. Here is a good Arabic Qur’an, with English translations available; here are two popular Muslim translations, those of Abdullah Yusuf Ali and Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall, along with a third by M. H. Shakir. Here is another popular translation, that of Muhammad Asad. And here is an omnibus of ten Qur’an translations.)
Ancient right unnoticed as the breath we draw
Leave to live by no man's leave, underneath the law.
--Kipling
The photo of Dylan and Ginsberg above reminded me that there is a Mohammed reference in Ginsberg's most famous poem, "Howl." So, I got my Norton Anthology and turned to "Howl."
Line 5: "who bared their brains to Heaven under the El [elevated railway] and saw Mohammedan
angels staggering on tenement roofs illuminated,..."
RS/Hugh - what do you think Ginsberg meant by "Mohammedan angels staggering..."?
Darcy,
Would it be be backsliding Black Muslims getting high and staggering around on the roof?
Cordially
Robert Spencer
If there are any references to Muhammadaan angels and oher Islamic thems in poetry written by other authos, please post them here.
More likely Ginsberg was thinking (hallucinating?)about Tangier & Marrakech, the Morocco of Paul Bowles and The Sheltering Sky where the Beats gravitated to in the fifties, where Burroughs (with Ginsberg) served up Naked Lunch... but hey, staggering Black Muslims works too. The theme of the poem IS madness.
Well, RS, Ginsberg described himself as a "Buddhist Jew with attachments to Krishna, Siva, Allah, Coyote, and the Sacred Heart." (What's "Coyote?" lol!)
His journeys to India and embracing of Zen and Buddhist and Hindu ideas and beliefs is well-known and documented, just like the Beatles' forays to India, "Hare Krishna," chanting in both songs (Beatles) and poems (Ginsberg).
However, there is no substantive Islamic link to these iconic figures, Beatles and Ginsburg. Beatles - none whatsover. With Ginsberg, I think these "Mohammedan" and "Allah" references are just thrown in with the great number and variety of allusions and references that populate his poems, "Howl" in particular. In the second line, though, he does refer to "the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix" so perhaps your interpretation above is correct. But, substantively speaking, I don't think Ginsberg knew anything about Mohammed and Allah. Especially since Ginsberg sought constantly for the inclusiveness of everything in the Universe - which we know neither Mohammed nor Allah approves of - only Islam for them. Only. The intolerance of Islam would go completely against his belief system. So, I think these 2 references -"Mohammedan" (in the poem) and "Allah" (as one of his "attachments") are, for the most part, just gratuitous.
Imagine Ginsberg having an "attachment" to Jew-hating Allah! And Buddhist-hating and Christian-hating etc., - I don't think so! He didn't know anything about Allah! Simply gratuitous.
This is funny! I found it on the 'net. Check out the 21st century reference to "Mohammedan":
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Twitter (with abject apologies to Allen Ginsberg)
I saw the best posters of my generation destroyed by politics, commenting hysterical naked,
scrolling themselves through the n-word threads at dawn looking for a snarky fix,
trucker-hatted hipsters burning for the cheapest DSL connection to the bitwise dynamo in the datastream of night,
who pizza and tater-tots and poopsocking and high sat up typing in the supernatural whiteness of rented condos surfing across the tubes of internets contemplating porn,
who bared their breasts on MySpace under fake names and saw Mohammedan bombers threatening in video streams illuminated,
who played through universities with radiant eyes hallucinating Second Life and Warcraft tragedy among the scholars of war,
who were banned from the websites for crazy & posting batshitinsane on the Windows™ of the Bill,
who farted in unshaven rooms in underwear, tossing their tissues in wastebaskets and listening to the Terror on CNN...
"So believe in Allah alone (v. 213), not the accursed poets (v. 224)."
Right. Ginsberg would have embraced and endorsed that sentiment. No wonder Allah was one of his "attachments." (sarcasm so on!)
Darcy has it nailed down.
While I have always liked "Howl" and some of Ginsberg's other poems (even went to a reading of his several years ago), I am sorry to say that he was a member of the pedophile organization NAMBLA, stating, "I joined NAMBLA in defense of free speech." He also wrote, "NAMBLA's a forum for reform of those laws on youthful sexuality which members deem oppressive, (it is) a discussion society not a sex club." (Incidentally, I went to hear him read prior to knowing about his NAMBLA association.)
Hmmm...maybe Ginsberg had more in common with Mohammed than one would have thought!
While I have always liked "Howl" and some of Ginsberg's other poems (even went to a reading of his several years ago), I am sorry to say that he was a member of the pedophile organization NAMBLA, stating, "I joined NAMBLA in defense of free speech." He also wrote, "NAMBLA's a forum for reform of those laws on youthful sexuality which members deem oppressive, (it is) a discussion society not a sex club." (Incidentally, I went to hear him read prior to knowing about his NAMBLA association.)
Hmmm...maybe Ginsberg had more in common with Mohammed than one would have thought!
Peter Coyote may have been the "Coyote" that Ginsberg sites,he was big in the Haight-Ahsbury scene during the 60's.
JLP
From a posting above:
The photo of Dylan and Ginsberg above reminded me that there is a Mohammed reference in Ginsberg's most famous poem, "Howl."
Maybe Ginsberg once referred to Mohammed, but Bob Dylan surely did.
I'm suppose Mr Spencer will tell us more about it next week, when he'll be blogging Sura 27, “The Ant”.
Didn't Dylan write a song: "The Ants Are My Friends, They're Blowing In The Wind"?
Howl was written in the mid 1950s so I think the Coyote has more to do with Native American mythology (trickster). Or maybe he meant to spell it "peyote" which has something to do with this poem too.
"only those who are going astray follow the poets"
but watch your parking meters.
Howl was written in the mid 1950s so I think the Coyote has more to do with Native American mythology (trickster). Or maybe he meant to spell it "peyote" which has something to do with this poem too.
"only those who are going astray follow the poets"
but watch your parking meters.
ISTR Mohammed had some poets killed by his followers in the early days, for mocking him.
Ah yes, here it is...
Link
I heart Dylan. :)
"Maybe Ginsberg once referred to Mohammed, but Bob Dylan surely did." -- L_Hogthrob
Where? I'd like to know which songs or poetry.
Didn't Mohammed kill poets?
So no more rhymed couplets, Okay?
Didn't Mohammed kill poets?
So no more rhymed couplets, Okay?
Posted by: tanstaafl at May 26, 2008 6:15 PM
What about Free Verse? (Vers Libre?)
Helpful point Spencer makes: in explaining the reasons for unbelief, the Qur'an often simply airbrushes out of reality the most obvious possible reason. Some people think Islam false. The airbrushing in this case is crudely obvious, a bit like the willful fantasies of a child's fairy tale.
Darcy:
Precious Angel
1979
Precious angel, under the sun,
How was I to know you'd be the one
To show me I was blinded, to show me I was gone
How weak was the foundation I was standing upon?
Now there's spiritual warfare and flesh and blood breaking down.
You either got faith or you got unbelief and there ain't no neutral ground.
The enemy is subtle, how be it we are so deceived
When the truth's in our hearts and we still don't believe?
Shine your light, shine your light on me
Shine your light, shine your light on me
Shine your light, shine your light on me
You know I just couldn't make it by myself.
I'm a little too blind to see.
My so-called friends have fallen under a spell.
They look me squarely in the eye and they say, "Well, all is well."
Can they imagine the darkness that will fall from on high
When men will beg God to kill them and they won't be able to die?
Sister, lemme tell you about a vision I saw.
You were drawing water for your husband, you were suffering under the law.
You were telling him about Buddha, you were telling him about Mohammed in one breath.
You never mentioned one time the Man who came and died a criminal's death.
Shine your light, shine your light on me
Shine your light, shine your light on me
Shine your light, shine your light on me
You know I just couldn't make it by myself.
I'm a little too blind to see.
Precious angel, you believe me when I say
What God has given to us no man can take away.
We are covered in blood, girl, you know our forefathers were slaves.
Let us hope they've found mercy in their bone-filled graves.
You're the queen of my flesh, girl, you're my woman, you're my delight,
You're the lamp of my soul, girl, and you torch up the night.
But there's violence in the eyes, girl, so let us not be enticed
On the way out of Egypt, through Ethiopia, to the judgment hall of Christ.
Shine your light, shine your light on me
Shine your light, shine your light on me
Shine your light, shine your light on me
Ya know I just couldn't make it by myself.
I'm a little too blind to see.
Darcy wrote:
Well, RS, Ginsberg described himself as a "Buddhist Jew with attachments to Krishna, Siva, Allah, Coyote, and the Sacred Heart." (What's "Coyote?" lol!)
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Coyote is almost certainly a reference to the Navaho trickster figure. Sometimes Coyote is a sort of rebel, and sometimes a sort of "holy fool". I once illustrated a story, "Coyote steals tobacco from Crow".
Ginsburg was in many ways a truly fine poet--certainly "Howl" and "Kaddish" are very beautiful--but he was no theologian. His religious ideas are rather a mishmash.
So I'm not sure I'd make too much of the line "Mohammedan angels". It has been suggested that Ginsburg used that line to indicate terrible and awesome angels, rather than the rather sweeter Christian angels. (Of course, Christian angels can be quite awesome, too, but this is often not the popular conception).
A lot of themes run through "Howl". One of the major ideas is the perceived dual nature of man, both exalted and rather base and profane at the same time. The line about the "Mohammedan angels staggering on tenement roofs illuminated . . ." very much fits in with this.
Mohammed did especially target poets, who often mocked him or took him to task for his brutality and thuggishness. Asma bint Marwan chided the Muslims for following a stranger (Mohammed) and attacking peaceful caravans. She asked them, "have you no honor?"
Mohammed responded by asking, "who will rid me of Marwan's daughter?" One of his followers crept into her house that night, tore the sleeping baby off her breast--she had several children--and brutally stabbed her to death.
In tribute to this poet, there is a frequent poster to JW who uses the "nom de web" of "Marwan's Daughter".
Mohammed also had several women who sang satyrical songs about him killed. He was no friend of poets. I'll take Dylan and Ginsburg any day.
Roy Harper; The Black Cloud of Islam.
I'm sick to the teeth of the news on the screen
of hisbullah scum and jihad the obscene
whose men plant the bombs and then live feeling free
to watch women and children be killed on T.V.
which satan delivers a child a death curse
in the name of a worn out collection of verse
I've not read the book so I cannot recite
but I'd bet Salman Rushdie is just about right
underneath the black cloud of islam
What kind of publicity needs so much blood
that's not for some sad diablical god
selling himself as a two-bit Macbeth
as the expect in sentencing cousins to death
and what kind of god can this be anyway
that you have to prostrate to him five times a day
with hate in your heart and a gun in your hand
is force the only thing to understand
underneath the black cloud of islam?
And the butchers who've got all this blood on their hands
are the ones who need god to be stood where he stands
blessing this kidnapping, murder and war
with books written hundreds of ages before
and woman in veils walking paces behind
doesn't sit easy in my mind
it speaks of oppression and no other choice
that rigid compliance with the loudest voice
underneath the black cloud of islam
You can put a lead bullet clean through this guitar
'cos I'm not overjoyed with the story so far
sharing a world with the nutters of god
is as good as being six feet under the sod
words that are written are all here to say
and these are the latest there are anyway
and I am the prophet so don't believe me
I'm the same as the old ones expect that I'm free
to give you a piece of my mind which is this
you're the worst of jehovas blind witlessnesses
with your feet in the door of the deepest abyss
which is underneath the black cloud of islam
"You were telling him about Buddha, you were telling him about Mohammed in one breath.
You never mentioned one time the Man who came and died a criminal's death." --posted above by jihadwatch
Dylan is Christian, as these lines illustrate. Christianity is a theme in many of his songs from the late '70's on.
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"gravenimage" - I agree with you about Ginsberg's "Coyote" reference. Do you know whether "Coyote" is found in the Carlos Castaneda Don Juan books? Peyote City, LOL! Also, your suggestion that "Mohammedan angels" implies terrible ones in contrast to the goodness of Christian angels is certainly another possible interpretation. But I agree with you on the "
mishmash" of Ginsberg's personal theology - as I previously quoted - "Well, RS, Ginsberg described himself as a "Buddhist Jew with attachments to Krishna, Siva, Allah, Coyote, and the Sacred Heart." Uh Huh - that simmering stew of diametrically-opposed faiths makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?
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gravenimage - your misspelling here fits PERFECTLY!:
"Mohammed also had several women who sang satyrical songs about him killed."
"Satyr" is so right about the lecherous false prophet!
Darcy wrote:
gravenimage - your misspelling here fits PERFECTLY!:
"Mohammed also had several women who sang satyrical songs about him killed."
"Satyr" is so right about the lecherous false prophet!
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Oops--thanks, Darcy. I am mildly dyslexic, and for all my wide reading, often have to look up and check the spelling even of words I use frequently. Often some fairly egregious mispellings wind up in my posts. (yes, I did have to look up the spelling of "egregious".)
All I can say in my defence is that the word "satirical" does come from the root "satyr"--to indicate a raucous mocking.
In medieval Arabia the designation of "poet" had a rather wider meaning than it does today. Many readers at JW, with their wide world views, skepticism, disdain for brutishness and superstition, might well be considered poets in this wider sense.
Hey gi, you don't need to defend yourself. I said the spelling "satyrical" fit our subject matter, Mohammed, perfectly!
"Dylan is Christian, as these lines illustrate"
He is not Christian. I would love to be able to say he is, but he isn't. He is Jewish, has some background in Christianity but by his own admittance as of a few years ago he does not adhere to any one religion.
Oh, really? How do you explain this? (Scroll down to Bob Dylan):
http://www.integritymusic.com/christian/3/album-christian-music
He WAS a Christian for a few years. He hasn't been for a long time. Dylan has been through many transitional periods throughout his life and career.