Poetry

[Gullytale]

Just been reading Islam and am I am trying to understand the claim that the miaculous claim that Qur'an is itself a miracle 0-with a literature/poetry that cannot be matched.

Just one in English that seems quite beautifully compable. The only ayat I found truly inpiriring is the one abou tthe Light - Al Nur. That is very beautiful - mystical.


This is juat a power py Wordsworth I picked at random. What are people's vews on this ?


Salam


God bless


K

What though the radiance which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind;
In the primal sympathy
Which having been must ever be;
In the soothing thoughts that spring
Out of human suffering;
In the faith that looks through death,
In years that bring the philosophic mind.

(Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood, 175-186)

 

[Dream]

Poets use many methods, which they call 'Devices' to communicate more than prose would. They want to reach the emotions of their reader, and they want to activate the reader. Their favorite device is to leave out information to put the reader's creativity to work for the writer. A reader can find meaning in poems that the writer did not see themselves. Often a really good poem unlocks understanding within the reader instead of telling them anything.

Arabic is very different from English, so its going to have a completely different mixture of poetic devices. Probably these will not translate into English, so you can only read it as prose. Actually, a lot of people memorize the Koran without being able to read it; because they feel that there is something in the sound of the words that is powerful when they recite it. To me that sounds questionable partly because of my experience with people that 'Speak in tongues'. They believe that there is profit in speaking words that human beings don't understand. I am fairly certain they mouth random meaningless syllables, but they believe very strongly that they are speaking holy words that will help them. I have not been able to detect any real positive value coming from the practice. I realize the Koran is not random syllables, nevertheless I think that sounds and speech are completely different things. To me poetry requires understanding the speech before the poem forms in the person's mind. The better you know the words, the better the poem becomes. That is why most people memorize poetry in the first place.

 

[Al Debaran]

Having thought about what you just said i would agree. My sister who follows SGI Nichirin Buddhism, recites morning gongyo (morning prayers). She learned to memorise and say the words before she understood their meaning. Infact most people who practice this form of Buddhism learn to speak and recite the words before learning their meaning.

Perhaps on some fundamental level it is the sound frequencies and harmonics generated by the spoken word that is as important as the meaning? My mother will spend about an hour or two every saturday morning reading and reciting the Quaran - but the words are never spoken, instead she sings them. I cant even pretend to understand all the words, but its very beautiful and increadibly uplifting.

 

[Gullytale]

Having thought about what you just said i would agree. My sister who follows SGI Nichirin Buddhism, recites morning gongyo (morning prayers). She learned to memorise and say the words before she understood their meaning. Infact most people who practice this form of Buddhism learn to speak and recite the words before learning their meaning.

Perhaps on some fundamental level it is the sound frequencies and harmonics generated by the spoken word that is as important as the meaning? My mother will spend about an hour or two every saturday morning reading and reciting the Quaran - but the words are never spoken, instead she sings them. I cant even pretend to understand all the words, but its very beautiful and increadibly uplifting.

Thank you for feedback folks.

Salam

Mas'alallh