Orality and the Tradition of Arabic Epic Storytelling (2012) (original) (raw)
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The Oxford Handbook of Qur'anic Studies, 2020
This chapter reviews recent scholarship on the interface between the Qur’an and Arabic Poetry, from pre-Islamic times to the modern period. It shows that Arabic poetry has for long been engaged in an inter-textual dialogue with the Qur’an which has taken numerous forms, subject to changing historical and cultural circumstances. At the core is the dual status of the Arabic language as bearer of a divinely created message and as cherished medium of poetic invention. The chapter shows that the resulting tension between the competing and mutually reinforcing claims of poetry and prophecy can be observed throughout the history of Arabic poetry up to the present day.
The Qur'an and Adab The Shaping of Literary Traditions in Classical Islam Edited by Nuha Alshaar
The Qur'an and Adab The Shaping of Literary Traditions in Classical Islam Edited by Nuha Alshaar, 2017
Though there have been many studies on the Qur’an’s import ance in tafsīr (Qur’anic comment ary), there are compar at ively few which look at the recep tion of the Qur’an in other forms of liter at ure. This volume seeks to rectify the gap in the schol ar ship by placing the Qur’an in its broader cultural and liter ary contexts. It explores the rela tion of Arabic (and Persian) clas sical liter ary tradi tions (adab) to the Qur’an from pre-Islamic times until the fifteenth century CE, focus ing on the various ways in which the clas sical liter ati (udabāʾ) engaged with the Qur’anic text, linguist ic ally, concep tu ally, struc-tur ally and aesthet ic ally, to create works that combined the sacred with the profane, thereby blur ring the bound ar ies between formal tafsīr and adab. Through a detailed intro duc tion and a series of case studies, the volume rethinks the concept of adab and the rela tion of scrip ture to human istic tradi tions in clas sical Islam and ques tions the general clas si fic a tion of adab as belles- lettres. It explores the reli gious aesthetic found in differ ent types of adab works – poetry, liter ary criti cism, epistles, oratory tradi tions, antho lo gies, ‘mirrors for princes’, folk lore and mystical/Sufi liter at ure. The key themes of the contri bu tions are the inter tex tu al ity between pre- lslamic poetry and the Qur’an, and the innu mer able approaches to the Qur’an by clas sical authors and poets. Discussed here are the various cita tion tech niques employed in the udabāʾ’s borrow ing of Qur’anic language, concepts and stories. The chapters explore how the use of these tech niques reflect a hermen eut ical involve ment with the Qur’an and how the choice of these tech niques was deter-m ined by the liter ary conven tions of the partic u lar genres and contexts within which the udabāʾ were working, as well as by their authorial inten tion, and theo lo gical and ideo lo gical outlooks. Also high lighted here is the link between the func tions ascribed to Qur’anic quota tions in a specific text and the need to convey a partic u lar message to specific audi ences. Collectively, these contri bu tions by leading schol ars offer a new, inter dis cip lin ary approach to under stand ing the inter ac tion of the liter ary tradi tions of clas sical Islam with the Qur’an. Conversely, the analysis of these liter ary works enhances the under stand ing of the Qur’an’s recep tion during the period studied. Students and special ists in the field of Qur’anic Studies, Literature and Religion will welcome this volume.
THE QUR'AN IN THE CONTEXT OF ORAL AND WRITTEN CULTURE
It is a known fact that the first addressees of the Qur'anic revelation was Arab society so it's not surprising that the Qur'anic text reflects the elements, expressions and styles of the oral culture of that society. This article has an aim to clarify that there are great differences in understanding of the Qur'an before and after it was turned into a scripture. In this context, the Qur'an, revealed in Arabic, reflects the cultural and linguistic characteristics of its age. Regarding this fact, it is not surprising to witness several "oral" elements in the Qur'anic "Text".