An Interpretation of Sūrat al-Najm (Q. 53)

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolai Sinai
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Microstructural Analysis ◽  
Literary Context ◽  
Satanic Verses ◽  
Q 53 ◽  
Scholarly Attention

Sūrat al-Najm (Q. 53) has received a comparatively generous amount of scholarly attention for two reasons: firstly, it is said to have been the original literary context of the so-called ‘Satanic verses’, and secondly, it includes the most elaborate Qur'anic account of a visionary encounter between the Prophet Muḥammad and the Qur'an's divine speaker. While the debate around the Satanic verses has centred on the question of their authenticity, the vision account in Q. 53 is significant for the insights it provides into the Qur'anic understanding of prophecy and because its chronological relationship to another early Qur'anic allusion to a visionary experience of the Messenger, Q. 81:19–23, has not yet been conclusively determined. The present article will revisit both issues in the course of a holistic reading of the entire sura, dealing first with preliminary matters such as the dating of the sura and redactional considerations, then looking at the text's overall structure and its main themes, and finally attempting a microstructural analysis of its most important sections in the light of relevant intertexts, both from within and without the Qur'an.

Some Early Authorities Cited by Tājika Authors

2012 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 307-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Gansten
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Knowledge Systems ◽  
Linguistic Evidence ◽  
Medieval Europe ◽  
History Of ◽  
Scholarly Attention

AbstractIn comparison with the spread of Perso-Arabic astrological traditions into medieval Europe, the Indian reception of the same knowledge systems, known in Sanskrit as tājika-śāstra, has received little scholarly attention. The present article attempts to shed some light on the history of the transmission of tājika-śāstra by examining the statements of Sanskrit authors about their earliest non-Indian sources. In particular, the identities of five traditionally cited authorities—Yavana, Khindhi, Hillāja, Khattakhutta and Romaka—are discussed on the basis of text-internal, historical and linguistic evidence.

Hindko in Kohat and Peshawar

1980 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 482-510
Author(s):  
C. Shackle
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Wide Distribution ◽  
The Other ◽  
Main Body ◽  
Historical Importance ◽  
Adequate Coverage ◽  
Extreme North ◽  
Language Areas ◽  
North Western ◽  
Scholarly Attention

The Indo-Iranian linguistic frontier constitutes one of the most complex and interesting language-areas of the sub-continent. Given the nature of the area, it is perhaps inevitable that scholarly attention should have been directed particularly to its remoter corners, where so much that is of historical importance has been preserved, and we certainly have every reason to be grateful for the fascination which such out of the way survivals have held for the minds of several outstanding linguists. It is, on the other hand, a matter for regret that so little has been done by comparison on the languages which flourish in less inaccessible parts of the frontier, particularly on the Indo-Aryan side. The wide distribution of such languages alone, quite apart from their intrinsic interest, demands that they too be accorded adequate coverage if the peculiarly complex language-patterns of the area are ever to be properly understood as a whole. The present article, based largely on material collected during a recent field-trip to Pakistan,1 represents an attempt to fill one such gap in contemporary coverage, by providing descriptions of the extreme north-western extensions of the main body of Indo-Aryan.

The Kāludāyi-Theragāthā as transmitted in the Pali commentaries

2019 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-83
Author(s):  
Aruna Gamage
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Rhetorical Devices ◽  
Detailed Survey ◽  
Literary Quality ◽  
Scholarly Attention

AbstractWhile the Theragāthā contains only ten verses attributed to the Elder Kāludāyi, the Pali commentaries ascribe a further two sets of verses to him. The present article aims to carry out a detailed survey of these verses, which have so far received no scholarly attention, as a contribution to the understanding of the formation of Kāludāyi's verses in the canon and their paracanonical legacy. In this paper, the additional verses of Kāludāyi that appear in the commentaries are critically analysed in light of all other utterances attributed to him, in the canon as well as in the commentaries. The style, syntax, and wordings of specific stanzas of both series will be taken into consideration so as to evaluate their antiquity and their literary quality. When dealing with the rhetorical devices adapted in the stanzas, some Sanskrit poems are also taken into account.

scholarly journals Een slachtoffer heeft JHWH in het Noorderland (Jer 46:10)

2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendrik G.L. Peels
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Image Of God ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Focal Points ◽  
Literary Context ◽  
The North ◽  
Book Of Jeremiah

For the Lord will offer sacrifice in the land of the North (Jer 46:10). The present article ‘For the Lord will offer sacrifice in the land of the North (Jer 46:10)’ combines two focal points of my research, namely the issue of the Old Testament image of God and the interpretation of the book of Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 46:2–12, the first oracle against Egypt sketches a frightening picture of the destruction of Egypt’s army, which was crushingly defeated by the Babylonians at Carchemish. The destruction is represented as a sacrificial meal, at which the divine sword feasts on the flesh and the blood of God’s enemies. In order to adequately understand the purport of his prophetic interpretation, I present a contextual exegesis of the pericope. It is read in its literary context and against its historical background. After a concise analysis of its structure and a detailed exegesis of the pivotal verse (46:10), I conclude with a theological evaluation concerning the meaning and significance of this eerie prophecy.

Tibet from Buddhism to Communism

1986 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Stoddard
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Small Population ◽  
Ancien Regime ◽  
Research Opportunities ◽  
Internal Development ◽  
Spiritual Reform ◽  
Ancien Régime ◽  
Scholarly Attention

The conflict between Mohammed and Marx has received a fair amount of scholarly attention; so have the occasional attempts at syncretism, fusing the two visions. The confrontation of Buddha and Marx is just as interesting, and has been explored rather less. There are certain parallels between Buddhism and Islam. Both contain a High Tradition of great, scholarly sophistication which lends itself to purification, and can constitute the banner of political and spiritual ‘Reform’ and revival. This has in fact happened within both Islam and Buddhism. But within the two most thoroughly Buddhism‐dominated societies, Mongolia and Tibet, the process was not allowed to run its course. Each of these countries has a small population, and in each case what might have been the natural internal development was distorted by the overwhelming might of a great communist power. In neither case, however, has the victory of Marx over Buddha been complete or uncontested. The crucial events did not happen simultaneously in the two countries, but happened about three decades later in Tibet than they had in Mongolia. The present article contains insights into and information about the last years of the ancien régime in Tibet, based on unique understanding and research opportunities.

Zur Biographie des Bischofs Fortunatian von Aquileia

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lukas J. Dorfbauer
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Full Text ◽  
Constantius Ii ◽  
First Time ◽  
Scholarly Attention

AbstractFortunatianus, who was bishop of Aquileia in the middle of the 4th century, has not received much scholarly attention. His commentary on the Gospels, which was written under Constantius II (337-361) and used by later writers such as Jerome, was thought to be lost, apart from three short excerpts which were discovered only in the 20th century. However, a (nearly) complete copy of Fortunatianus’ allegedly lost commentary on the Gospels was found in 2012. The present article takes this discovery as an occasion to collect and discuss all the extant sources which are relevant for reconstructing the biography and career of bishop Fortunatianus of Aquileia. Furthermore, it discusses Fortunatianus’ theological positions in the dogmatic controversies of the 4th century on the basis of the full text of his Gospel commentary for the first time (which makes it possible to reject earlier conjectures about his supposed inclinations to “Arianism”). Finally, this article addresses in an appendix the reliability of Jerome as witness to Fortunatianus’ life and work.

Recent developments in English intensifiers: the case ofvery much

2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
VICTORINA GONZÁLEZ-DÍAZ
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Diachronic Study ◽  
Discourse Particle ◽  
Late Modern ◽  
Scholarly Attention

The nature and behaviour of complex and compound adverbs (e.g.very much,heretofore,anyway) has not received much scholarly attention in recent years. In the case ofvery much, for instance, recent literature (e.g. Dixon 2005) considers it a clause-internal adverb which typically modifies phrasal constituents (e.g.I liked the present very much;very much alive). The latter claim, however, appears to clash with previous observations (cf. Bolinger 1972) on the growing scope of the adverb in Present-day English. Through a corpus-based diachronic study (1500–present day), the present article unearths a number of environments wherevery muchdoes not seem to fit neatly within the functional classifications that it has been assigned to in recent literature and standard grammars of English. It suggests that, from the Late Modern English period onwards (1800–),very muchseems to have been developing sentence modifier functions, hence moving along Traugott's (1995)Internal Adverb > Sentence Adverb > Discourse Particlecline.

“A Notion of the Troubadour's Intent”: Some Reflections on the Words in Sordello

1978 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 63-85
Author(s):  
Ian Jack
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Individual Word ◽  
Literary Context

That Sordello does not require annotation can be maintained only by those to whom the words “tenzon, virlai or sirvent” are immediately familiar, or by those who regard their meaning as an irrelevance. When I began annotating the poem for the first volume of the Oxford English Texts edition of The Poetical Works, it seemed to me that my first task was to determine as precisely as possible the meaning of each individual word. In the present article I shall not be concerned with Browning's use of his sources, or with “the historical decoration” (greatly as that may seem to us to exceed what “a background requires”), but with words which may cause difficulty because they are rare or because Browning uses them in an unusual sense, and (by a natural transition) with unusual words which serve to suggest something of the literary context of the poem.

A Diachronic Maltese Islandscape: Rural Ta’ Qali and ix-Xarolla

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-117
Author(s):  
Clive Vella ◽  
Mevrick Spiteri
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Maltese Islands ◽  
Scholarly Attention

Abstract The archaeological study of the Maltese Islands has received considerable scholarly attention in regard to its island settings and long-term human occupation. However, emphasis on the prehistoric periods of the archipelago runs the risk of creating a biased focus with limited engagement in successive periods. In the spirit of this edited volume, the present article seeks to provide a broader chronological view of two rural areas in the larger island of Malta: Ta’ Qali and ix-Xarolla. These two areas have offered some evidence, through intermittent discoveries from recent construction activities, of three broad periods of increased landscape manipulation and transformation during the Middle-Late Bronze Age, Roman, and Early Modern periods. In seeking to provide an islandscape-based narrative, this article seeks to show that the Maltese Islands experienced periods of more intense human occupation that would have inevitably impacted the agriculturally viable areas of Ta’ Qali and ix-Xarolla. Therefore, despite the Roman period focus of this edited volume, this article takes a long-term view of two rural areas to illustrate identifiable landscape uses and changes.

scholarly journals Bigámia nászajándékba: Samuel Spillenberger nászéneke Máriássy János és Palugyay Zsófia esküvőjére (1635)

2019 ◽  
pp. 131-149
Author(s):  
Ágnes Máté
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Present Article ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Latin Literature ◽  
Literary Context ◽  
12Th Century ◽  
The Family ◽  
The 19Th Century

The present article discusses a set of poems registered in print nr. 1620 of the Régi Magyarországi Nyomtatványok catalogue. The poem was dedicated by a doctor of medicine from Levoča, Samuel Spillenberger to his alleged godson, the nobleman János Máriássy. Spillenberger wrote three poems in the name of each married brothers of Máriássy. The second poem, allegedly sang by Máriássy’s youngest brother, András, tells a story about a bigamist crusader from the 12th century. After presenting the family backgrounds of both the author and the addressees, the paper sheds light on the origin and possible sources of the story. Pointing out some specific textual properties of Spillenberger’s poem, the paper tries to trace down its exact source. It also offers a panoramic picture about the presence of the bigamist figure in German neo-Latin Literature and culture from the 16th to the 19th century. Finally, the article closes with some remarks about the position of the poem in its own literary context of seventeenth-century neo-Latin wedding poetry in Hungary.

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