10/25/08

Brother Mo's Travelin' Salvation Show (end of Surah 53), in which I say something good about the koran!


All these allusions to nature get to my soft spot. Even I have to admit that the earlier chapters can make great poetry. That's subjective, but you can Google up translations of ch100, “The Chargers”, that are really evocative and stirring. Poetry's not my thing; shit even reading poetry criticism makes me gag, so I'll condense J. Rodwell :
The contrast between the earlier and later Suras is very striking. Up to chapter 54 we can't help but notice the entire preeminence of the poetical element, a deep appreciation, as in 91, of the beauty of natural objects, brief fragmentary and impassioned utterances, expressed for the most part in lines of extreme brevity. In 53 however, Muhammed openly assumes the office of 'public warner' and it becomes more prosaic and didactic as the Missionary gradually replaces the Poet. Descriptions of natural objects give way to Jewish and Christian histories and disputes with the enemies of his faith. The admonisher and persuader of Mecca becomes at Medina the legislator and warrior, who dictates obedience, and uses other weapons than the pen. (rephrased with apologies to Rodwell)
We have every reason to believe them when they say the original Arabic is outstanding in a poetical sense, and it even sounds really good sometimes when it's sung. OMFG I've committed blasphemy! It's forbidden to sing koranic verses, according to some fuckwit. Sorry, but if certain types of modern music I won't name are 'singing', this sure n the fuck is, and it sounds kind of nice. Could use a little backup, but when you consider the lyrics, the only kind of music that's really appropriate would be Death Metal, and that's a really scary image.

Finishing off ch53, by v36 Mo's got the spirit, and Hallaujah, he preaches smitin and destroyin, and judgement day, he thumps the Good Book with the best of them;
36. Has he not heard what is contained in the Book of Moses,
37. And of Abraham who fulfilled his trust?
Whoa! The Book of Moses was written by Joseph Smith in 1830, part of founding Mormonism. This must be another Quranic prophecy fullfilled, but let's not bring it to their attention, K?

Probly Mo means the Five Books of Moses, aka the Jewish Bible, but they don't really say much about any afterlife. The Book of Daniel does say there's a book of who's naughty and nice, & a judgment, so maybe that's where it came from. By all accounts he'd been to see those Jewish and Christian preachers, and undoubtedly he picked up some Powerpoint tips from watching them. So he incorporated it into his own rant, and it seems to have worked. Already noted how he preached so good the Ethiopian peeps came home.

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