Lesley Hazleton: A "tourist" reads the Koran

Translator: Morten Kelder Skouboe Reviewer: Anders Finn Jørgensen

I har måske hørt,

You may have heard about the Koran's idea of paradise

at Koranens opfattelse af paradis

being 72 virgins,

er 72 jomfruer,

og jeg skal nok vende tilbage til de jomfruer.

and I promise I will come back to those virgins.

Men her i nordvesten

But in fact, here in the Northwest, we're living very close

lever vi meget tæt

to the real Koranic idea of paradise,

på det rigtige koranske paradis,

defined 36 times as "gardens watered by running streams."

defineret 36 gange

som "haver vandet af løbende strømme."

Since I live on a houseboat on the running stream of Lake Union,

Da jeg bor på en husbåd på Lake Union,

giver dette god mening for mig.

this makes perfect sense to me.

But the thing is, how come it's news to most people?

Men hvordan kan dette være nyt for de fleste?

I know many well-intentioned non-Muslims

Jeg kender mange velmenende ikke-muslimer,

who've begun reading the Koran, but given up,

der har begyndt at læse Koranen, men givet op,

disconcerted by its "otherness."

forvirret over dens "anderledeshed."

Historikeren Thomas Carlyle

The historian Thomas Carlyle considered Muhammad

anså Muhammed for en af verdens største helte,

one of the world's greatest heroes,

yet even he called the Koran

men selv han kaldte Koranen

"det besværligste læsning, jeg nogensinde har gjort,

"as toilsome reading as I ever undertook; a wearisome, confused jumble."

en trættende, forvirrende gang roderi."

(Laughter)

(Latter)

En del af problemet

Part of the problem, I think, is that we imagine

er, at vi forestiller os, Koranen kan læses

that the Koran can be read as we usually read a book --

som vi plejer at læse en bog --

as though we can curl up with it on a rainy afternoon

som om vi kan sætte os med den en våd eftermiddag

with a bowl of popcorn within reach,

med en skål popcorn ved siden af

as though God --

som om Gud --

and the Koran is entirely in the voice of God speaking to Muhammad --

og Koranen er helt igennem Gud, der taler til Muhammed --

bare var endnu en forfatter på bestsellerlisten.

were just another author on the best-seller list.

Yet, the fact that so few people do actually read the Koran

Og da så få

faktisk læser Koranen,

er præcis hvorfor, den er så let at citere --

is precisely why it's so easy to quote -- that is, to misquote.

dvs. at fejlcitere.

(Laughter)

Stumper og stykker taget ud af sammenhæng

Phrases and snippets taken out of context

in what I call the "highlighter version,"

i, hvad jeg kalder den "fremhævede version,"

which is the one favored by both Muslim fundamentalists

som favoriseres af både muslimske fundamentalister

and anti-Muslim Islamophobes.

og anti-muslimske islamofober.

I det forgange forår,

So this past spring,

da jeg gearede op

as I was gearing up to begin writing a biography of Muhammad,

til at begynde en biografi om Muhammed,

I realized I needed to read the Koran properly --

indså jeg, jeg måtte læse Koranen ordentligt --

så ordentligt jeg kunne.

as properly as I could, that is.

Mit arabiske var da reduceret til

My Arabic is reduced by now to wielding a dictionary,

at bære en ordbog,

so I took four well-known translations

så jeg tog fire kendte oversættelser

and decided to read them side by side, verse by verse,

og besluttede at læse dem sideløbende,

vers for vers

along with a transliteration and the original seventh-century Arabic.

med en gendigtning

og den originale 7. århundrede arabiske.

Jeg havde en fordel.

Now, I did have an advantage.

My last book was about the story behind the Shi'a-Sunni split,

Min sidste bog

handlede om, historien bag shi'a-sunni splittet,

and for that, I'd worked closely with the earliest Islamic histories,

og da havde jeg arbejdet med de tidligste islamiske historier,

so I knew the events to which the Koran constantly refers,

så jeg kendte begivenhederne,

Koranen konstant refererer til,

its frame of reference.

dens referenceramme.

I knew enough, that is, to know that I'd be a tourist in the Koran --

Jeg vidste nok til at vide,

at jeg ville være en turist i Koranen --

an informed one,

en informeret,

an experienced one, even,

selv en erfaren,

but still an outsider,

men stadig en udenforstående,

an agnostic Jew reading someone else's holy book.

en agnostisk jøde,

der læser en andens hellige bog.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

So I read slowly.

Så jeg læste langsomt.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

I'd set aside three weeks for this project,

Jeg havde sat tre uger af til dette projekt,

and that, I think, is what is meant by "hubris" --

og jeg tror det, er hvad man mener med "hybris" --

(Latter)

(Laughter)

-- for det viste sig at tage tre måneder.

because it turned out to be three months.

(Laughter)

I did resist the temptation to skip to the back,

Jeg modstod fristelsen til at hoppe til sidste del,

hvor de kortere og tydeligvis mere mystiske kapitler er.

where the shorter and more clearly mystical chapters are.

Men hver gang, jeg troede, jeg var ved

But every time I thought I was beginning to get a handle on the Koran --

at få fod på Koranen --

that feeling of "I get it now" --

den følelse af "jeg forstår den nu" --

smuttede det i løbet af natten,

it would slip away overnight,

og jeg ville komme tilbage om morgenen

and I'd come back in the morning,

wondering if I wasn't lost in a strange land.

og overveje om ikke, jeg var fortabt i et underlig land,

hvor terrænet dog var kendt.

And yet, the terrain was very familiar.

The Koran declares that it comes to renew the message

Koranen deklarerer, at den kommer

for at forny Torahens og Evangeliernes budskab.

of the Torah and the Gospels.

So one-third of it reprises the stories of Biblical figures

Så en tredjedel

genkalder historierne om bibelske personer

like Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Mary, Jesus.

som Abraham, Moses,

Josef, Maria, Jesus.

Gud selv var letgenkendelig

God himself was utterly familiar

from his earlier manifestation as Yahweh,

fra sin tidligere manifestation som Jahve --

jealously insisting on no other gods.

misundeligt insisterende på ingen andre guder.

The presence of camels, mountains, desert wells and springs

Tilstedeværelsen af kameler, bjerge,

ørkenbrønde og kilder

took me back to the year I spent wandering the Sinai Desert.

bragte mig tilbage til året, jeg brugte

på at vandre i Sinai Ørkenen.

Og så var der sproget,

And then there was the language, the rhythmic cadence of it,

dets rytmiske kadence

reminding me of evenings spent listening to Bedouin elders

mindede mig om aftener brugt på at lytte til ældre beduiner,

der reciterede timelange episke digte

recite hours-long narrative poems

blot ved hukommelsen.

entirely from memory.

Og jeg begyndte at forstå,

And I began to grasp why it's said

hvorfor det siges,

that the Koran is really the Koran only in Arabic.

at Koranen virkelig er Koranen

kun på arabisk.

Take the Fatihah, the seven-verse opening chapter

Tag Al-fatiha,

det syv vers lange åbningskapitel,

that is the Lord's Prayer and the Shema Yisrael of Islam combined.

der både er Herrens Bøn og Shemá Jisrael af islam.

It's just 29 words in Arabic,

Det er blot 29 ord på arabisk,

men alt fra 65 til 72 oversat.

but anywhere from 65 to 72 in translation.

Og desto mere man tilføjer,

And yet the more you add, the more seems to go missing.

desto mere synes at mangle.

Den arabiske har en besværgende,

The Arabic has an incantatory, almost hypnotic quality

næsten hypnotisk egenskab,

that begs to be heard rather than read,

der tigger om at blive hørt frem for læst,

følt frem for analyseret.

felt more than analyzed.

It wants to be chanted out loud,

Den vil messes højt

to sound its music in the ear and on the tongue.

for at lade sin musik lyde i øret og på tungen.

Derfor er Koranen på engelsk

So the Koran in English is a kind of shadow of itself,

en art skygge af sig selv,

or as Arthur Arberry called his version,

eller som Arthur Arberry kaldte sin version,

"an interpretation."

"en fortolkning."

But all is not lost in translation.

Men alt tabes ikke i oversættelse.

Som Koranen lover, belønnes tålmodighed,

As the Koran promises, patience is rewarded,

and there are many surprises --

og der er mange overraskelser --

a degree of environmental awareness, for instance,

en grad af miljømæssig opmærksomhed

and of humans as mere stewards of God's creation,

og af mennesker som forvaltere af Guds skabelse,

uden lige i Biblen.

unmatched in the Bible.

And where the Bible is addressed exclusively to men,

Og hvor Biblen udelukkende er henvendt til mænd,

using the second- and third-person masculine,

ved at bruge anden- og tredjeperson maskulin,

inkluderer Koranen kvinder --

the Koran includes women --

talking, for instance,

omtalende for eksempel

of believing men and believing women,

troende mænd og troende kvinder,

honorable men and honorable women.

ærværdige mænd og ærværdige kvinder.

Or take the infamous verse about killing the unbelievers.

Eller tag det berygtede vers

om at dræbe de vantro.

Ja, den siger det,

Yes, it does say that,

but in a very specific context:

men i en meget specifik kontekst:

the anticipated conquest of the sanctuary city of Mecca,

den forudsagte besættelse

af den hellige by Mekka,

where fighting was usually forbidden.

hvor kamp normalt var forbudt,

And the permission comes hedged about with qualifiers.

og tilladelsen gives omringet af betingelser.

Not "You must kill unbelievers in Mecca,"

Ikke "Man skal dræbe vantro i Mekka,"

but you can, you are allowed to,

men man kan, må gerne,

but only after a grace period is over,

men kun efter en tidsfrist,

and only if there's no other pact in place,

og kun hvis ingen anden pagt er i stand,

and only if they try to stop you getting to the Kaaba,

og kun hvis de prøver at afholde en fra at komme til Ka'baen,

and only if they attack you first.

og kun hvis de angriber først.

And even then -- God is merciful;

Og selv da -- Gud er barmhjertig;

tilgivelse er uforlignelig --

forgiveness is supreme --

and so, essentially,

og derfor er det

better if you don't.

bedst at lade være.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

This was perhaps the biggest surprise --

Dette var nok den største overraskelse --

how flexible the Koran is,

hvor fleksibel Koranen er

at least in minds that are not fundamentally inflexible.

i det mindste i sind, der ikke er

fundamentalt ufleksible.

"Some of these verses are definite in meaning," it says,

"Nogle af disse vers er endelige i betydning," siger den,

"og andre er tvetydige."

"and others are ambiguous."

Den fordærvede

The perverse at heart will seek out the ambiguities,

vil søge de tvetydige

trying to create discord by pinning down meanings of their own.

og prøve at skabe strid

ved at fastslå egne betydninger.

Only God knows the true meaning.

Kun Gud kender den sande betydning.

The phrase "God is subtle" appears again and again,

Sætningen "Gud er subtil"

dukker op igen og igen,

and indeed, the whole of the Koran is far more subtle

og hele Koranen er virkelig meget mere subtil,

than most of us have been led to believe.

end de fleste af os er blevet forledt til at tro.

Som ved eksempelvis

As in, for instance, that little matter of virgins and paradise.

den lille sag

med jomfruer og paradis.

Old-fashioned orientalism comes into play here.

Gammeldags orientalisme spiller ind her.

The word used four times is "houris,"

Ordet, der bruges fire gange,

er hourier,

gengivet som

rendered as dark-eyed maidens with swelling breasts,

mørk-øjede møer med svulmende bryster,

or as fair, high-bosomed virgins.

eller som blonde, høj-bærmede jomfruer.

Men alt, der er i den originale arabiske,

Yet all there is in the original Arabic is that one word: houris.

er det ene ord: Hourier.

Not a swelling breast or high bosom in sight.

Ikke et svulmende bryst eller høj barm i sigte.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

Now this may be a way of saying "pure beings," like in angels,

Dette kan være en måde at sige

"rene skabninger" -- som engle --

eller det er ligesom det græske kouros eller kórē,

or it may be like the Greek "kouros" or "kore,"

en evig ungdom.

an eternal youth.

But the truth is, nobody really knows.

Men sandheden er, at ingen ved det,

And that's the point.

og det er pointen.

Because the Koran is quite clear

For Koranen er ret tydelig,

when it says that you'll be "a new creation in paradise,"

når den siger, at man vil være

"en ny skabning i paradis"

and that you will be "recreated in a form unknown to you,"

og at man vil være "genskabt

i en form ukendt for dig,"

which seems to me a far more appealing prospect

hvilket synes en meget mere tiltalende udsigt

than a virgin.

end en jomfru.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

And that number 72 never appears.

Og tallet 72 dukker aldrig op.

There are no 72 virgins in the Koran.

Der er ingen 72 jomfruer

i Koranen.

That idea only came into being 300 years later,

Den idé kom først 300 år senere,

and most Islamic scholars see it as the equivalent

og de fleste islamiske lærde anser det som ækvivalent

of people with wings sitting on clouds and strumming harps.

til folk med vinger, der sidder på skyer

og spiller harper.

Paradise is quite the opposite.

Paradis er ret modsat.

Det er ikke jomfruelighed;

It's not virginity;

it's fecundity;

det er frugtbarhed.

it's plenty.

Det er overflod.

Det er haver vandet

It's gardens watered by running streams.

af løbende strømme.

Tak.

Thank you.

(Applause)

(Bifald)