Lesley Hazleton: A "tourist" reads the Koran

Prevodilac: Natalija Maric Lektor: Ana Zivanovic-Nenadovic

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

Možda ste čuli

da u Kuranu ideja raja

being 72 virgins,

jesu 72 device.

I obećavam da ću se kasnije vratiti na te device.

and I promise I will come back to those virgins.

Ali zapravo, ovde na severozapadu,

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

živimo veoma blizu

to the real Koranic idea of paradise,

pravoj kuranskoj slici raja,

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

36 puta definisanoj

kao "vrtovi koji su prožeti tekućim potocima.".

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

Pošto ja živim na splavu, na tekućoj pritoci jezera Junion,

meni je to savršeno smisleno.

this makes perfect sense to me.

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

Stvar je u tome, otkud ovo može biti novost za većinu ljudi?

I know many well-intentioned non-Muslims

Znam mnoge dobronamerne nemuslimane

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

koji su počeli da čitaju Kuran, ali su odustali,

disconcerted by its "otherness."

uznemireni njegovom različitošću.

The historian Thomas Carlyle considered Muhammad

Istoričar Tomas Karlajl

smatrao je Muhameda jednim od najvećih heroja na svetu,

one of the world's greatest heroes,

yet even he called the Koran

pa ipak, čak i on je nazvao Kuran

"Najnapornijim štivom koje sam ikada uzeo,

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

zamoran, zbunjuć, zbrkan.".

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

Deo problema, ja mislim,

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

jeste u tome što zamišljamo da se Kuran može pročitati

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

kao što mi obično čitamo knjige -

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

misleći da se možemo sklupčati uz nju jednog kišnog popodneva

with a bowl of popcorn within reach,

sa činijom kokica na dohvat,

as though God --

kao da je bog -

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

a čitav Kuran je božiji glas koji se obraća Muhamedu -

samo još jedan autor na listi best selera.

were just another author on the best-seller list.

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

Pa ipak zato što tako malo ljudi

zapravo čita Kuran

je upravo ono zbog čega ga je lako citirati -

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

to jest, pogrešno citirati.

(Laughter)

Fraze i komadići uzeti iz konteksta

Phrases and snippets taken out of context

in what I call the "highlighter version,"

su ono što ja zovem sažetom verzijom,

which is the one favored by both Muslim fundamentalists

koju favorizuju i muslimanski fundamentalisti

and anti-Muslim Islamophobes.

i antimuslimanski islamofobici.

So this past spring,

I tako prošlog proleća,

dok sam se pripremala

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

da počnem pisanje Muhamedove biografije,

I realized I needed to read the Koran properly --

shvatila sam da moram da pročitam Kuran kako dolikuje -

to jest, koliko god dolično to budem mogla.

as properly as I could, that is.

My Arabic is reduced by now to wielding a dictionary,

Moj arapski je do sada sveden

na listanje rečnika,

so I took four well-known translations

zato sam uzela četiri dobro poznata prevoda

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

i odlučila da ih čitam paralelno,

stih po stih

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

zajedno sa transliteracijom

i originalnim arapskim iz sedmog veka.

Now, I did have an advantage.

E sad, imala sam prednost.

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

Moja poslednja knjiga

je bila o raskolu između Šiita i Sunita,

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

i zbog toga sam radila dosta sa najranijim islamskim istorijama,

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

pa sam znala događaje

na koje se Kuran konstantno poziva,

its frame of reference.

njegovu okvirnu odrednicu.

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

Znala sam dovoljno, to jest, da bih znala

da ću biti turistkinja u Kuranu -

an informed one,

jedna od informisanih,

an experienced one, even,

čak i jedna od onih sa iskustvom,

but still an outsider,

ali ipak stranac,

an agnostic Jew reading someone else's holy book.

agnostička Jevrejka

koja čita tuđu svetu knjigu.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

So I read slowly.

Zato sam čitala polako.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

I'd set aside three weeks for this project,

Odvojila sam tri nedelje za ovaj projekat,

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

i to je, ono što mislim da se podrazumeva rečju oholost.

(Smeh)

(Laughter)

because it turned out to be three months.

Zato što se to pretvorilo u tri meseca.

(Laughter)

I did resist the temptation to skip to the back,

Odolela sam iskušenju da preskočim na kraj

gde su kraća i očigledno mističnija poglavlja.

where the shorter and more clearly mystical chapters are.

Ali svaki put kad sam pomislila da počinjem

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

da razumem Kuran -

that feeling of "I get it now" --

taj osećaj "sad kapiram" -

bi iskliznuo preko noći.

it would slip away overnight,

I vratila bih se ujutru

and I'd come back in the morning,

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

pitajući se da li sam izgubljena u čudnoj zemlji.

A opet, teren je bio veoma poznat.

And yet, the terrain was very familiar.

The Koran declares that it comes to renew the message

Kuran tvrdi da dolazi

da obnovi poruke Tore i Jevanđelja.

of the Torah and the Gospels.

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

Tako da jedna trećina

reprizira priče o biblijskim ličnostima

like Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Mary, Jesus.

kao što su Abraham, Mojsije,

Jozef, Marija, Isus.

Bog je bio potpuno poznat

God himself was utterly familiar

from his earlier manifestation as Yahweh,

iz svoje pređašnje manifestacije kao Jahve -

jealously insisting on no other gods.

ljubomorno insistirajući na nemanju drugih bogova.

The presence of camels, mountains, desert wells and springs

Prisustvo kamila, planina,

pustinjskih bunara izvora

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

vratilo me je nazad u godinu koju sam provela

lutajući Sinajskom pustinjom.

A onda je tu bio jezik,

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

stopa njegovog rimovanja,

reminding me of evenings spent listening to Bedouin elders

podsetila me je na večeri provedene u slušanju beduinskih starešina

koji recituju višesatne, duge narativne pesme

recite hours-long narrative poems

potpuno iz sećanja.

entirely from memory.

And I began to grasp why it's said

I onda sam počela da shvatam

zašto se kaže

that the Koran is really the Koran only in Arabic.

da je Kuran stvarno Kuran

samo na arapskom.

Take the Fatihah, the seven-verse opening chapter

Uzmimo Fatihah,

sedam strofa dugo uvodno poglavlje

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

koje je očenaš i "Šema Izrael" islama u kombinaciji.

It's just 29 words in Arabic,

To je samo 29 reči na arapskom,

ali 65 do 72 reči u prevodu.

but anywhere from 65 to 72 in translation.

A opet, što više dodaš,

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

više izgleda da fali.

Arapski ima čaroban,

The Arabic has an incantatory, almost hypnotic quality

skoro hipnotički kvalitet,

that begs to be heard rather than read,

koji bukvalno preklinje da bude slušan, umesto pročitan,

doživljen, više nego analiziran.

felt more than analyzed.

It wants to be chanted out loud,

Želi da bude uzvikivan glasno,

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

da oglasi svoju muziku u uhu i na jeziku.

Tako da je Kuran na engleskom

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

na neki način sopstvena senka

or as Arthur Arberry called his version,

ili kako je Artur Arberi nazvao svoju verziju,

"an interpretation."

"interpretacija".

But all is not lost in translation.

Ali nije sve izgubljeno u prevodu.

Kao što Kuran obećava, strpljenje je nagrađeno,

As the Koran promises, patience is rewarded,

and there are many surprises --

i postoje mnoga iznenađenja -

a degree of environmental awareness, for instance,

stepen ekološke svesti na primer

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

i ljudi kao puki čuvari božijeg stvaranja,

unmatched in the Bible.

bez premca u Bibliji.

And where the Bible is addressed exclusively to men,

I dok se Biblija obraća isključivo muškarcima,

using the second- and third-person masculine,

koristeći drugo i treće lice muškog roda,

Kuran uključuje žene -

the Koran includes women --

talking, for instance,

govoreći, na primer,

of believing men and believing women,

o muškarcima vernicima i ženama vernicama -

honorable men and honorable women.

časnim muškarcima i časnim ženama.

Or take the infamous verse about killing the unbelievers.

Ili uzmimo neslavni stih

o ubijanju nevernika.

Da, zaista kaže to,

Yes, it does say that,

but in a very specific context:

ali u veoma određenom kontekstu:

the anticipated conquest of the sanctuary city of Mecca,

za očekivano osvanjanje

svetog grada Meke

where fighting was usually forbidden.

gde je borba obično bila zabranjena.

And the permission comes hedged about with qualifiers.

A dozvola je ograničena određenim uslovima.

Not "You must kill unbelievers in Mecca,"

Ne kaže, morate ubiti nevernike u Meki,

but you can, you are allowed to,

već možete, dozvoljeno vam je,

but only after a grace period is over,

ali samo nakon isteka perioda milosrdnog odlaganja

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

i samo ako se ne može pronaći drugi dogovor

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

i samo ako te sprečavaju da dođeš do Kabe,

and only if they attack you first.

i samo ako te prvi napadnu.

And even then -- God is merciful;

Čak i tada - bog je milostiv,

oproštaj je uzvišen -

forgiveness is supreme --

and so, essentially,

i tako, u suštni,

better if you don't.

bolje je da to ne radiš.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

This was perhaps the biggest surprise --

To je možda najveće iznenađenje -

how flexible the Koran is,

koliko je Kuran fleksibilan,

at least in minds that are not fundamentally inflexible.

makar u umovima koji nisu

fundamentalno nefleksibilni.

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

"Neki od ovih stihova su određeni u svom značenju", kaže,

"a drugi su dvosmisleni.

"and others are ambiguous."

Oni izopačeni u srcu

The perverse at heart will seek out the ambiguities,

će tražiti dvosmislene,

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

pokušavajući da stvore neslogu

dodavanjem svojih značenja.

Only God knows the true meaning.

Samo bog zna pravo zančenje."

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

Fraza "Bog je suptilan"

se pojavljuje iznova i iznova.

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

I zaista, ceo Kuran je daleko suptilniji

than most of us have been led to believe.

nego što je većina nas navedena da misli.

Kao, na primer,

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

ta mala stvar

o devicama i raju.

Old-fashioned orientalism comes into play here.

Staromodni orijentalizam ovde stupa na scenu.

The word used four times is "houris,"

Četiri puta upotrebljena reč

Houris,

rendered as dark-eyed maidens with swelling breasts,

predstavljena je kao

tamnooke deve sa nateklim grudima,

or as fair, high-bosomed virgins.

ili kao plavokose, prsate device.

Ipak, sve što ima u originalnom arapskom

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

je ta jedna reč: Houris.

Not a swelling breast or high bosom in sight.

Nema otekle dojke ili bujnog poprsja na vidiku.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

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

Sad, ovo može biti način da se kaže

čista bića - kao anđeli -

ili može biti kao grčki "kurosi" ili "kore",

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

an eternal youth.

večna mladost.

But the truth is, nobody really knows.

Ali istina je da niko zapravo ne zna,

And that's the point.

i u tome je poenta.

Because the Koran is quite clear

Zato što je Kuran prilično jasan

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

kada kaže da ćeš biti,

"nova tvorevina u raju",

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

i da ćeš biti "ponovo napravljen

u obliku koji ti je nepoznat",

which seems to me a far more appealing prospect

što mi deluje kao daleko privlačniji izgled

than a virgin.

od device.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

And that number 72 never appears.

A taj broj 72 se nigde ne pojavljuje.

There are no 72 virgins in the Koran.

Ne postoje 72 device

u Kuranu.

That idea only came into being 300 years later,

Ta ideja je došla tek 300 godina kasnije,

and most Islamic scholars see it as the equivalent

i većina islamskih učenjaka to vidi kao poistovećenje

of people with wings sitting on clouds and strumming harps.

sa ljudima sa krilima koji sede na oblacima

i sviraju harfe.

Paradise is quite the opposite.

Raj je potpuna suprotnost.

It's not virginity;

Nije nevinost,

it's fecundity;

već je plodnost,

it's plenty.

on je obilje,

to su vrtovi prožeti

It's gardens watered by running streams.

tekućim potocima.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)