Mohammed receiving his first revelation from the angel Gabriel. Miniature illustration on vellum from the book Jami’ al-Tawarikh (literally “Compendium of Chronicles” but often referred to as The Universal History or History of the World), by Rashid al-Din, published in Tabriz, Persia, 1307 A.D. Now in the collection of the Edinburgh University Library, Scotland. 1307 A.D. “…God’s revelation to Muhammad, the Qu’ran, is in fact a great poem. It was revealed over a span of twenty-three years by the angel Gabriel to Muhammad, meditating in caves around Mecca between 610-632. What is even more remarkable is that the Prophet was an illiterate man; this is considered his “miracle.” The Qu’ran when spoken was said to be able to convert a person on the spot, and recitation is still an art form in the Islamic world. Because it contains such powerful verse, the Qu’ran may have accounted above all else for the rapid spread of Islam. While our Bible has been the source of inspiration for so much Western art and poetry, the Qu’ran as an unaltered sacred utterance is at the absolute core of all Islamic art: architecture, calligraphy, music, and poetry. The poetry of the Sufi mystics is a direct reverberation of it.” —Bruce McEver “Poetry: A Bridge To The Sacred” from PARABOLA, Winter 2011: Many Paths, One Truth.”  PHOTO: Wikimedia Commons.
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Mohammed receiving his first revelation from the angel Gabriel. Miniature illustration on vellum from the book Jami’ al-Tawarikh (literally “Compendium of Chronicles” but often referred to as The Universal History or History of the World), by Rashid al-Din, published in Tabriz, Persia, 1307 A.D. Now in the collection of the Edinburgh University Library, Scotland. 1307 A.D.

“…God’s revelation to Muhammad, the Qu’ran, is in fact a great poem. It was revealed over a span of twenty-three years by the angel Gabriel to Muhammad, meditating in caves around Mecca between 610-632. What is even more remarkable is that the Prophet was an illiterate man; this is considered his “miracle.” The Qu’ran when spoken was said to be able to convert a person on the spot, and recitation is still an art form in the Islamic world. Because it contains such powerful verse, the Qu’ran may have accounted above all else for the rapid spread of Islam. While our Bible has been the source of inspiration for so much Western art and poetry, the Qu’ran as an unaltered sacred utterance is at the absolute core of all Islamic art: architecture, calligraphy, music, and poetry. The poetry of the Sufi mystics is a direct reverberation of it.”

—Bruce McEver “Poetry: A Bridge To The Sacred” from PARABOLA, Winter 2011: Many Paths, One Truth.” 

PHOTO: Wikimedia Commons.

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