The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-06-09
THE KoRAN AND sMoHAMmspAn1sM.

| -4s-.
An Interesting Paper on the Koran s
by Rev. H.:W: ,WhiIdsn Of Abbe-.
vile. W. y
These articles are based on translation Of
the Koran by George Sales, on a preface to the
translation, and ON preliminary discourse andS
He was born in 1880. and died In H3s. H6
was an English lawyer, and contributed 70
great extent to the djffaslon Of OrientaI iiterss
rans hs staSesg gtSq Though 8 Il @
when he quilted his studies he TOO often want
ed change Of linen. and often Wandered trtg,
the streets in search of some compassi0nafeta
frtehu who would supply him with the meal
We DO not design In these articles TO say ey.s'
The Koran contains one hundred and fouf-,,
teen chapters varying In length, from two Z
and a half lines to more than ffty pages. The
first chapter, reads as follows: teThe Preface
or Introduction: Revealed at Mecca in the
name OF the most merciful God. Praise be tos:
God, the Lord Of all creatures: the most lnefis,
citul, the King Of the day OF Judgment. Theeg
do we worship, and OF Thee do we beg esststsS
ance. Direct us In the right way, In the WAY
| Of those whom Thou hast been gracious; NOT :
of those against whom Thou art fncensed, nor I,
The word Koran" is in the Arabic preceded
the sGJs sSas ss woi y snpy s
thu to be omitted whenever the Engiisls
article is placed before "KpranP To say ,fl1eE
AL Koran" Is tantology, Just as much 90 ss to
Shan nlountains"-the word aRion being the 8
Spanish for uriver," and the word tSbans be-
Ing the Chinese Canton dialect1 for .nionn-
The word Koran seems to be derived nom
the word "Koraa." TO read II signifies, acs
cording to some, "the reading, or thatS
ers it is called Koran, because It is q coIlecticn
OF loose sheets that compose it-the word Ka-s
raa meaning also sSllss is Ills = ussa
tire book, but It also means any partfcularll
chapter or section |; thus In chapter l2th enti-a
tied "Joseph." we have this passags-weIc-
revealing unto thee this Koran" Other
| names haveabeen given 10 ~, for akample2,
Gal. Kitab, !" "the book by way OF eminenca.y
not distinguished by their namertcal order
This ofderis observed 1p the translation for the
convenience Of The reader. They arg how
the titles. The titles, are sometIme takeik
| from particular mntter treated or or person
mentioned In the, chapter; generally they
word mentioned. Sometimes the word is In
the middle of the chapter, and eometimas ~
| is even at the end. g - 800 = ~
Seen oi regeasd ~ Mesa @ and and ",ess
makes q part OF the. titles. There are other
sections. These thirty sections in some og
their placessof Wofship-roya for example,
are read over once o day, there being IN these
places Of worship thirty .rs,dn readsrs ssch
! The subdivision into verses is common and 7
well known. The translator says, however,
that he has never seen any manuscript m
which the verses are actually numbered but !:
that In some of the copies the number Of
verses is set down after the titles OF the chsp-
ters. 80. - ~ e.
and the principal difference is In the division
and number of verses. The principal cdr
tions Tor ancient copies) are; seven. Two Of;
these were published and used az Medinaj ore
at Mecca, one at Cufa, one at Bafa. one I'd
SYRIA, The seventh is called athe common or
vulgar edition: These editions vary In tle Z
number Of verses, except the second one pub
lished at Medina and the one published sets
Bafra, which two agree. The smallest NUNS
ber Of verses found in any edition Is SIX thou
sand; the largest, six thousand and two huii-S
the he number Of verses, they are all alike ID
| the nSmber of words and letterS-the former
being seyenty-seven. Thousand and thirty
| three thousand and fifteen. According TO pn-s
other computation, the number OF eachsts
| greater. -. - 80 4
name Of the most Merciful God To accoung
for this omission, the Mohammedans are nobs
agreed. The expression IN mentioned y, tnsy ,t de
fore all their writings as sign OF their reti-'
gion, and they consider II they omit u, TINT
they, are guilty OF impiety; The tsanslstoI ~
| from the Persian Magi who were In the habit
Of beginning their books with similar words.
Some of the Mohammedans are OF the oplfils
lon that the expression and also the titles are
human editions; most or the doctors and
COMMENTATORS believe them as much divine
az the text ITSELF ~ -
titles of which chapters there are certain let.
ters OF the alphabet: The Mohammedana
suppose that they stand for certain words
words for which they are supposed 70 stand d
are matters OF dispute: .s .sssEE ssE
| The tribe Of Koreish is said to be the most
noble and polite Of all the Arabians: Their
dialect is usually termed "the purH Arabic, -
or. as the Koran calls IL "the perspicuous
Arabic" Its elegance is attributed to the
%eing GSeflsn in the centre of
| thus more remote from intercourse with the
| foreigners who might corrupt the language.
Mecca too was visited oy the.araps rom midn.s
Mecca took from these visitors whateSef
pure and elegant, by which means the bean:4
ties of the whole language became trans
fused into their dia lect: In this dialect, the
Koran is said to have been written with an Z
The style Of the Koran is concise and often
obscure adorned with bold figures AFTER the !
Eastern taste, enliyened with norid ana SEN
tentious expressions; In many places-espe:
cially where the attributes of God are alluded
fo-sublime. The translator says however
that, notwithstanding his efforts, the transla-
tion does not equal the original. The Koran
itself teaches that It 1t ininiitable by human
pen, Mohammedans on this account speak
of 1t as a permanent miracle-and greater
than that OF raising the dead-and OF itself
sufficient to convince the world Of It's diyiDIs
ity. The excellence-purity and beauty-of
the language of the Koran, was the means OF :
con verting from idolatry 10 MISUNDERSTANDING
distinguished Arabian poet. He read hut Z
few verses in the second chapter, and declared
that such words could proceed only from an
inspired person. In the original, the senS
tences generally conclude In long continued
rhyme for the preserving Of which the sense NJ
often interrupted. The Arabians are much
pleased with this kind Of thyme, and employ
It in their most elaborate Compositions; thefe
compositions they frequently adorn with
passages from the Koran or references to II.
It is therefore a very difficult matter To unss
derstand these compositions without good s:
knowledge of the Koran. Mohammed took
ad vantage Of the love OF Arahians for rhyme -
and, knowing its effect, employed 1t In the
GULL ip'''''' ' B. w. wHII,DEN,
Abbeville, s. G: ~
Judge Cothran's Letter.