God is beautiful
Subtitle: the aesthetic experience of the Quran
By: Navid Kermani ; translated by Tony Crawford
Publisher: Polity Press
Published: 2015
Place of publication: Cambridge, UK; Malden, MA, USA
Language: eng
Number of pages: 464
ISBN-13: 9780745651675
Copyright date: 2015
Subjects: Aesthetics; Aesthetics in the Qurʼan; Qurʼan as literature; Koran; Ästhetische Wahrnehmung; Islam
Work titles: Gott ist schön
Description: The melodious recitation of the Quran is a fundamental aesthetic experience for Muslims, and the start of a compelling journey of ideas. In this important new book, the prominent German writer and Islamic scholar Navid Kermani considers the manner in which the Quran has been perceived, apprehended and experienced by its recipients from the time of the Prophet to the present day. Drawing on a wide range of Muslim sources, from historians, theologians and philosophers to mystics and literary scholars, Kermani provides a close reading of the nature of this powerful text. He proceeds to analyze ancient and modern testimonies about the impact of Quranic language from a variety of angles. Although people have always reflected on the reception of texts, images and sounds that they find beautiful or moving, Kermani explains that Islam provides a particularly striking example of the close correlation, grounded in a common origin, between art and religion, revelation and poetry, and religious and aesthetic experience. This major new book will enhance the dialogue between Islam and the West and will appeal to students and scholars of Islam and comparative religion, as well as to a wider readership interested in Islam and the Quran. -- Provided by publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 421-453) and index.

Translated from German.