Dr Simon Reads...

The Poets (Al-Shu’ara) 1-100 Moses. Again. Yay. Welcome to the next instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Qur’an version). In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the Qur’an, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology. For more detail, see the introductory post https://bit.ly/2ApLDy0 For the online Qur’an that I use, see here http://al-quran.info and http://quran.com The Poets (Al-Shu’ara) 1-20 “If We wish We will send down to them a sign from the sky before which their heads will remain bowed in humility.” This is one of the longest books for a while, but if these first 20 verses are anything to go by they’re short verses. According to the notes, the title refers to poets whose works are not nearly as good as the Qur’an, presumably because they have an earthly origin. I somehow suspect that we won’t get any comparative examples though, merely assertions. This is another of those surah s that begin with ...

The Criterion (Al-Furqan) 1-77 Keep Off The [Heavenly] Grass and Beware of Humbug. Plus: Why Allah sets up His prophets to fail. Welcome to the next instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Qur’an version). In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the Qur’an, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology. For more detail, see the introductory post https://bit.ly/2ApLDy0 For the online Qur’an that I use, see here http://al-quran.info and http://quran.com The Criterion (Al-Furqan) 1-20 “Blessed is He who sent down the Criterion to His servant that he may be a warner to all the nations.” The Criterion of the title is, of course, the Qur’an itself, and we’ve seen it referred to as the Criterion several times before. I guess it’s meant to be the criterion by which right and wrong are determined or something like that. The surah starts with some verses addressed to those who don’t believe in the words of the Prophet...

The Light (Al-Nur) 1-64 Women’s Charms, the Prophet’s Wives and a Miscellany of Social Rules. Welcome to the next instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Qur’an version). In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the Qur’an, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology. For more detail, see the introductory post https://bit.ly/2ApLDy0 For the online Qur’an that I use, see here http://al-quran.info and http://quran.com The Light (Al-Nur) 1-20 “As for the fornicatress and the fornicator, strike each of them a hundred lashes, and let not pity for them overcome you in Allah’s law, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day, and let their punishment be witnessed by a group of the faithful.” This surah is named after a reference to Allah as “ The Light ”, which seems like a reasonably expected simile, and not dissimilar to much of the New Testament. However, first it jumps straight into laws concerning accusations of “ f...

Dr. Simon Reads Appendix N: Leigh Brackett This is an ongoing sporadic series, in which I explore classic fantasy and science fiction works. Appendix N is the bibliography of Gary Gygax's original Dungeon Masters Guide, and lists a range of classic SF and fantasy authors that influenced his interest in the fantastical. See  the first part of this series  for more information. This time around, I have reached the works of: Leigh Brackett She’s perhaps not a household name among pulp authors, but many readers may have come across Leigh Brackett as the woman who wrote the first draft screenplay for The Empire Strikes Back shortly before her death in 1978. There’s some controversy over how much of her original remains in Lawrence Kasdan’s final version, but even a cursory study of her work shows her to be a master of the “planetary romance” style that shines through, of which more shortly. (On a side note, recall that Lucas originally wanted to make the film of Flash Gord...

The Faithful (Al-Mu’minan) 1-118 Apparently Allah has read Dante’s Paradiso, but not a textbook on embryology. Welcome to the next instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Qur’an version). In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the Qur’an, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology. For more detail, see the introductory post https://bit.ly/2ApLDy0 For the online Qur’an that I use, see here http://al-quran.info and http://quran.com The Faithful (Al-Mu’minan) 1-20 “Certainly, the faithful have attained salvation” Alright, this surah starts off with a discussion of what makes a person one of the “ faithful ”. Good, let’s see what that might be. “ Those who are humble in their prayers ”. Okay, seems reasonable. “ Who avoid vain talk ” – a little vague perhaps, what makes talk “ vain ”? And is that vain as in in pointless, or vain as in boastful? Perhaps in this case the original Arabic word has just the one...

The Pilgrimage (Al-Hajj) 1-78 How to Behave on Pilgrimage, Allah Will Help You Take Revenge, and Stan the Deceiver. Welcome to the next instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Qur’an version). In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the Qur’an, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology. For more detail, see the introductory post https://bit.ly/2ApLDy0 For the online Qur’an that I use, see here http://al-quran.info and http://quran.com The Pilgrimage (Al-Hajj) 1-20 “The day that you will see it, every suckling female will neglect what she suckled, and every pregnant female will deliver her burden, and you will see the people drunk, yet they will not be drunken, but Allah’s punishment is severe.” Interesting to see that “ hajj ” simply translates as “pilgrimage”; presumably the hajj is considered to be *The* Pilgrimage, rather than *a* pilgrimage. Presumably somewhere in this chapter we’ll get some details po...

The Prophets (Al-Anbiya) 1-112 Don’t Rush God, Ask The Statues Whodunnit, and Heavenly Soundproofing. Welcome to the next instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Qur’an version). In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the Qur’an, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology. For more detail, see the introductory post https://bit.ly/2ApLDy0 For the online Qur’an that I use, see here http://al-quran.info and http://quran.com The Prophets (Al-Anbiya) 1-20 “Mankind’s reckoning has drawn near to them, yet they are disregardful in [their] obliviousness.” The Prophets apparently lists the Prophets, as you might guess. But it begins with addressing those who claim that the words of the Prophet (Mohammed) are not worth much because he is just a man -“‘[They are] confused nightmares!’ ‘Rather he has fabricated it!’ ‘Rather he is a poet!’ ” claim the doubters. The Qur’an points out that all the previous prophets have bee...