Dr Simon Reads...

The Star (al-Najm) 1-62 Mrs Allah and the Tree At The End Of The Universe. 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 Star (al-Najm) 1-20 “By the star when it sets: your companion has neither gone astray, nor gone amiss.” There’s a certain mystical feel to these opening verses, beginning with the swearing by a setting (or falling star), where it describes the experiences of the Prophet when given his revelations. First of all he sees… something… on the “ highest horizon ” that draws within “ two bow’s lengths ” which gives a revelation of “ whatever he revealed ”. The next revelation discussed occurs near the “ Lote Tree of t...

The Mount (al-Tur) 1-49 Fluffy White Clouds and Youths of Pearl. 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 Mount (al-Tur) 1-20 ” By the Mount [Sinai], by the Book inscribed on an unrolled parchment” That’s odd that the Arabic for mount should be so close to the word “Tor”. One thing I didn’t address last time in The Scatterers, which I meant to, is that often the titles for these surah s are drawn from a particular verse, but I did wonder if they are also picked often because they reflect many overall themes within the surah . I’ve not really noticed that it has, so far, but this is something I will put more effort into looking ...

The Scatterers (al-Dhariyat) 1-60 Scatterers, Spreaders and Walt Whitman. 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 Scatterers (al-Dhariyat) 1-20 “By the scattering [winds] that scatter [the clouds]” There are a lot of insertions in the English translation for the first few verses of this chapter. I don’t know if it’s because the inserted nouns are implicit in the way the Arabic is structured, or if the Arabic is also somewhat elliptical and this is a common guess as to what is meant. Take the first verse quoted above – Is the word use in the Arabic phrase “ wa-dh-dhāriyāti dharwa ” (“ وَالذّارِياتِ ذَروًا ”) for the scattering ...

Qaf (Qaf) 1-45 Feed Me, Seymour. 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 Qaf (Qaf) 1-20 “ What! When we are dead and have become dust [shall we be raised again]? That is a far-fetched return!’” The chapter starts with putting words into the mouths of the faithless, who says that being raised from death is a far-fetched claim, but this leaves them “ now in a perplexed state of affairs ”. By way of refutation that Qur’an offers three arguments – things exist, therefore God (such as “ salubrious rain ”, mountains and also “ Have they not then observed the sky above them, how We have built it and adorned it, and that there are n...

Apartments (al-Hujarat) 1-18 God Says You Kids Get Off My Lawn, Signed, The Prophet. 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 Apartments (al-Hujarat) 1-18 “O you who have faith! Do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet, and do not speak aloud to him as you shout to one another, lest your works should fail without your being aware.” This is a funny chapter – funny as in amusing – because it largely seems to be the Prophet using his authority for personal reasons, by claiming that people that have faith don’t harass him or listen to gossip - “ Indeed those who call you from behind the apartments, most of them do...

Victory (al-Fath) 1-29 Bruised Foreheads and God-Enforced Peace. 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 Victory (al-Fath) 1-29 “Indeed We have inaugurated for you a clear victory, that Allah may forgive you what is past of your sin and what is to come, and that He may perfect His blessing upon you and guide you on a straight path” According to the description, the bulk of this chapter concerns a event where the Muslims were prevented from entering Mecca by polytheists, and ended up brokering a truce. And so most of it concerns itself with establishing the rightness of the Prophet’s cause, and admonishing those that didn’t j...

Dr Simon Reads… 500 Words 2019 The final 50 stories are now up for the 2019 run of the BBC 500 Words Competition. For more information on the 500 Words competition see my post on the 2017 awards; but in brief it’s a creative writing competition run by the BBC for children aged 5-13, who can any kind of story they like, as long as it is within 500 words. Three winners from each of the two age categories (5-9 and 10-13) get their stories read out by a famous actor in a live final, plus win a big stack of books.   The prizes have grown in recent years; now each winner gets a hard-bound copy of their story illustrated by a famous children’s illustrator (e.g. Quentin Blake, Helen Oxenbury etc.), and first prize not only wins books for their school but now gets a personal tour of a famous landmark. I’m going to do what I did in 2018 – give a brief description and discussion of each of the finalists and at the end make my predictions for winning stories, who will be announced on ...

Dr Simon Reads… 500 Words 2019 The final 50 stories are now up for the 2019 run of the BBC 500 Words Competition. For more information on the 500 Words competition see my post on the 2017 awards; but in brief it’s a creative writing competition run by the BBC for children aged 5-13, who can any kind of story they like, as long as it is within 500 words. Three winners from each of the two age categories (5-9 and 10-13) get their stories read out by a famous actor in a live final, plus win a big stack of books.   The prizes have grown in recent years; now each winner gets a hard-bound copy of their story illustrated by a famous children’s illustrator (e.g. Quentin Blake, Helen Oxenbury etc.), and first prize not only wins books for their school but now gets a personal tour of a famous landmark. Since its inception in 2011 it’s grown massively with tens of thousands of entries each year.  I’m going to do what I did in 2018 – give a brief description and discussion of ...