This is such a welcome piece of education. Thank you. I will need to read this a few times for the understanding to sink in.
I had learned a while back (through your Youtube work) that the Qur'an can only be understood when studied with great care, rather than simply read as a book.
I read each verse extremely slowly and out loud, and then read it for a second time and third time. This helps to identify the "narrative voice" with a higher degree of accuracy and meaning.
The above piece is therefore very helpful. I will use it as a cross referencing tool during Qur'anic study. Needless to say, after three months of regular study, ( including notes, alternative translations and addendum) I am still at Surah 2. Yet the insights I am gaining, at such an early stage of the text, are extraordinarily powerful.
I wonder whether you have come across Neil Douglas Klotz, who explains the richness of expression of the Aramaic language (Qura'nic Arabic is a sister language)? He explains that each statement of Aramaic text must be examined from at least three points of view; the intellectual, the metaphorical and the universal (mystical). He says that there are several possible literal translations, which awaken our poetic sensibilities (through metaphor) and even encourage us to embrace the wordless experience (universal).
I point this out because when you say "I achieve most breakthroughs by means of intellective insights, and I freely admit that I do not myself understand how these come about", I am immediately reminded of this book.
Dear Sam
This is such a welcome piece of education. Thank you. I will need to read this a few times for the understanding to sink in.
I had learned a while back (through your Youtube work) that the Qur'an can only be understood when studied with great care, rather than simply read as a book.
I read each verse extremely slowly and out loud, and then read it for a second time and third time. This helps to identify the "narrative voice" with a higher degree of accuracy and meaning.
The above piece is therefore very helpful. I will use it as a cross referencing tool during Qur'anic study. Needless to say, after three months of regular study, ( including notes, alternative translations and addendum) I am still at Surah 2. Yet the insights I am gaining, at such an early stage of the text, are extraordinarily powerful.
I wonder whether you have come across Neil Douglas Klotz, who explains the richness of expression of the Aramaic language (Qura'nic Arabic is a sister language)? He explains that each statement of Aramaic text must be examined from at least three points of view; the intellectual, the metaphorical and the universal (mystical). He says that there are several possible literal translations, which awaken our poetic sensibilities (through metaphor) and even encourage us to embrace the wordless experience (universal).
I point this out because when you say "I achieve most breakthroughs by means of intellective insights, and I freely admit that I do not myself understand how these come about", I am immediately reminded of this book.