Psalms of the Muslim Prophet David Rewritten Bible in a Quranic - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Psalms of the Muslim Prophet David

Rewritten Bible in a Qur’anic Idiom

DAVID R. VISHANOFF UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA VISHANOFF@OU.EDU These slides are available at vishanoff.com

T h i s r e s e a r c h w a s a s s i s t e d b y a n N E H F e l l o w s h i p f r o m t h e N a t i o n a l E n d o w m e n t f o r t h e H u m a n i t i e s a n d a n A C L S F e l l o w s h i p f r o m t h e A m e r i c a n C o u n c i l o f L e a r n e d S o c i e t i e s .

A n y v i e w s , f i n d i n g s , c o n c l u s i o n s , o r r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s e x p r e s s e d i n t h i s p r e s e n t a t i o n d o n o t n e c e s s a r i l y r e p r e s e n t t h o s e o f t h e N a t i o n a l E n d o w m e n t f o r t h e H u m a n i t i e s o r t h e A m e r i c a n C o u n c i l o f L e a r n e d S o c i e t i e s .

Bles essed a ed are e the a e anxious us, t tho hose e stricken en wi with th f fear, who comfort orphans with food and nourishment. Blessed a are those wh who wi with thdraw in silence from society and its vices, whose souls are afforded the most sublime insight. Blessed are those who rise to spend t the night i in vig igil il. But w t woe t to t those wh who go go l looking g for r adultery! y! The least that I will do to adulterers is to blot out the glow of health from their faces and wipe away both their lifespan and their livelihood. Blessed are those who think too highly of me to gaze on the private parts of those forbidden to them, fearing my

• punishment. (Koranic 5 = Core 4)

An Islamic psalm

Bles essed a ed are e the a e anxious us, t tho hose e stricken en wi with th f fear, who comfort orphans with food and nourishment. Blessed a are those wh who wi with thdraw in silence from society and its vices, whose souls are afforded the most sublime insight. Blessed are those who rise to spend t the night i in vig igil il. But w t woe t to t those wh who go go l looking g for r adultery! y! The least that I will do to adulterers is to blot out the glow of health from their faces and wipe away both their lifespan and their livelihood. Blessed are those who think too highly of me to gaze on the private parts of those forbidden to them, fearing my

• punishment. (Koranic 5 = Core 4)

An Islamic psalm Why Islamic psalms? Ascetic origins

• Fear
• Repentance
• Otherworldliness
• The Vienna papyrus

Later recensions Sources

• Zuhd and ḥikma
• Biblical parallels
• The Qur’an

Reception Implications

• Interreligious polemic
• Internal exhortation
• Shared piety and symbols

Remember Our servant David, a man of strength who always turned to Us: We made the mountains join him in glorifying Us at sunset and sunrise; and the birds, too, in flocks, all echoed his

• praise. We strengthened his kingdom;

We gave him wisdom and a decisive way

• f speaking. (Q 38:17-20, trans. Abdel Haleem)

We wrote in the Psalms, as We did in [earlier] Scripture: ‘My righteous servants will inherit the earth.’ (Q 21:105, trans.

Abdel Haleem; cf. Psalms 37:29)

An Islamic psalm Why Islamic psalms?

Bles essed a ed are e the a e anxious us, t tho hose e stricken en wi with th f fear, who comfort orphans with food and nourishment. Blessed a are those wh who wi with thdraw in silence from society and its vices, whose souls are afforded the most sublime insight. Blessed are those who rise to spend t the night i in vig igil il. But w t woe t to t those wh who go go l looking g for r adultery! y! The least that I will do to adulterers is to blot out the glow of health from their faces and wipe away both their lifespan and their livelihood. Blessed are those who think too highly of me to gaze on the private parts of those forbidden to them, fearing my

• punishment. (Koranic 5 = Core 4)

An Islamic psalm Why Islamic psalms? Ascetic origins

• Fear

David id s said aid: My God, my sins have worn

• ut my face, weakened my frame, and

wounded my heart. My God, does t the e Devil have n e no o

• ther

er n net et than w women? My God I have humbled my face before you; I pray to you night and day, if only you would receive me. (Core 29)

An Islamic psalm Why Islamic psalms? Ascetic origins

• Fear
• Repentance

O ye people, do n not f t forget t the n next w t world, nor l let t the s splendor a and r radiance o

• f t

this world d delude y

• you. O Children of Israel, if

you reflected on your end and destination, and if you called to mind the Resurrection and what I have prepared on that Day for the disobedient, you w would laugh l little and weep m much! […] If only you would think how hard the ground and how cold and dark the grave; then you would speak little, but would frequently invoke my name and attend single– mindedly to me. For beauty is found only in the next life; the beauty ty o

• f t

this world i is fi fickle le an and fl

• fleeting. (Koranic 12 = Core 10)

An Islamic psalm Why Islamic psalms? Ascetic origins

• Fear
• Repentance
• Otherworldliness

An Islamic psalm Why Islamic psalms? Ascetic origins

• Fear
• Repentance
• Otherworldliness
• The Vienna papyrus

Koranic (K)

Fatih 28 (Fat) Madrid 5146 (Mad)

BP with Moses (BPM)

Princeton 108B (Prin)

2d half of BPM (BPM2) Core Plus (C+)

Ayasofya 30 (Aya)

Moses (M)

Leiden 14.027 (LeiM)

Pious (P)

Huntington 515 (Hunt)

Broken Pious (BP) Orthodox (O)

Hüsrev Paşa 4 (Hüs) Leiden 6129 (Leid)

Core (C)

Vienna 1854 (Vien)

Sufi (S)

Florence 267 (Flo) Khoy 77 (Khoy) Carullah 5 (Car) Halet Efendi ve Eki 11 (Hal) Fatih 29 (F29)

C++

Sprenger 466 (Spr) Damat İbrahim Paşa 5 (Dam)

Proto-Sufi (PS)

An Islamic psalm Why Islamic psalms? Ascetic origins

• Fear
• Repentance
• Otherworldliness
• The Vienna papyrus

Later recensions

Reason without adab is like a barren tree; reason with adab is like a fruitful tree. (Saying attributed to

Hermes and Luqmān in al-Mubashshir ibn Fātik, Mukhtār al-ḥikam,

• pp. 19, 277)

Knowledge without works is like a tree without fruit. Knowledge without works is like a bow without a

• string. […]

Knowledge without the alms tax is like planting wheat on the rocks. Knowledge is to a fool as pearls and sapphires are to animals. A hard heart exposed to knowledge is like a stone soaked in water. Preaching to one who doesn’t care is like a playing the flute in a graveyard. (BPM 168 = Moses 29) An Islamic psalm Why Islamic psalms? Ascetic origins

• Fear
• Repentance
• Otherworldliness
• The Vienna papyrus

Later recensions Sources

• Zuhd and ḥikma

David said: O Lord, do not lead me to ruin; do n not l t let m t my e enemies g gloat o

• ver m

me; do not c t cast m t me f from y your d door; d do not t make me me d despair o

• f your me

mercy. . My God, give ve me a a truthful t l tongue t that c calls alls o

• n you, an

and a hea heart tha hat l listens and o nd obe

• beys. Do not busy

me with the affairs of the people, but busy me with remembering you, and occupy my heart with obeying you. […] My God, grant me the coolness of your forgiveness, and the sweetness of dialogue with you. If

• ne of my many enemies wills me evil,

stand him on his head! O Lord, how could my heart not be stronger than iron, when you are my support and my glory? O God, O ruler of land and sea, grant me me t to b be held i in a awe b by kings, for you are the mighty king. (Core 96; cf. Psalms 25:2, 51:10-11)

An Islamic psalm Why Islamic psalms? Ascetic origins

• Fear
• Repentance
• Otherworldliness
• The Vienna papyrus

Later recensions Sources

• Zuhd and ḥikma
• Biblical parallels

O ye who believe, fear God with the fear that is due him, and do not die except as

• Muslims. (BPM 168 = Moses 29, quoting Q 3:102)

I am One, Singular, Eternal; I neither begot not was begotten; I have taken neither companion nor child; no one is comparable to me. (Orthodox 119, paraphrasing Q 112)

An Islamic psalm Why Islamic psalms? Ascetic origins

• Fear
• Repentance
• Otherworldliness
• The Vienna papyrus

Later recensions Sources

• Zuhd and ḥikma
• Biblical parallels
• The Qur’an

An Islamic psalm Why Islamic psalms? Ascetic origins

• Fear
• Repentance
• Otherworldliness
• The Vienna papyrus

Later recensions Sources

• Zuhd and ḥikma
• Biblical parallels
• The Qur’an

Reception

David, M Muhammad ammad i is the p praiseworthy o

• ne, exalted,

uppermost, and esteemed. […] He is not bedazzled by the beauty and splendour of this world. In him resides the l light o

• f both s

sun and m

• moon. […] For h

his s s sake e I unbur burde den t n the cloud uds when they are overloaded with rain and beg me for relief. Were it not for him, I would not have put Adam on earth or filled the world with

• life. […]

But there will come forth a people c e claiming t to b be monk nks s who w will e erase h e his s name e from thei heir s scriptures. es. Do you know, David, why those disbelievers concoct this in their minds? It is because Satan lay with their mothers alongside their fathers, so that his sperm mixed with theirs. So they erred and disbelieved, led many others astray, and wandered from the level path. Whoever believes in Muhammad has taken hold of faith, but whoever disbelieves in Muhammad has disbelieved in me and in my scriptures. Who hoever er bel elieves i es in t the T he Torah, t the he Gospel spel a and t nd the he Psalms, s, a and nd makes n es no distinction b between een a any o

• f my books,

s, I will abundantly reward. For I am mighty and wise. (Sufi 107)

An Islamic psalm Why Islamic psalms? Ascetic origins

• Fear
• Repentance
• Otherworldliness
• The Vienna papyrus

Later recensions Sources

• Zuhd and ḥikma
• Biblical parallels
• The Qur’an

Reception Implications

• Interreligious polemic
• Internal exhortation
• Shared piety and symbols