Reading the Qur'an
and Listening to the Beatles

April 24, 2007

I have been thinking lately about the formal qualities of suras (chapters of the Qur'an). I enjoy reading the Qur'an.. but I also recognize the challenges it poses to anyone coming at it expecting it to read like a modern book.. with fast moving stories and plot lines.

The building blocks for the experience of reading the Qur'an are suras. They have titles such as "The Cow", "The Bee", or "The Dispute". They range in size from about 30 pages to a handful of lines. A large portion of the Qur'an consists of what I would call mid-size suras.. ranging from a full page to about 8 pages. When someone sits down to read the Qur'an, this is what will stick in his/her mind. Sura after sura take up the same narrow range of themes.

One way to view these themes is as building blocks. You could, I believe, set out a group of about twenty basic themes. Perhaps six of these we could label major recurring themes: the nature of the Qur'an, heaven and hell, past prophets, natural signs, rebuke to non-believers, and good works. The composition of the suras (however we imagine that process) would mean the fresh combination of these building blocks.

Unlike a modern novel, in reading the Qur'an the attention of the reader is not captured by the constant generation of new situations and novel themes. The reader must instead be satisfied with stock themes that are occasionally developed in novel ways. Once the pattern of stock themes is realized, the reader can focus on the variations.. which is where the richness of the Qur'an lies.

One could compare a sura to a Beatles album.. at least on a strictly formal level. What makes a Beatles album a Beatles album? Each album contains a handful of songs.. the songs are united by a general "Beatles" sound. From their first albums we can detect certain patterns developing: Ringo Starr always sings one song, George Harrison gets two songs, and then McCartney and Lennon trade off vocals. These are formal building blocks for the albums. (We know it when we are listening to a McCartney solo album largely because the formal feel of the album is disturbed.)

So how do we read a Beatles album? Not necessarily by going through the songs and figuring out how one theme leads to another and builds a coherent meaning.. in the way we would interpret a poem or short story. An album can be understood as a parcel of interrelated themes.. a constellation of ideas loosely held together. The unity of the album is not constructed through direct meaning, but by expected formal qualities that can be manipulated in different ways.

A sura can be experienced in much the same way as a Beatles album.. I would argue. The goal is often not to locate a meaning that comes from in a linear fashion through points A-B-C-D.. but rather through appreciating the loose grouping of stock themes and their surprising ability to surprise.