|
General
Information
COURSE
DESCRIPTION
This course involves close and careful study of the Arabic text
of the Qur'an, with attention to the vocabulary and grammar of classical
Arabic. Each week students prepare selected passages, read them aloud
with correct vocalization, and translate orally into English.
The course includes occasional comparison of existing translations into
English, French, and Spanish, and considerations of interpretation and
commentary.
An ongoing theme is current issues in modern scholarship on the Qur'an,
particularly the new Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an (see Resources
for the Study of the Qur'an). Class members have listed significant
articles in the Encyclopaedia, and report
on them periodically throughout the term.
PREREQUISITES
Advanced knowledge
of Arabic, and permission of instructor.
COURSE
OBJECTIVES
The
basic goals of the course are :
Gaining linguistic
skill in reading and translating Qur'anic Arabic, and by extension other
Arabic religious texts.
Understanding
problems related to the study of Islam, scholarship on the Qur'an, and
methods of the study of classical Arabic texts.
Developing
analytical skills through a research paper on a subject of one's choice
related to the Qur'an.
Developing
translation skills, including at least one English translation of a Qur'anic
passage into rhymed English prose (like Arabic saj`).
RECOMMENDED
TEXTS
A standard
printed edition of the Qur'an in Arabic.
J. G. Hawa, Al-Fara'id
Arabic-English Dictionary (Intl Book Centre, June 1982; some copies
also at abebooks.com). Useful especially for later part of the alphabet
not covered by Lane.
E. W. Lane, Arabic-English
Lexicon. This may be used in the library, or now in the CD-ROM
version published by Fons Vitae Press.
Wheeler M. Thackston,
Jr., An Introduction to Koranic and Classical Arabic: An Elementary
Grammar of the Language (Ibex Publications).
Shawkat Toorawa, Saj`
Translations from the Qur'an (unpublished text available online here,
courtesy of Prof. Toorawa; correct username and password required)
W. Wright, A
Grammar of the Arabic Language (two volumes, Cambridge University Press).
Used copies are available from online booksellers like www.abebooks.com
|