Publisher's Synopsis
What did it mean to be a Believer? What was the Qur'an, and what did it intend by "in the tongue of the Arabs"? In the first century of the Mhaggrâyé, these "emigrants" into the Near East debated the very meaning of their faith. The essays in this book describe the world of the Arabs and their Qur'an. This was a different world than the world which the Sîra describes. In this world, Medina was one of several centers in Arabian culture, and Mecca was known only to traders in leather. The "Arab" was a Bedouin poet, and his "Qur'an" was a verse recital - not always religious in origin. The Marwânid amirs chose from all the qur'ans and from them built a written collection: "the Furqân". Even after that, the Arab poets continued to compose verse Qur'ans, sometimes in reaction to the Furqân.
