mi-tsar-im (“from the narrows”), through many now also plead with Miriam (same tune,

parted waters (the Red Sea), and into the desert different words, by Rabbi Leila Berner) to lead
of infancy, where food is provided magically us to the (metaphoric) waters of redemption.
SHMA.COM
and magnanimously, with ever-varying flavors, The ceremony of havdalah (which means
just like mother’s milk. God may be no more separation) has appropriately become an oc-
birth mother than “Lord” or “King,” though the casion to mark other separations: to recognize
more familiar analogies have inspired genera- a child going off to kindergarten or college, or
tions of children to picture a white-bearded
God. When we expand the range of our When we expand the range of our metaphors, we
metaphors, we extend the limits of what it extend the limits of how we apprehend what it
might mean to be “made in God’s image.” might mean to be “made in God’s image.”
Metaphors proliferate, expanding our sym-
bol systems and our imaginations. Among the to honor a weaning (as Abraham honored
triumvirate of sibling leaders of our liberation Isaac’s, Genesis 21:8). One might recite this re-
movement is Miriam, in whose name is em- markable metaphor from Psalms: “Surely I
bedded the word “yam” or “sea.” Aptly named, have stilled and quieted my soul; like a
she saves her baby brother Moses at the River weaned child with his mother, my soul is with
Nile, leads the women in song after the miracle me like a weaned child” (Psalm 131:2), an ini-
at the sea, and at her death, the earth goes dry. tially counterintuitive image for serenity.
Midrash accordingly identifies “Miriam’s well” Metaphors force reconsiderations.
as the well that quenches the thirst of the A caveat: In her poem, “Prayer to Eve,”
desert-wandering people wherever they so- Kathleen Norris writes: “Bless our metaphors,
journ. The constant Miriam-water association that we may eat them.” I love that line. If being
has now infiltrated the Jewish symbol system: a mother has taught me anything, it is the im-
On the seder table we have a Miriam’s cup portance of blessing my words … so that I may
filled with spring water, symbolizing the mira- eat them. (“No child of mine will ever play with
cles of past and present (the ever-refilling wa- Barbie dolls!”)
ters of Miriam’s well). The cup complements A wish: In her poem “Déjà vu,” Shirley Qur’an/Koran
the cup of Elijah, filled with wine, a time-hon- Kaufman imagines Sarah and Hagar in a con- The writer has requested
this transliteration of the
ored Jewish symbol of redemption and bless- temporary Jerusalem landscape and laments
Arabic word “Qur’an,” not-
ing. At welcoming rituals for babies, a Miriam’s that the women, afraid, did not talk about the ing that this style reflects a
chair may stand vacant beside Elijah’s chair. “miracles of birth and water.” I hope that some- truer pronunciation of the
And, just as we sing to Elijah at the havdalah day they will, actualizing the metaphors that term, that it is preferred by
ritual, asking him to hasten the Messiah, so will herald peace and salvation. Muslims, and that it is less
associated with colonial
legacies. Taking these reali-
ties into consideration,
Metaphor in the Qur’an Sh’ma, which has long
used the transliteration
REUVEN FIRESTONE “Koran,” has made a con-
sidered decision to change
its style to “Qur’an.”
etaphor (majãz in Arabic), which or they are covered in darkness (Qur’an 10:27).

M connects familiar concepts or images

with unfamiliar ones, is an important
part of the “science of eloquence,” the Arabic
Note the similar biblical use of darkness in
Ecclesiastes 2:14; and the famous, “idols of the
nations…have mouths but cannot speak; eyes
Reuven Firestone is professor
of medieval Judaism and Islam
at the Hebrew Union College-
term for rhetoric, and it is discussed in treatises that cannot see; ears that cannot hear….Those Jewish Institute of Religion in
on literature including ancient pre-Islamic po- who fashion them …shall become like them.” Los Angeles. He is also a
senior fellow of the Center for
etics. Metaphor is common in the Qur’an, but (Psalms 135:15-17)
Religion and Civic Culture at
its use in scripture takes on a special meaning Some scholars of the Qur’an point to the in- the University of Southern
because of the creedal presumption that the en- spiring beauty of qur’anic metaphor to argue California, and a founder and
tire Qur’an is the direct articulation of God. inimitability unmatched by any human compo- co-director of the Center for
Some common examples of qur’anic metaphor sition (the term is i`jãz, a root form that also Muslim-Jewish Engagement in
Los Angeles. His most recent
include the references to unbelievers unable to means “impossible” or “miracle”). In reference
book is Who Are the Real
hear or see, meaning that they are incapable of to the requirement of caring for elderly parents, Chosen People? The Meaning
discerning the truth. They have “veils over their for example, the Qur’an commands, “Never of Chosenness in Judaism,
hearts, heaviness in their ears” (Qur’an 18:57), speak to them harshly, and do not rebuff them, Christianity and Islam.

APRIL 2011 | NISAN 5771 [5]

 but speak to them in kindly terms, and lower the Ibn Rushd (d.1198), the greatest Muslim
wing of humility to them out of compassion and Aristotelian and a contemporary of Maimonides,
say, ‘My Lord, have mercy on them as they nur- took what might be a familiar position to read-
SHMA.COM
tured me when I was small.’” (Qur’an 17:23-24) ers of the Rambam. He held that while the clear-
As in the Tanakh, the Qur’an regularly est path to truth is through philosophy, God
refers to God in anthropomorphic terms. articulates the divine message in metaphor be-
Numerous verses mention the hands (5:64, cause few people have the intellectual capacity
48:10) or eyes (20:39; 52:48) of God, or state to engage in the philosophic quest.
that God has mercy on believers (11:119, 12:53) Others tended to relate to qur’anic imagery
as a means to meditate on the deeper layers of
The literal meaning of the Qur’an must be upheld meaning. Sufis and other groups, such as the
without asking “how”; such readings need not Shi`ite Isma`ilis, resonated with the esoteric di-
contradict reason because the mystery of God is mensions of interpretation and related to the
symbolic language of the Qur’an as points of
beyond human ability to fully comprehend. reflection. A classic example of this approach is
and is wrathful toward those who are evil and found in Muhammad Al-Ghazzali’s (d.1111)
idolatrous (4:93, 48:6). The difference between treatise, Mishkãt al-anwãr (“The niche for
the scriptures in terms of anthropomorphic lights”), which is centered around a qur’anic
metaphor is quite interesting. In the biblical section known as “The Light Verse” and a
context, much current scholarship observes an teaching from the Hadith that every soul passes
internal development toward biblical monothe- before birth through 70,000 veils that separate
ism and suggests that anthropomorphic refer- God, the One Reality, from the world of matter
ences to God may not have originated as and sense. The light verse offers a unique ar-
metaphors but came to be read as such in order ticulation of the divine essence:
to establish a consistent image of a transcen-
dent and omnipotent monotheist deity. In con- God is the light of the heavens and the
trast, the Qur’an represents a much shorter earth. The likeness of divine light is as
period of development in the seventh century of a niche with a lamp inside; the
C.E., when polytheism in Western Asia was lamp is in a glass; the glass is as if a
nearly extinct outside of Arabia. There can be shining star, lit from a blessed olive
little doubt of the firm and unwavering tree, neither of the East or the West,
monotheist perspective established in the its oil nearly luminous without the
Qur’an from the beginning, so that anthropo- touch of fire. Light upon light: God
morphic imagery must be considered a priori guides whomever He will to divine
to be metaphorical. Nevertheless, a debate de- light; and God gives people examples.
Subscribe! veloped early on in the Muslim world over the God has knowledge of everything.
nature of these images. [Qur’an 24:35]
Join the Sh’ma
The rationalist school known as the
conversation, stay
Mu`tazila deemed them metaphors, but Al-Ghazzali teaches that symbols are no
informed, and Hanbalis and others took the creedal position mere metaphors. Rather, there is a real and
subscribe today! Ten that the Qur’an must be read literally. transcendent nexus between symbol and sym-
issues are only $29. Eliminating metaphoric reading, though, re- bolized, type and antitype, outer and inner. The
quired that the anthropomorphic divine attri- beautiful qur’anic expressions of light, niche,
TO SUBSCRIBE: butions be understood as real, which would, by glass, oil, tree, East, and West all contain psy-
CALL necessity, limit God; this was impossible for an chological and religious-metaphysical meaning,
(877) 568-SHMA omnipresent and omnipotent deity. A “third as does the symbolism of the 70,000 veils. All
way” was proposed by the school of Ali ibn elicit contemplation and meditation.
E-MAIL
Isma`il al-Ash`ari (d.936), which held that the Muslim thinkers continue to muse about
[email protected]
literal meaning of the Qur’an must be upheld the meaning of “The Light Verse” as well as
ONLINE without asking “how” (bi-lã kayf), and that many other aspects of Islam. Qur’anic
www.shma.com such readings need not contradict reason be- metaphor, like so much in religion, elicits a
RETURN cause the mystery of God is beyond human broad range of responses that reflect the unique
subscription envelope ability to fully comprehend. and divergent ways in which God’s creatures
in this issue This did not resolve the problem fully, and derive meaning from the world, in Islam no less
various approaches emerged to treat the issue. than in Judaism and other faith traditions.

[6] APRIL 2011 | NISAN 5771