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http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/7025?eng=y

The Virgins and the Grapes: the Christian Origins of the Koran

處女與葡萄：《古蘭經》的基督教起源

A German scholar of ancient languages takes a new look at the sacred book of Islam. He maintains that it was created by Syro-Aramaic speaking Christians, in order to evangelize the Arabs. And he translates it in a new way

透過古代語言的蛛絲馬跡，一位德國學者對伊斯蘭教的聖書提出了一種全新的見解。根據他的觀點，《古蘭經》真正的作者其實說著一口敘利亞-亞拉姆語，向阿拉伯人宣揚福音的基督徒。

by Sandro Magister

ROMA - That Aramaic was the lingua franca of a vast area of the ancient Middle East is a notion that is by now amply noted by a vast public, thanks to Mel Gibson´s film "The Passion of the Christ," which everyone watches in that language.

當今的大眾或多或少都會知道亞拉姆語曾在古代中東的大部份地區廣為流行這個常識，當然這都要歸功於梅爾・吉勃遜的那部全程採用亞拉姆語的電影《受難記：最後的激情》。

But that Syro-Aramaic was also the root of the Koran, and of the Koran of a primitive Christian system, is a more specialized notion, an almost clandestine one. And it´s more than a little dangerous. The author of the most important book on the subject - a German professor of ancient Semitic and Arabic languages - preferred, out of prudence, to write under the pseudonym of Christoph Luxenberg. A few years ago, one of his colleagues at the University of Nablus in Palestine, Suliman Bashear, was thrown out of the window by his scandalized Muslim students.

但是，敘利亞-亞拉姆語其實也是《古蘭經》的源流之一，這就是為什麼《古蘭經》身上還留著ㄧ些原始基督教體系的影子，這涉及了一個更為專門的概念，而且幾乎從未為人所知，甚至還有些危險。若細數起關於這個主題的最重要的著作的作者——那麼答案絕非德國的古代閃米特與阿拉伯語言教授，克里斯托弗・盧森伯格莫屬——不過出於安全考量，這個名字其實是化名。畢竟僅僅就在幾年以前，他在巴勒斯坦納布盧斯大學的同事薩利曼・巴希爾就曾被他自認為受到冒犯的穆斯林學生揪起，扔出窗外。

In the Europe of the 16th and 17th centuries, mangled by the wars of religion, scholars of the Bible also used to keep a safe distance with pseudonyms. But if, now, the ones doing so are the scholars of the Koran, this is a sign that, for the Muslim holy book as well, the era of historical, linguistic, and philological re-readings has begun.

由於宗教戰爭的影響，16-18世紀的歐洲《聖經》學者也習慣使用假名來自保。但現在反倒是《古蘭經》學者才需要這麼做，不過這也意味著，重新反思穆斯林的聖書、歷史、語言以及文獻學的時機已經到了。

This is a promising beginning for many reasons. Gerd-Rüdiger Puin, a professor at Saarland University in Germany and another Koran scholar on the philological level, maintains that this type of approach to Islam´s holy book can help to defeat its fundamentalist and Manichean readings, and to bring into a better light its ties with Judaism and Christianity.

出於許多原因，這其實是一個潛力無窮的嘗試。正如德國薩爾蘭大學的德爾格・呂迪格爾・普恩和其他《古蘭經》學者就認為，這種從語言學的角度去理解伊斯蘭教的聖書，是一種遠比原教旨主義和摩尼式讀法都還更好，而且也更能夠揭示其與猶太教以及基督教之關聯的方式。

The book by "Christoph Luxenberg" came out in 2000 in Germany with the title "Die Syro-Aramäische Lesart des Koran" ("A Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran"), published in Berlin by Das Arabische Buch. It is out of print, and there are no translations in other languages. But a new, updated edition (again in German) is about to arrive in bookstores.

“克里斯托弗・盧森伯格”的著作“Die Syro-Aramäische Lesart des Koran”（《敘利亞-亞拉姆語版古蘭經》）是在2000年時在德國正式出版，出版商為柏林的阿拉伯文書公司。不過，一個更新的修訂版（同樣是在德國出版）已即將在書店上市。

Here follows an interview with the author, published in Germany in the newspaper "Süddeutsche Zeitung" and in Italy in "L´espresso," no. 11, March 12-18, 2004:

下面這篇作者專訪曾被分別發表在德國的《南德意志報》和2004年3月12-18日刊的義大利《精華周刊》第11輯上：

From the Gospel to Islam

福音書與伊斯蘭教

An interview with "Christoph Luxenberg" by Alfred Hackensberger

阿爾弗雷德・哈肯斯伯格對“克里斯托弗・盧森伯格”的專訪

Q. - Professor, why did you think it useful to conduct this re-reading of the Koran?

Q：教授，請問為什麼你會認為依靠這種方法重新詮釋《古蘭經》是有意義的？

A. - "Because, in the Koran, there are many obscure points that, from the beginning, even the Arab commentators were not able to explain. Of these passages it is said that only God can comprehend them. Western research on the Koran, which has been conducted in a systematic manner only since about the middle of the 19th century, has always taken as its base the commentaries of the Arab scholars. But these have never gone beyond the etymological explanation of some terms of foreign origin."

A：因為，在《古蘭經》裡存在著許多含糊不清的地方，甚至就連阿拉伯評論家都難以解釋，甚至還有人說，只有上帝才能理解這些段落。西方對於《古蘭經》的系統性研究是直到19世紀中葉才開始，而且總是以阿拉伯學者的評論作為基礎。但這些評論卻從來沒有正視過一些詞彙的外國詞源問題。

Q. - What makes your method different?

Q：那又是什麼使你的研究方法如此與眾不同？

A. - "I began from the idea that the language of the Koran must be studied from an historical-linguistic point of view. When the Koran was composed, Arabic did not exist as a written language; thus it seemed evident to me that it was necessary to take into consideration, above all, Aramaic, which at the time, between the 4th and 7th centuries, was not only the language of written communication, but also the lingua franca of that area of Western Asia."

A：我起初的想法就是，要研究《古蘭經》就必須得從歷史-語言學的角度來梳理。因為在《古蘭經》成書的時候，阿拉伯語的書面語還沒有誕生；因此，亞拉姆語必會被首先列入考慮，因為它是那個時候，也就是4-7世紀時不僅被用作書面語言，同時還是西亞的通用語。

Q. - Tell us how you proceeded.

Q：請告訴我們你是如何繼續的。

A. - "At first I conducted a ´synchronous´ reading. In other words, I kept in mind both Arabic and Aramaic. Thanks to this procedure, I was able to discover the extent of the previously unsuspected influence of Aramaic upon the language of the Koran: in point of fact, much of what now passes under the name of ´classical Arabic´ is of Aramaic derivation."

A：一開始我便著手進行“同步式”閱讀，也就是說，我同時用阿拉伯語和亞拉姆語來解讀經文。多虧有這麼做，我很快就發現了亞拉姆語對《古蘭經》超乎想像的語言影響：事實上，現在以“古阿拉伯語”寫成的大部份段落其實原先都應該是亞拉姆語。

Q. - What do you say, then, about the idea, accepted until now, that the Koran was the first book written in Arabic?

Q：既然如此，那你怎麼看待對於人們一直以來所認為的，《古蘭經》是第一部以阿拉伯語寫成的作品的觀念？

A. - "According to Islamic tradition, the Koran dates back to the 7th century, while the first examples of Arabic literature in the full sense of the phrase are found only two centuries later, at the time of the ´Biography of the Prophet´; that is, of the life of Mohammed as written by Ibn Hisham, who died in 828. We may thus establish that post-Koranic Arabic literature developed by degrees, in the period following the work of al-Khalil bin Ahmad, who died in 786, the founder of Arabic lexicography (kitab al-ayn), and of Sibawwayh, who died in 796, to whom the grammar of classical Arabic is due. Now, if we assume that the composition of the Koran was brought to an end in the year of the Prophet Mohammed´s death, in 632, we find before us an interval of 150 years, during which there is no trace of Arabic literature worthy of note."

A：根據伊斯蘭教傳統，《古蘭經》的歷史可以追溯到7世紀，但確切意義上的阿拉伯語文學的例子卻是兩個多世紀之後，即所謂的“先知傳記”時代的事；如逝世於828年的伊本・希沙姆的作品。因此我們可以藉此來確定後《古蘭經》時代的阿拉伯文學究竟發展到了什麼程度，我指的是在編纂《阿拉伯語詞典》（kitab al-ayn）的哈利勒・本・艾哈邁德逝世於786年，還有為阿拉伯語語法付出貢獻的希巴威沃於796年後的那段時期。現在，如果我們假設《古蘭經》真的是在先知穆罕默德過世後的那一年編纂而成，那就是632年，也就是這中間有足足150年的間隔，在那段期間裡我們沒有發現任何阿拉伯文學作品。

Q. - So at the time of Mohammed Arabic did not have precise rules, and was not used for written communication. Then how did the Koran come to be written?

Q：所以，在穆罕默德時代，阿拉伯語還沒有被精確的規範化，也沒有發展出書面用語。那麼《古蘭經》究竟是怎麼寫成的呢？

A. - "At that time, there were no Arab schools - except, perhaps, for the Christian centers of al-Anbar and al-Hira, in southern Mesopotamia, or what is now Iraq. The Arabs of that region had been Christianized and instructed by Syrian Christians. Their liturgical language was Syro-Aramaic. And this was the vehicle of their culture, and more generally the language of written communication."

A：在那個時候還沒有所謂的阿拉伯學校——除了，也許在美索不達米亞南部，即今伊拉克的安巴爾和希拉的基督教中心可以算是。該地區的阿拉伯人都接受了敘利亞基督徒的教導並被基督教化。他們的禮拜式語言是敘利亞-亞拉姆語。這就是他們的文化的載體，同時也是他們的書面語言。

Q. - What is the relationship between this language of culture and the origin of the Koran?

Q：這種文化的語言和《古蘭經》的起源有什麼關聯？

A. - "Beginning in the third century, the Syrian Christians did not limit themselves to bringing their evangelical mission to nearby countries, like Armenia or Persia. They pressed on toward distant territories, all the way to the borders of China and the western coast of India, in addition to the entire Arabian peninsula all the way to Yemen and Ethiopia. It is thus rather probable that, in order to proclaim the Christian message to the Arabic peoples, they would have used (among others) the language of the Bedouins, or Arabic. In order to spread the Gospel, they necessarily made use of a mishmash of languages. But in an era in which Arabic was just an assembly of dialects and had no written form, the missionaries had no choice but to resort to their own literary language and their own culture; that is, to Syro-Aramaic. The result was that the language of the Koran was born as a written Arabic language, but one of Arab-Aramaic derivation."

A：自3世紀伊始，敘利亞基督徒便開始帶著他們宣揚福音的使命踏上了如亞美尼亞或波斯的鄰近國家。他們走遍了遙遠的異域，一路來到中國和印度的西部邊界，除了整個阿拉伯半島之外，還有葉門和埃塞俄比亞。正因如此，為了向阿拉伯人傳播基督教信息，他們很可能會選擇使用貝都因人的語言或阿拉伯語。但在那個阿拉伯語還只是一個方言雜燴，沒有書面語言的時代，傳教士們別無選擇，只能嘗試訴諸他們自己的書面語言和文化；那就是敘利亞-亞拉姆語。於是，雖然《古蘭經》是以阿拉伯語寫成，但它其實也是衍生自敘利亞-亞拉姆語。

Q. - Do you mean that anyone who does not keep the Syro-Aramaic language in mind cannot translate and interpret the Koran correctly?

Q：你的意思是，不懂敘利亞-亞拉姆語的人就無法正確的翻譯和解釋《古蘭經》了？

A. - "Yes. Anyone who wants to make a thorough study of the Koran must have a background in the Syro-Aramaic grammar and literature of that period, the 7th century. Only thus can he identify the original meaning of Arabic expressions whose semantic interpretation can be established definitively only by retranslating them into Syro-Aramaic."

A：確實如此。任何想要研究《古蘭經》的人都應該通曉敘利亞-亞拉姆語，還有瞭解那個時期，也就是7世紀時的文學概況。唯有如此才能正確的識別那些阿拉伯語的原始含義，它們的語義必須被重新翻譯成敘利亞-亞拉姆語才能瞭解。

Q. - Let´s come to the misunderstandings. One of the most glaring errors you cite is that of the virgins promised, in the Islamic paradise, to the suicide bombers.

Q：那麼讓我們來看看那些有異議的地方。根據你的說法，伊斯蘭教的天國會承諾那些自殺炸彈客可以在死後享有處女的觀念是最離譜的誤解之一。

A. - "We begin from the term ´huri,´ for which the Arabic commentators could not find any meaning other than those heavenly virgins. But if one keeps in mind the derivations from Syro-Aramaic, that expression indicated ´white grapes,´ which is one of the symbolic elements of the Christian paradise, recalled in the Last Supper of Jesus. There´s another Koranic expression, falsely interpreted as ´the children´ or ´the youths´ of paradise: in Aramaic: it designates the fruit of the vine, which in the Koran is compared to pearls. As for the symbols of paradise, these interpretive errors are probably connected to the male monopoly in Koranic commentary and interpretation."

A：讓我們先從單詞“huri”開始說起，阿拉伯評論家對這個單詞沒有找到其它除天國的處女之外的含義。但如果瞭解敘利亞-亞拉姆語，那麼就發現這個單詞的意思其實是“白葡萄”，這是基督教天國裡的常見象徵元素之一，在耶穌的最後晚餐上也有被提及。在另一段《古蘭經》段落裡它又被誤解為天國的“兒童”或是“年輕人”，但在亞拉姆語裡，它指的是葡萄樹的果實，相當於《古蘭經》裡所提到的珍珠。與這種關於天國的象徵一樣，這些誤解很可能與《古蘭經》評論及釋義中的男性壟斷現象脫不了關係。

Q. - By the way, what do you think about the Islamic veil?

Q：順道一提，請問你對伊斯蘭教的面紗有什麼看法？

A. - "There is a passage in Sura 24, verse 31, which in Arabic reads, ´That they should beat their khumurs against their bags.´ It is an incomprehensible phrase, for which the following interpretation has been sought: ´That they should extend their kerchiefs from their heads to their breasts.´ But if this passage is read in the light of Syro-Aramaic, it simply means: ´They should fasten their belts around their waists.´"

A：在第24章31節裡，阿拉伯語版是這麼寫的，“她們應該用khumurs擊打袋子。”基本上這是一段無法理解的經文，因此就誕生了下面這種解釋：“莫露出首飾，除非自然露出的，叫她們用面紗遮住胸瞠。”但是，如果這段經文被以敘利亞-亞拉姆語來解釋，那麼其含義便瞬間豁然開朗：“她們應該在腰上綁著腰帶。”

Q. - Does this mean the veil is really a chastity belt?

Q：所以，面紗真正的意思是貞操帶？

A. - "Not exactly. It is true that, in the Christian tradition, the belt is associated with chastity: Mary is depicted with a belt fastened around her waist. But in the gospel account of the Last Supper, Christ also ties an apron around his waist before washing the Apostles´ feet. There are clearly many parallels with the Christian faith."

A：不盡然。確實，在基督教傳統裡，腰帶經常被與貞操聯繫在一起：例如瑪麗亞就總是被描繪成在腰間綁著一條腰帶的形象。但根據福音書，在最後的晚餐的時候，基督也是在腰上繫著圍裙來為門徒洗腳。在基督教信仰裡有很多類似的情節。

Q. - You have discovered that Sura 97 of the Koran mentions the Nativity. And in your translation of the famous Sura of Mary, her "birthgiving" is "made legitimate by the Lord." Moreover, the text contains the invitation to come to the sacred liturgy, to the Mass. Would the Koran, then, be nothing other than an Arabic version of the Christian Bible?

Q：你還發現《古蘭經》在第97章裡提到了基督的誕生。根據你的翻譯，在著名的提及瑪麗亞的那一章，她的分娩其實是“受主授意的”。此外，這個文本還提到了邀請大眾參加的神聖禮拜儀式。有沒有可能，原本的《古蘭經》其實只是阿拉伯語版的基督教《聖經》？

A. - "In its origin, the Koran is a Syro-Aramaic liturgical book, with hymns and extracts from Scriptures which might have been used in sacred Christian services. In the second place, one may see in the Koran the beginning of a preaching directed toward transmitting the belief in the Sacred Scriptures to the pagans of Mecca, in the Arabic language. Its socio-political sections, which are not especially related to the original Koran, were added later in Medina. At its beginning, the Koran was not conceived as the foundation of a new religion. It presupposes belief in the Scriptures, and thus functioned merely as an inroad into Arabic society."

A：論其起源，《古蘭經》實際上是一部敘利亞-亞拉姆語禮拜書，充滿了引自《聖經》的讚美詩和抄錄，可能是被用於基督教的宗教活動。再者，《古蘭經》起初是被作為以阿拉伯語將《聖經》的內容宣揚給麥加的基督徒而開始的，原本的《古蘭經》並不是那麼的和後來在麥地那被改動後的那麼與社會政治相關。在一開始時《古蘭經》並沒有被視為是一個新宗教的基礎，它是以對於《聖經》的信仰作為前提，並因此被傳播入阿拉伯社會而已。

Q. - To many Muslim believers, for whom the Koran is the holy book and the only truth, your conclusions could seem blasphemous. What reactions have you noticed up until now?

Q：對許多穆斯林來說，《古蘭經》是代表了絕對真理的聖書，你的結論對他們而言無異於褻瀆。截至目前為止，你有收到什麼反響嗎？

A. - "In Pakistan, the sale of the edition of ´Newsweek´ that contained an article on my book was banned. Otherwise, I must say that, in my encounters with Muslims, I have not noticed any hostile attitudes. On the contrary, they have appreciated the commitment of a non-Muslim to studies aimed at an objective comprehension of their sacred text. My work could be judged as blasphemous only by those who decide to cling to errors in the interpretation of the word of God. But in the Koran it is written, ´No one can bring to the right way those whom God induces to error.´"

A：在巴基斯坦，是有曾刊載摘錄自我的書裡的文章的《新聞周刊》被禁止販售。但我也必須說，就我遇見過的穆斯林來講，我並沒有遭遇到任何敵對的態度。相反的，他們非常讚賞一位非穆斯林會願意如此客觀的研究他們的神聖文本。只有那些要堅持以錯誤的方式詮釋上帝的話語的人才有資格說我的研究是在褻瀆。不過《古蘭經》亦明確寫過，“沒人能把神導致的錯誤引導回正途。”

Q. - Aren´t you afraid of a fatwa, a death sentence like the one pronounced against Salman Rushdie?

Q：難道你不會害怕遭到伊斯蘭教令的處置，就像薩爾曼・魯西迪受到的死刑判決那樣？

A. - "I am not a Muslim, so I don´t run that risk. Besides, I haven´t offended against the Koran"

A：我不是穆斯林，所以我不會有這種風險。更何況我並沒有冒犯到《古蘭經》。

Q. - But you still preferred to use a pseudonym.

Q：但你仍然用了假名。

A. - "I did that on the advice of Muslim friends who were afraid that some enthusiastic fundamentalist would act of his own initiative, without waiting for a fatwa."

A：我這麼做是因為一些穆斯林朋友的建議，他們很擔心會有一些狂熱的原教旨主義者，等不及教令下判決就想對我不利。