TEDxRainier
Lesley Hazleton: On reading the Koran
萊斯利黑澤爾頓：讀古蘭經
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某天，萊斯利黑澤爾頓坐下來閱讀古蘭經。身為一位非穆斯林，自認為是伊斯蘭聖書中的一位「旅客」，當她展開閱讀之旅時，發現了所料未及之事。帶著嚴謹的學術態度與熱情幽默，黑澤爾頓和我們分享她所發現的優雅、靈活與奧秘，並且在這集TEDxRainier的演說中，為它揭開神秘面紗。
Lesley Hazleton - Writer, psychologist
Writer, psychologist and former Middle East reporter Lesley Hazleton explores the vast and often terrifying arena in which politics and religion intersect. Full bio
Writer, psychologist and former Middle East reporter Lesley Hazleton explores the vast and often terrifying arena in which politics and religion intersect. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
You may have heard
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你或許有聽說過
00:17
about the Koran's idea of paradise
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古蘭經裡關於天堂的描述
00:19
being 72 virgins,
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那裡有72位處女
00:21
and I promise I will come back to those virgins.
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我保證一會兒會回到處女這一部份
00:24
But in fact, here in the northwest,
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事實上，在美國東北部
00:26
we're living very close
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我們的身處之處
00:28
to the real Koranic idea of paradise,
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近似於古蘭經裡所描述的天堂
00:30
defined 36 times
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古蘭經裡對天堂的定義出現了36次
00:32
as "gardens watered by running streams."
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意為「流水滋養的花園」
00:37
Since I live on a houseboat on the running stream of Lake Union,
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因為我住在聯合湖水流過的船屋裡
00:40
this makes perfect sense to me.
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所以要理解這個概念輕而易舉
00:43
But the thing is, how come it's news to most people?
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但是，為何大部分的人卻是首次聽到這樣的概念
00:47
I know many well-intentioned non-Muslims
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我了解很多心懷善意的非穆斯林
00:50
who've begun reading the Koran, but given up,
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開始閱讀古蘭經，但最後放棄了
00:52
disconcerted by its "otherness."
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對於它的奇異感到困惑
00:55
The historian Thomas Carlyle
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歷史學家湯瑪斯卡來爾
00:57
considered Muhammad one of the world's greatest heroes,
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認為穆罕默德是世上極為偉大的英雄
01:00
yet even he called the Koran
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即便如此，對於古蘭經，他曾說道
01:02
"as toilsome reading as I ever undertook,
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「我從沒讀過這麼讓人費解的書，
01:05
a wearisome, confused jumble."
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乏味不堪、讓人既困惑又混亂」
01:08
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
01:10
Part of the problem, I think,
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這裡的問題，我想，一部分是因為
01:12
is that we imagine that the Koran can be read
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我們把古蘭經想成是一本
01:15
as we usually read a book --
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我們平常就會閱讀的書籍
01:17
as though we can curl up with it on a rainy afternoon
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彷彿我們可以在一個午後的雨天，抱著它蜷縮於一角閱讀
01:20
with a bowl of popcorn within reach,
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同時還有一碗觸手可及的爆米花
01:22
as though God --
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彷彿真主－
01:24
and the Koran is entirely in the voice of God speaking to Muhammad --
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因為古蘭經裡全是真主對穆罕默德的話語－
01:27
were just another author on the bestseller list.
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彷彿真主就只是某個暢銷書作家
01:32
Yet the fact that so few people
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而事實上，真正讀古蘭經
01:34
do actually read the Koran
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的人少之又少
01:36
is precisely why it's so easy to quote --
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這正是為什麼古蘭經這麼容易被引用－
01:39
that is, to misquote.
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也就是說，誤引。
01:42
Phrases and snippets taken out of context
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詞組與短語被斷章取義
01:45
in what I call the "highlighter version,"
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截出的的版本，我稱它為「標明版本」
01:47
which is the one favored by both Muslim fundamentalists
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穆斯林基本教義派和反穆斯林的恐伊斯蘭教者
01:50
and anti-Muslim Islamophobes.
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都偏愛此版本
01:53
So this past spring,
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所以在這個春天
01:55
as I was gearing up
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當我正準備
01:57
to begin writing a biography of Muhammad,
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著手撰寫穆罕默德的傳記時
02:00
I realized I needed to read the Koran properly --
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我意識到自己必須要好好的讀古蘭經
02:03
as properly as I could, that is.
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盡我所能好好讀一讀
02:06
My Arabic's reduced by now
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我的阿拉伯語已經退步到
02:08
to wielding a dictionary,
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需要依賴字典的地步
02:10
so I took four well-known translations
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所以我拿了四本著名的譯本
02:12
and decided to read them side-by-side,
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決定將它們並排開來同時讀
02:14
verse-by-verse
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一句接著一句
02:16
along with a transliteration
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並且參照音譯本
02:19
and the original seventh-century Arabic.
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和一本七世紀阿拉伯語原版
02:23
Now I did have an advantage.
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我確實有一項優勢
02:27
My last book
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我最新的一本書
02:29
was about the story behind the Shi'a-Sunni split,
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是有關什葉派和遜尼派分裂的故事
02:32
and for that I'd worked closely with the earliest Islamic histories,
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為了這本書，我鑽研伊斯蘭早期的歷史
02:35
so I knew the events
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所以古蘭經裡反覆提及的事情
02:37
to which the Koran constantly refers,
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我都很熟悉
02:39
its frame of reference.
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也就是它的信仰準則
02:41
I knew enough, that is, to know
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我已了解夠多，也就是說
02:43
that I'd be a tourist in the Koran --
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我就像一個旅客在遊歷古蘭經
02:46
an informed one,
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是有見地的一位旅客
02:48
an experienced one even,
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更甚是一位經驗豐富的旅客
02:50
but still an outsider,
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但依舊是個局外人
02:52
an agnostic Jew
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是一個不可知論的猶太人
02:54
reading some else's holy book.
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閱讀著其他宗教的聖書
02:56
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
02:58
So I read slowly.
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所以我就慢慢的讀。
03:00
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
03:04
I'd set aside three weeks for this project,
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為了這個計畫，我空出了三星期
03:07
and that, I think, is what is meant by "hubris" --
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而這在我看來，就是所謂的狂妄自大
03:09
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
03:13
-- because it turned out to be three months.
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因為最終我花了三個月才完成
03:18
I did resist the temptation to skip to the back
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我確實止住了跳到書的後半段的誘惑
03:20
where the shorter and more clearly mystical chapters are.
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因為後面的章節更短，更富神秘性。
03:23
But every time I thought I was beginning
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但每當我以為我漸漸
03:25
to get a handle on the Koran --
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了解古蘭經的精要時
03:27
that feeling of "I get it now" --
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那種「我明白了」的感覺－
03:29
it would slip away overnight,
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在一夜過後便消失無蹤
03:31
and I'd come back in the morning
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當我早上醒來，便會開始納悶
03:33
wondering if I wasn't lost in a strange land,
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我是否曾迷失在某個異地
03:36
and yet the terrain was very familiar.
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但是卻又非常熟悉的地方。
03:40
The Koran declares that it comes
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古蘭經聲明它的目的是來
03:42
to renew the message of the Torah and the Gospels.
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更新摩西五經和福音書的神訊
03:44
So one-third of it
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所以裡面有三分之一
03:46
reprises the stories of Biblical figures
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都在重述聖經人物的故事
03:48
like Abraham, Moses,
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像是亞伯拉罕、摩西
03:50
Joseph, Mary, Jesus.
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約瑟夫、聖母瑪莉和耶穌
03:53
God himself was utterly familiar
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真主本身是極為熟悉的
03:56
from his earlier manifestation as Yahweh --
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從祂早時以耶和華為化身
03:59
jealously insisting on no other gods.
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心存嫉妒，堅稱祂是世上唯一的神
04:03
The presence of camels, mountains,
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書裡的駱駝、高山
04:06
desert wells and springs
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沙漠水井和泉水
04:08
took me back to the year I spent
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將我帶回了我在
04:10
wandering the Sinai Desert.
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西奈沙漠遊走的那年
04:12
And then there was the language,
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再者是書裡的語言
04:14
the rhythmic cadence of it,
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帶著抑揚頓挫的節奏
04:16
reminding me of evenings spent listening to Bedouin elders
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一再讓我想起那些夜晚，聆聽貝都因老人
04:19
recite hours-long narrative poems
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吟詠著好幾時長的敘事詩
04:22
entirely from memory.
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他們全部憑著記憶吟詠
04:25
And I began to grasp
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然後我開始了解
04:27
why it's said
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為什麼人們會說
04:30
that the Koran is really the Koran
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只有以阿拉伯文書寫的古蘭經
04:33
only in Arabic.
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才是真正的古蘭經。
04:35
Take the Fatihah,
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拿首章「法諦海」來說
04:37
the seven-verse opening chapter
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開篇的七節經文
04:39
that is the Lord's Prayer and the Shema Yisrael of Islam combined.
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是由主禱文和伊斯蘭猶太施瑪篇所組成
04:44
It's just 29 words in Arabic,
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在阿拉伯文裡只有29個字
04:46
but anywhere from 65 to 72 in translation.
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但翻譯後的版本卻變成65到72個字
04:50
And yet the more you add,
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而你加進去的字義越多
04:52
the more seems to go missing.
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本意似乎也流失越多
04:55
The Arabic has an incantatory,
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阿拉伯語有一種咒語般
04:58
almost hypnotic, quality
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幾近催眠的特色
05:00
that begs to be heard rather than read,
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它邀人聆聽，而非閱讀它
05:03
felt more than analyzed.
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感受它，而非解析它
05:06
It wants to be chanted out loud,
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它希望你大聲吟詠它
05:08
to sound its music in the ear and on the tongue.
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發出它的音樂聲，繚繞於耳並且停於舌尖
05:11
So the Koran in English
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所以英文版的古蘭經
05:13
is a kind of shadow of itself,
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是原版的影子
05:16
or as Arthur Arberry called his version,
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或者如同亞瑟阿伯理形容他的版本為
05:19
"an interpretation."
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「一種詮釋」。
05:22
But all is not lost in translation.
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但並非所有含意都會在翻譯中流失
05:25
As the Koran promises, patience is rewarded,
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一如古蘭經所許諾，耐心將會有所回報
05:28
and there are many surprises --
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其中有許多的驚喜之處－
05:30
a degree of environmental awareness, for instance,
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例如對於環境保護的認知
05:33
and of humans as mere stewards of God's creation,
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或者，人類僅僅只是真主造物的幫手
05:36
unmatched in the Bible.
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與聖經所言有過之而無不及。
05:39
And where the Bible is addressed exclusively to men,
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相較於聖經裡單單只針對男性敘述
05:42
using the second and third person masculine,
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使用第二和第三人稱的陽性詞彙
05:44
the Koran includes women --
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古蘭經的敘述則包含了女人
05:47
talking, for instance,
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例如
05:49
of believing men and believing women,
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講到信男信女－
05:51
honorable men and honorable women.
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可敬的男女。
05:56
Or take the infamous verse
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那句惡名昭彰的句子
05:58
about killing the unbelievers.
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談及的是屠殺異教徒
06:00
Yes, it does say that,
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沒錯，古蘭經裡真的這麼說
06:02
but in a very specific context:
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不過是在某個特定的脈絡下
06:05
the anticipated conquest
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對麥加聖城的
06:07
of the sanctuary city of Mecca
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入侵計畫 －
06:09
where fighting was usually forbidden,
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聖城通常是禁止打鬥的。
06:12
and the permission comes hedged about with qualifiers.
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而屠殺的許可卻附帶著限制條件
06:15
Not "You must kill unbelievers in Mecca,"
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不是說，你必須殺死麥加城裡的異教徒
06:18
but you can, you are allowed to,
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而是說，你可以這麼做，並且受到允許
06:21
but only after a grace period is over
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不過僅能在寬限期結束之後
06:25
and only if there's no other pact in place
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並且不存在任何其他條約的時候
06:28
and only if they try to stop you getting to the Kaaba,
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只能在他們試圖阻止你去卡巴聖堂朝觀的時候
06:31
and only if they attack you first.
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只有在他們首先發動攻擊的時候
06:34
And even then -- God is merciful;
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即便在這個時候－真主還是慈悲的
06:37
forgiveness is supreme --
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寬恕至上－
06:40
and so, essentially,
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所以，根本上而言
06:42
better if you don't.
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你最好別殺
06:44
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
06:47
This was perhaps the biggest surprise --
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這或許是最大的驚喜－
06:50
how flexible the Koran is,
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古蘭經是多麼的靈活彈性
06:52
at least in minds that are not
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至少對於那些並非
06:54
fundamentally inflexible.
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完全固不可化的人來說是如此
06:57
"Some of these verses are definite in meaning," it says,
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「有些語句意義很明確。」它說
07:00
"and others are ambiguous."
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「而有些則含混不清。」
07:03
The perverse at heart
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心術不正者
07:05
will seek out the ambiguities,
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會找尋有歧義之處
07:07
trying to create discord
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藉由自己所闡述的解釋
07:09
by pinning down meanings of their own.
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企圖製造矛盾
07:12
Only God knows the true meaning.
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只有真主知道真義
07:16
The phrase "God is subtle"
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「真主難以捉摸」的詞句
07:18
appears again and again,
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一再的出現
07:20
and indeed, the whole of the Koran is far more subtle
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誠然，整部古蘭經更是難以捉摸
07:22
than most of us have been led to believe.
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其程度超過我們原本所盲目相信的一切
07:24
As in, for instance,
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例如
07:26
that little matter
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有關於
07:28
of virgins and paradise.
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處女和天堂這一小部份
07:31
Old-fashioned Orientalism comes into play here.
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老派的東方主義在此發揮了作用
07:35
The word used four times
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有個字出現了四次
07:37
is Houris,
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就是「天堂女神」(Houris)
07:39
rendered as
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譯文作解為
07:41
dark-eyed maidens with swelling breasts,
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擁有豐胸的黑眼少女
07:44
or as fair, high-bosomed virgins.
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或者是，白皙挺乳的處女
07:48
Yet all there is in the original Arabic
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然而在阿拉伯文原版中，卻僅僅那個一個字
07:50
is that one word: Houris.
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那就是：天堂女神(Houris)
07:54
Not a swelling breast nor a high bosom in sight.
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根本沒有豐胸、挺乳這樣的形容詞
07:57
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
07:59
Now this may be a way of saying
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這或許是用來描述純潔生物
08:01
"pure beings" -- like in angels --
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的一種方式－像是形容天使－
08:03
or it may be like the Greek Kouros or Kórē,
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或者像是希臘語中的Kouros或Kórē
08:06
an eternal youth.
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意指長生不老的青年
08:08
But the truth is nobody really knows,
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但事實在於，沒有人知道真正的釋義
08:11
and that's the point.
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而這就是重點所在
08:13
Because the Koran is quite clear
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因為古蘭經明確表述
08:15
when it says that you'll be
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你將會
08:17
"a new creation in paradise"
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「在天堂獲得新生」
08:20
and that you will be "recreated
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你將會被
08:22
in a form unknown to you,"
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「重新創造成你未知的形式」
08:25
which seems to me a far more appealing prospect
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比起成為一個處女，這個觀點對我而言
08:28
than a virgin.
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更具有吸引力
08:30
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
08:38
And that number 72 never appears.
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而72這個數字從未出現過
08:41
There are no 72 virgins
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72個處女從沒有出現在
08:43
in the Koran.
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古蘭經裡。
08:45
That idea only came into being 300 years later,
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這個說法在300年後才開始出現
08:48
and most Islamic scholars see it as the equivalent
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而大多數的伊斯蘭學者視其等同於
08:51
of people with wings sitting on clouds
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坐在雲端上
08:53
and strumming harps.
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彈奏豎琴的翼人。
08:56
Paradise is quite the opposite.
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天堂的景象則大不相同
08:59
It's not virginity;
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它和處女無關
09:01
it's fecundity.
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它是豐饒
09:03
It's plenty.
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是富庶
09:05
It's gardens watered
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它是一處花園
09:07
by running streams.
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被潺潺流水滋養著
09:10
Thank you.
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謝謝
09:12
(Applause)
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（掌聲）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Lesley Hazleton - Writer, psychologistWriter, psychologist and former Middle East reporter Lesley Hazleton explores the vast and often terrifying arena in which politics and religion intersect.
Why you should listen
Lesley Hazleton has traced the roots of conflict in several books, including compelling 'flesh-and-blood' biographies of Muhammad and Mary, and casts "an agnostic eye on politics, religion, and existence" on her blog, AccidentalTheologist.com.
Her newest book, Agnostic: A Spirited Manifesto, celebrates the agnostic stance as "rising above the flat two-dimensional line of belief/unbelief, creating new possibilities for how we think about being in the world." In it, she explores what we mean by the search for meaning, invokes the humbling perspective of infinity and reconsiders what we talk about when we talk about soul.
Hazleton's approach has been praised as "vital and mischievous" by the New York Times, and as "a positive orientation to life, one that embraces both science and mystery ... while remaining intimately grounded and engaged."
Lesley Hazleton | Speaker | TED.com