No Interference

~ 84 ~ Islam, the production of literature does not entail just the compilation, publishing and distribution of a number of books. What it signifies, in effect, is the material process of casting the light of the Qur’an far and wide over the whole of humanity. This means communicating the word of God – revealed originally in Arabic – to speakers of a multitude of different languages in other communities. The onus of translation, which is no easy task, clearly devolves upon ordinary mortals, as is implied in the following verse of the Qur’an: “We sent not a messenger except to teach in the language of his own people, in order to make things clear to them.” (14:4) It would perhaps be appropriate to say, placing the matter in the eternal rather than the temporal perspective, that just as God taught mankind by means of the pen in Arabic, it is now up to human beings to teach their fellow men by the pen in other languages. Tradition has it that the famous Arab poet, Labid, gave up composing poetry after hearing recitations from the Qur’an. When asked why he no longer