Al-Risala (English), November 1984

The Arabic word used in the verse quoted above is “dahw.” This word signifies the dispersal and scatterment of something that is joined together. A typical Arabic sentence, using this word, would be: ‘daha al-matru al-hisa ‘an wajhi-lardi,’ that is: ‘the rain has scattered stones all about the land.’ This is almost exactly the same meaning as that of the English word ‘drift,’ which has been used in modern times to describe this theory. This astonishing resemblance between the language of the Quran and that of modern science, shows without doubt that the Quran is word of a Being whose knowledge encompasses both past and present. □ Mindful of Others, Forgetful of Oneself Dennis Potter recently reviewed a new book by Bernard Levin, the famous “Times” columnist. The book, entitled “Enthusiasms,” did not meet with his approval. “Ablubber of a book,” he calls it. Mr. Levin’s style comes in for particularly heavy criticism. Among his comments in this regard are: “indiscriminate gusher,” “mudflats of sentences,” “an almost unbroken swamp of verbiage,” and “elephantiasis of both prose and posture”. (Guardian Weekly, December 25, 1983) But in his review, Mr. Potter has himself committed serious errors of style, as Roger Woddis points out (Letters, Guardian Weekly, January 8, 1984). Particularly outstanding is the 68-word single sentence which makes up the second paragraph of his review. Readers might care to read it aloud to gain the full effect: Perhaps he is indeed all of these things, but those whose stomachs are tough enough to absorb his Enthusiasms without a salt of wry can evacuate much of the fat by attending to sole intellectual pleasure this blunder of a book has to offer hunting down the secret, opposing tendencies, or the momentary apprehensions of caution and genuine tenderness, which qualify the passions squelching between the pages. It is, as Mr. Woddis points out, a perfect illustration of “the Potter calling the kettle black.” Those who are too busy criticizing the faults of others tend to forget their own. □