Author Topic: The "Names" of God in Ancient Texts (Part 3: The Long-Lost Scripture)

Ocyid · « **on:** September 07, 2018, 05:50:27 PM »

In the Name of The Most Gracious - Most Merciful

Salamun Alaikum,

Hello everyone, this is my third writing regarding this subject and my fourth independent post in this forum. This is a continuation from my previous writing in this post:

http://quransmessage.com/forum/index.php?topic=2600.msg13442#msg13442

I know my writing is very long and, maybe, a little bit difficult to understand. Well, I did try to make it shorter and easier. Yet, I am afraid I will miss important point in pushing my limit to do so. I know as the consequence it becomes very long and looks like very complicated (or maybe it is - sadly). I feel like -so far- I failed to point out the importance of this topic. The idea is actually very simple: to compare the verses in Quran with others ancient texts. So far, I have found that the God in Quran might actually have already been known or at least mentioned in, at least, two ancient texts - mainly recognized from His Oneness and Incomparable characteristic. It is just that the linguistic element used to "refer" to Him is different with the linguistic element used in Quran, which is Arabic. By analyzing these texts, not only we can see that narrations in the verses of Quran is true, but it also gives us insight that the narrations of history within verses in Quran are actually telling us about the "Ancient World". As far as I could understand so far (I could be wrong for this), general understanding about narrations of history revealed in verses of Quran is still viewed as the history of the "Arabs" world. Thus, any study conducted regarding the "historical elements" of the Quran is focused heavily around the Arabian Peninsula or even specifically around Saudi Arabia. Now, this is (I believe) some sort of "cultural misunderstanding".

It is true indeed that Quran was sent down to Arabic prophet, but it does not mean the content of the Quran only tells us about the history of the Arab world as well as the God mentioned in Quran is the God known only by Arabic or the so-called "Semitic" people. Is this how we see Quran? Is this how we see the All-Powerful God mentioned in Quran? Most - I believe - simply don't care...

I am truly speechless right now... If Quran, the highest of all source of information, cannot enlighten you, what am I supposed to expect?

Well, at the very least, let me fill this blank space with the story I know about the All-Powerful One God - "He" who is known and worshiped by "righteous" ancient people - "He" who has existed from the beginning and will continue on living forever - "He" who listens and sees all - the All-Knowing One and Only!

Since this "story" is quite long, I will divide this into two sections: The Long-Lost Scripture and The Almighty-All Wise. I apologize for any inconveniences that might occur before, during, and after this writing. I just want to share what I know - since, apparently, I can't expect more... So, this story begins with the discovery of what thought to be long-lost Sacred Scripture by the Western World in the 18^th century...

The Avestan Gathas
In the previous discussion, we have seen that if we look beyond the “linguistic elements” or “the language”, other ancient texts actually already mentioned about the Supreme and/or the supposedly Sole God as it is mentioned in Quran. However, the linguistic element used to “represent” The God is not necessarily the same with the One used in Quran or “Allah”. Therefore, “Allah” is actually only a “linguistic element” or “Arabic word” to represent “The Glorious God” Himself, not a name.

In ancient Egypt, the “linguistic element” used was “Aten”. In Hindu, the “linguistic element” used was “Prajâpati” - the Supreme Entity during the time of Brahmanas until “His supremacy was taken over by Brahma” (George M. Williams, Handbook of Hindu Mythology, 2008) . Not only the “name” of God, the verses of Quran that indicate the “characteristic” of the God Himself or the Al Ikhlas (112) verse 1 and 4 are actually clearly mentioned in the third line of the sixth paragraph of “The Great Hymn to the Aten” and in the 10th verse of Mandala X Hymn 121 of the Rig Veda. This implies that the God known by Muslims or at least the concept of One God is actually already known far before the revelation of Quran or even Gospel itself. Indirectly, this too actually shows the truth in Ibrahim (14) verse 4: that every prophets was sent in the language of their own people – not necessarily in Arabic. Thus, if we try to search the “name” of God in Arabic or “Allah” in ancient texts, we may not be able to find it because ancient people might have not used the same “linguistic elements” as it is used by the Arabic people. Nevertheless, if we try to look the underlying concept, the Oneness of God actually has already being mentioned in several ancient texts - only in different languages.

Other verse of Quran that will explain this is Al Ahqaf (46) verse 12. In Al Ahqaf (46) verse 12, it is mentioned that Quran “is a confirming Book in an Arabic tongue” of the scripture of Moses. This implies that the scripture of Moses might not have been sent down in Arabic language – and maybe as well as other ancient scriptures. One of the website that I found, ProjectAugustine.com, even has already discussed about the similarity between “The Great Hymn to Aten” with “Psalm 104”. Now, if we still cannot go on to the understanding of this “Exclusive Names of God”, we (Muslims) are actually the one to be left behind because our own misconception in understanding the linguistic element “Allah” used in Quran. This is also why I think the discussion of “Exclusive Names of God” started by Mr. Joseph actually very important to discuss and elaborate in the first place.

Not only in “The Great Hymn to the Aten” and the “10th verse of Mandala X Hymn 121 of the Rig Veda”, there is actually another ancient text that has mentioned The God with similar characteristics as it has been mentioned in Quran. This ancient text is: Avestan Gathas. Gathas is a very ancient scripture written in Gathic or Old Avestan , while the Gathic or Old Avestan is a very ancient dialect of Avestan or Old Iranian language . It is the oldest dialect in the Avesta, the Holy Book of the Zoroastrians. The Avesta itself is the only evidence of the Avestan language.

In the explanation given in Encyclopedia Iranica about Gathas, it is explained that “According to tradition, the five Gathas are composed by Zoroaster himself”. Zoroaster or Zaraθuštra (Zarathusthra) is a prophet lived in ancient Iran and the prophet of the Zoroastrianism itself. Unfortunately, little is known about Zoroaster or Zarathusthra life, including where and when he lived. There is lengthy explanation about speculation of where and when Zoroaster or Zarathusthra lived in Encyclopedia Iranica (Iranicaonline.org). The date range from 1750 BCE until 258 years before Alexander the Great, while the safest assumption of the probable location of Zoroaster or Zarathusthra as explained in that page is in the northeast Iran. Mary Boyce wrote in the introduction for her book, Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices (2001), the life of prophet Zarathustra is known mainly from the Gathas: “seventeen Great Hymns which he composed and which have been faithfully preserved by his community” (page 17) .

Avestan language is considerably an extinct language in which it is no longer actively used for communication, but it does not mean it is completely lost . There are samples for Avestan alphabets in Omniglot.com and a PDF from Dr. Ervad Ramiyar Parvez Karanjia with the title “Teach Yourself Avestan Language” in Cais-Soas.com website. The full link is presented in the footnote below.

An Extinct Language
Before we start the discussion, the extinction of Avestan language, especially the Gathas or the Old Avestan language, is an important thing to be put into consideration. Encyclopedia Iranica (Iranicaonline.org) so far, or as far as I know, is the best website that gives a general but comprehensive understanding regarding this matter. This website gives us basic understanding that we may need about the problem from multiple points of view. This site also gives us a good introduction regarding Avesta, Avestan Language, and Gathas in general.

The extinction of the Avestan language or especially the Gathas or Old Avestan language actually gives us advantage as well as disadvantage. Specifically for the Gathas, the advantage is that at least it can only have been written by the people who used this extinct language, not by the people outside its time-range. Thus, the information inside the Gathas has a higher chance of not being “forged”, “changed” or “counterfeited” by later people because nobody uses that language anymore, although it does not necessarily mean that the information inside the Gathas is “factual”. Simply put, any information comes from the Gathas can be said as based on “linguistic evidences” than merely “claims”, which the extinct language itself becomes the basic argument for “authenticity”.

In the article “AVESTA i. Survey of the History and Contents of the Book” from Encyclopedia Iranica, it is explained within the sub-chapter “Contents of the Avesta” there are indeed some problems with “authenticity” for the Avesta itself - such as the fabrication of the Vištāsp Yašt, which is considered by the tradition as Zarathusthra teaching for Kavi Vištāspa turned out to be “a poorly fabricated medley of quotations from the Vidēvdād”. However, it is also explained that this problem might happen for the texts compiled later (more recent). While for the older texts such as the Old Avestan texts and the old Yašts, the article explains that there is “probability” where these texts “have come down to us in their entirety”. The reason for this as it has been mentioned in that page would be: “the Parsis would have paid particular attention to the transmission of the most venerable parts of the sacred canon”.

If there is advantage, then there is also disadvantage. The disadvantage in the extinction of Avestan language (especially the Gathic dialect or the Old Avestan language) is that; since the language is extinct, the interpretation or even the translation of any texts written in that language –by itself- is a great challenge. In the website Encyclopedia Iranica, the problems in translating the Gathas are widely discussed in “GATHAS ii” . In this article, there are multiple translations of the Gathas presented as case examples and also lengthy explanation about two main methods in translating the Gathas. Unfortunately, the article does not start with the core of the problem, which is the extinction of Gathic or Old Avestan language itself. The extinction of the language, as it has not been actively used again, is actually the core of the problem in translating the Gathas. Boyce (2001) mentions in her book that the dialect used by Zarathustra (Zoroaster) is only known from the Gathas and “a few other ancient texts” (page 18). Thus, it makes the interpretation of the Gathas difficult, since many words in the Gathas are practically unknown.

The Translation of Gathas
In the translation of the Gathas, there are two main methods with Christian Bartholomae dictionary as the parting-line between the two methods. The first method relies on Zoroastrian traditions to understand the Gathas with James Darmesteter as the main supporter of this method. Other translator mentioned is Lawrence H. Mills, yet the work of Mills (at least one of them) is said to be “in its convenient arrangement of the original text with the Pahlavi and Sanskrit glosses”. In the article “AVESTA i. Survey of the History and Contents of the Book”, it is explained that this method is called traditional school, which “considered that the Avesta could only become clear with the help of the native Pahlavi commentary”.

The second method is said to be “comparative linguistics” method with Bartholomae book Wörterbuch (1904) as a reference. The method itself uses material from Vedas, ancient Indian texts, to be compared with the Gathas. Thus, those this method is called the Vedic school and those who use this method is called Vedacist. Scholars who used this method were “convinced that the best approach to the true meaning of the Avesta was the etymological one, for which Vedic provided abundant material”. Furthermore, it is explained in the article “GATHAS ii” that “the entire history of Gathic scholarship in the 20th century has tended to vindicate the comparative method at the expense of the Zoroastrian tradition’s authority”.

These two methods pose threats for the understanding of the Gathas itself. The works of Darmesteter and Mills are considered “obsolete” with the publication of Altiranisches Wörterbuch (1904), the book of Christian Bartholomae. In the article, it is explains that the works of Darmesteter are “frequently noted” and “frequently dismissed” with the expression “falsch” (false in Germany) . Moreover, the Vedacist or those who used the comparative linguistics approach are skeptical about the native Pahlavi commentary of the Avesta, which from the Vedic school point of view “was no more reliable a guide to the Avesta”. Meanwhile, the comparative linguistics method is criticized for its threat in leading to “the way to unverifiable speculation” of the Gathas itself. Those who are interested in this matter more can visit the website Encyclopedia Iranica (Iranicaonline.org). Both the article of the translation of Gathas and Avesta I (mostly the subsection “History of Avestan Studies”) will provide information about the complexity in the translation of the Gathas itself. This is the basic reason why there are so many translations of the Gathas. One of the page in Gatha.org website even provides multiple translations of the Gathas to show its readers the complexity in translating the Gathas.

Now, the basic question here would be: can we rely on the translations of Gathas? To answer this question, we may want to understand the long history of the translation of Gathas itself.

Vedic Sanskrit Role
First of all, the article in Encyclopedia Iranica (Iranicaonline.org) about the translation of Gathas convinces us that the translators of Gathas, at least the ones mentioned in the article, are “competent scholars whose interpretations were informed by solid philology” . Yet, of course, this is not enough. In the article “AVESTA i. Survey of the History and Contents of the Book” subsection “History of Avestan studies” , it is explained that question of “authenticity” for the Avesta and others texts brought by Anquetil-Duperron for the first time from India in 1762 has caused long time polemic in the Western world. It was not until the decrypting of Old Persian inscription dating from the time of Achaemenid Empire this question of authenticity was finally answered. It was revealed that the Old Persian inscription with ancient Iranian language closely akin to Avestan has proven “that the language of the Avesta was an antique representative of an independent Indo-European language, which was however more closely related to Indian than to any other branch of the family”.

To understand how close the Avestan to its Indian counterpart or the language of the Vedas, the website Sreenivasaraos.com offers us an explanation regarding this particular matter. In its article Varuna and his decline – Part Seven subsection “Language of the Avesta and Vedic Sanskrit” , it is explained that Shri JM Chatterji, the author of The Hymns of Atharvan Zarathustra (1967), observes the resemblance between the Avestan language and Vedic Sanskrit (the language of the Vedas) . The explanation is given in 83.1 that the relation between the Avestan and the Vedic Sanskrit is “so close that entire passages from the Gathas can be rendered into Vedic Sanskrit by application of the phonetic rules – that is by exchanging some sounds for others”. One of the examples provided by the website is presented below:

Quote

“The Sanskrit terms aham (‘I’), jihva (tounge), sapta (seven), hima (snow) and yajna (sacrifice ritual)
would become ajem, hijva, hapta, zyma, and yasna, respectively, in the Iranian texts”
(https://sreenivasaraos.com/tag/varuna-and-ahura-mazda/)

to be continued... #adding suspense effect#

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Author Topic: The "Names" of God in Ancient Texts (Part 3: The Long-Lost Scripture)

Ocyid

The "Names" of God in Ancient Texts (Part 3: The Long-Lost Scripture)