koran

             In The Koran, Surah 12, the story of Joseph is told. This story is very familiar to many Christians and Jews. There are many elements of this story as told in The Koran. Five specific elements of this version of the classic story are the narrator, the knowledge of the events, the importance of Joseph's vindication, the parallel made between Joseph and Mohammed as teachers and prophets, and the appearance of details being omitted from this version of the story, as compared to the story as told in the Bible. This story is probably the most easily understood in The Koran because it is the only surah that reads as a narrative.
             It is very interesting that in this telling of the story, God himself is the narrator and is referred to in the first-person plural. Referring to God as "We" is probably a reflection of the majesty of God or God encompassing everything. From reading The Koran, we know that God revealed himself to Mohammed and that is why God is the narrator. From this omniscient point-of-view, the reader gains knowledge, not necessarily present in other versions. For example, here the reader gains an insight as to how Joseph perceived what was happening to him because God spoke to him, "And when [the brothers] took [Joseph] with them, they resolved to cast him into a dark pit. We revealed to him Our will, saying: 'You shall tell them of all this when they will not know you.'" (12.16)
             The reader also has a more clearly defined sense of who knows what. "It was but a wish in Jacob's soul which he had thus fulfilled. He was possessed of knowledge which We had given him." (12.67~68) What is learned from this passage makes Jacob's actions more easily understood. The reader also learns that God "revealed Our will to him." (12.16) It seems that throughout this story, Jacob and Joseph had a clear understanding of the outcome and the purpose. After Joseph framed his brother, who is not named ...

More Essays:

APA     MLA     Chicago
koran. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 00:52, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/17955.html