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Side by Side Comparison of Parallels
in Qur’an 55.46-76 |
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(55:46) But such as fears the Station of
his Lord, for them shall be two gardens |
(55:62) And besides these shall be two
gardens |
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(55:48) abounding in branches |
(55:64) green, green pastures |
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(55:50) therein two fountains of running
water |
(55:66) therein two fountains of gushing water |
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(55.52) therein of every fruit two kinds |
(55.68) therein fruits, and palm-trees, and
pomegranates |
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(55:54) reclining upon couches lined with
brocade, the fruits of the gardens night to gather |
(55: therein maidens good and comely |
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(55:56) therein maidens restraining their glances,
untouched before them by any man or jinn |
(55:72) houris, cloistered in cool
pavilions |
|
(55:58) Lovely as rubies, beautiful as
coral |
(55:74) untouched before them by any man or
jinn |
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(55:60) Shall the recompense of goodness be
other than goodness? |
(55:76) reclining upon green cushions and
lovely druggets |
. . .
A prime example of a variant produced in the
oral tradition occurs in Qur’an 55:46-76, where two versions of the same tradition
are juxtaposed one another the other. . . . I see little reason to doubt, as
Wansbrough similarly concludes, that these are two variants of the same
tradition whose differences are the result of recurrent oral reproduction. A
written model is neither necessary nor all that helpful in seeking to
understand the relations and differences between these two versions. Clearly,
we have here alternate versions of a single tradition that were produced in the
process of oral tradition and then were recorded in writing independently—originally
in separate collections one imagines, before being joined together one after the
other, following very conservative editorial principles. One assumes, moreover,
that these early collections would continue to be expanded and altered in light
of the enduring oral tradition, as well as the changing experiences of the
community and its expanding knowledge of the traditions of Abrahamic
monotheism. Additional variants may have continued to develop alongside the
written text in the oral tradition, possibly entering and/or influencing the
written tradition as it was still developing. (Stephen J. Shoemaker, Creating
the Qur'an: A Historical-Critical Study [Oakland, Calif.: University of
California Press, 2022], 218-19)