Spengler in AsianTimes with his usual perspicacity (on Syrian poet Adonis, the only Arab on Noble Prize short list).
As a poet, Adonis does not describe the spiritual state of the Arabs, but rather evokes it
existentially. The available literature on Islam consists mainly of a useless exchange of Koranic citations that show, depending on whether one is Karen Armstrong or Robert Spencer, that Islam is loving or hateful, tolerant or bigoted, peaceful or warlike, or whatever one cares to show. It is all so pointless and sophomoric; anyone can quote the Koran, or for that matter the Bible, to show whatever one wants. With Adonis one gains access to the inside of the Arab experience of modernity. It is a terrible and frightening one, not recommended for the faint-hearted, but indispensable to anyone who wishes to get beyond the pointless sloganeering of the pundits. |
Another quote from the piece (my emphasis):
Nothing less than the transformation of Islam
from a state religion to a personal religion is required for the Arabs to enter the modern world, Adonis told Dubai television.
Can anyone say Orange Islam?
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