goethe and islam

8/8/2019 Goethe and Islam

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Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Islam

As a young man Goethe wanted to study oriental studies - but hisfather finally wanted him to study law; he always admired the first

travelers to Arabia (Michaelis, Niebuhr), he was fascinated by it andread everything they published about their trips. In 1814/15 at the

time of his "Divan" Goethe trained himself with the professors for

oriental studies Paulus, Lorsbach and Kosegarten (Jena) in reading andwriting Arabic. After looking at his Arabic manuscripts and having

known about the Qur'an, Goethe felt a great yearning to learn Arabic.He copied short Arabic Du'as by himself and wrote: "In no other

language spirit, word and letter are embodied in such a primal way."(Letter to Schlosser, 23.1.1815, WA IV, 25, 165)At the age of 70 Goethe writes (Notes and Essays to the Divan, WA I,

17, 153) that he intends "to celebrate respectfully that night when theProphet was given the Koran completely from above" He also wrote:

"No one may wonder about the great efficiency of the Book. That iswhy it has been declared as uncreated by real admirers" and added to

it: "This book will eternally remain highly efficacious/effective" (WA I,7, 35/36)Still today we have the handwritten manuscripts of his first intensive

Qur'an-studies of 1771/1772 and the later ones in the Goethe andSchiller-Archive in Weimar. Goethe read the German translation of

Qur'an by J. v. Hammer (possibly as well from the more prosaic

English translation of G. Sale) out loud in front of members of theDuke's family in Weimar and their guests. Being witnesses Schiller and


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his wife reported about the reading. (Schiller's letter to Knebel,

22.2.1815) Goethe always felt the shortcomings of all the translations

(Latin, English, German and French) and was constantly looking fornew translations. In his "Divan" Goethe says:"Whether the Koran is of eternity?

I don't question that!...That it is the book of booksI believe out of the muslim's duty."

"Ob der Koran von Ewigkeit sei?Darnach frag' ich nicht ! ...

Da_ er das Buch der B|cher seiGlaub' ich aus Mosleminen-

Pflicht"(WA I, 6, 203)

He studied Arabic handbooks, grammars, travel-books, poetry,

anthologies, books on the sira of the Prophet Muhammad - may Allah

bless him and give him peace! - and had a widespread exchange withoriental scholars about these matters. Goethe liked the German

translation of Hafis' "Diwan" by Hammer (May 1814) and studied thedifferent translations of Qur'an of his time. All of this inspired him to

write his own "West- stlicher Divan" and of course many poems ofthe "Divan" are clearly inspired by and relate to different Ayats of

Qur'an (see Mommsen, p. 269-274).Goethe bought original Arabic manuscripts of Rumi, Dschami, Hafis,

Saadi, Attar, Qur'an-Tafsir, Du'as, an Arabic-Turkish dictionary, texts

on matters like the freeing of slaves, buying and selling, interest,usury and Arabian scripts from Sultan Selim.Goethe considered it not to be a mere accident but rather as

meaningful incidents, in fact as part of his decree and signs of Allah,when in Autumn 1813 he was brought an old Arabic handwritten

manuscript from Spain by a German soldier coming from Spain which

contained the last Surat An-Nas (114). Later Goethe tried to copy ithimself with the help of the professors in Jena who had helped him in

finding out the manuscript's content in January 1814 he visited aprayer of Bashkir Muslims from the Russian army of Zar Alexander in

the protestant gymnasium of Weimar.See the letter to Trebra, 5.1.1814 (WA IV, 24, 91) where he says:

"Speaking of prophecies, I have to tell you that there are thingshappening these days, which they would not have allowed a prophet tosay. Who would have been allowed some years ago to say that there

would be held a mahommedan divine service and the Suras of Koranwould be murmured in the auditorium of our protestant gymnasium

and yet it happened and we attended the Bashkir service, saw their

Mulla and welcomed their Prince in the theatre. Out of special favour Iwas presented with a bow and arrows which for eternal memory I will


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hang above my chimney as soon as God has decreed a lucky return for

them."In a letter to his son August from the 17.1.1814 (WA IV, 24, 110)he adds: "Several religious ladies of us have asked for the translation

of the Coran from the library." Goethe's positive attitude towards

Islam goes far beyond anyone in Germany before: He published on24.2.1816: "The poet [Goethe]... does not refuse the suspicion that hehimself is a Muslim." (WA I, 41, 86) In another poem of the "Divan"

Goethe says:"Stupid that everyone in his caseIs praising his particular opinion!

If Islam means submission to God,We all live and die in Islam."

"Ndrrisch, da_ jeder in seinem Falle

Seine besondere Meinung preist!

Wenn Islam Gott ergeben hei_t,In Islam leben und sterben wir alle."

(WA I, 6, 128)Apart from Goethe's - the poet's - fascination for the language ofQur'an, its beauty and sublimeness, he was mostly attracted by its

religious and philosophical meaning: the unity of God, the conviction

that God manifests in nature/creation is one of the major themes inGoethe's work. During his first intensive Qur'an-studies Goethe copied

and partly put right the text of the first direct translation of the Qur'anfrom Arabic into German in 1771/1772.Goethe wrote down different Ayats of Qur'an which teach man how he

should see nature in all its phenomena as signs of divine laws. Themultiplicity of the phenomena indicates the One God. The relation

towards nature as the Qur'an presents it connected with the teachingof the kindness and oneness of God - as Goethe writes it down from

the Ayats of Sura No. 2 - became the main pillars on which Goethe'ssympathy and affinity towards Islam was based. Goethe said we

should realize "God's greatness in the small" - "Gottes Gr 'e imKleinen" and refers to the Ayat of Surat Al-Baqara, vers 25 where the

metaphor of the fly is given.Goethe was very impressed about the fact that Allah speaks tomankind by prophets and thus he confirmed the prophet Muhammad -

may Allah bless him and give him peace!: In 1819 Goethe writes(referring to Sura "Ibrahim", Ayat 4) "It is true, what God says in theQur'an: We did not send a prophet to a people but in their language."

(Letter to A.O. Blumenthal, 28.5.1819, WA IV, 31, 160) Referring tothe same Ayat Goethe repeats in a letter to Carlyle: "The Koran says:

God has given each people a prophet in its own language."(20.7.1827, WA IV, 42, 270) It appears again in 1827 in an essay of

Goethe in: German Romance. Vol. IV. Edinburgh 1827 (WA I, 41,307)


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Goethe affirmed the rejection of the unbelievers' challenge to the

prophet Muhammad - may Allah bless him and give him peace! - to

show them miracles where he says: "Wonders I can not do said theProphet, / The greatest miracle is that I am." (Paralipomenon III,

14 of the Divan, WA I, 6, 476)In "Mahomet" Goethe wrote the famous song of praise "MahometsGesang". The meaning of the prophet is put into the metaphor of thestream, starting from the smallest beginning and growing to be an

immense spiritual power, expanding, unfolding, and gloriously ending

in the ocean, the symbol for divinity. He especially describes thereligious genius in carrying the other people with him like the stream

does with small brooks and rivers. On a handwritten manuscript of theParalipomena II I , 31 of the "Divan" Goethe writes on the

27.1.1816:"Head of created beings / Muhammed". (WA I, 6, 482)Furthermore that true religion is shown by good action. Here Goetheespecially liked the action of giving Sadaqa, giving to the needy. Inseveral poems of the Divan, "Buch der Sprche" Goethe speaks about

"the pleasure of giving" / "die Wonne des Gebens" / "See it rightly and

you will always give" - "Schau es recht, und du wirst immer geben"(WA I, 6, 70) which already in this life is full of blessings.Goethe is also well known for his rejection of the concept of

chance/accident: "What people do not and can not realize in theirundertakings and what rules most obviously at its best where their

greatness should shine - the chance as they call it later - exactly this isGod, who here directly enters and glorifies Himself by the most

trifling." (conversation with Riemer, November 1807)The increasingly firm belief in the decree of God (conversation withchancellor Mller, 12.8.1827, WA I, 42, 212, WA I, 32, 57) and the

verse of a Divan-poem: "If Allah had determined me to be a worm;/He would have created me as a worm." (WA I, 6, 113) and more "they

[-examples of metaphors used in the Divan -] represent the wonderfulguidance and providence coming out of the unexplorable,

inconceivable decree of God; they teach and confirm the true Islam,

the absolute submission to the will of God, the conviction, that no onemay avoid his once assigned destiny." (WA I, 7, 151ff) resulted in his

personal attitude of submission under the will of God, i.e. Goethe sawit as an order to accept it thankfully and not to rebel against it. See

famous examples for this in his "Egmont" , "Dichtung undWahrheit", "Urw orte Orphisch" and "W ilhelm Meisters

Wanderjahre" etc.A deeply moving example from his own life was his reaction to theaccident of his coach when he started his third journey to Marianne

von Willemer (July 1816), who he intended to marry after Christianehad died about which he felt extremly unhappy. Goethe took this as a

clear warning not to pursue his wish anymore and completely refrained


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from his original intention. After that Goethe wrote: "And thus we have

to remain inside Islam, (that means: in complete submission to the

will of God)..." (WA IV, 27, 123) He said: "I cannot tell you more thanthis that also here I try to remain in Islam." (Letter to Zelter,

20.9.1820, WA IV, 33, 240)When in 1831 the cholera appeared and killed many people heconsoled a friend: "Here no one can counsil the other; each one has todecide on his own. We all live in Islam, whatever form we choose to

encourage ourselves." (Letter to Adele Schopenhauer, 19.9.1831,

WA IV, 49, 87)In December 1820 Goethe wrote thanks for the gift of a book of

aphorisms of his friend Willemer and says: "It fits ... with everyreligious-reasonable view and is an Islam to which we all have to

confess sooner or later." (WA IV, 34, 50)As a participant in the war of 1792 against France Goethe said that

this belief in the decree of God has its purest expression in Islam: "Thereligion of Mohammed gives the best proof of this." (WA I, 33, 123)According to Eckermann's conversations with Goethe (11.4.1827)the latter said to the first speaking about the education of the muslims

by constantly seeing opposites in existence, therefore meeting doubt,close examination of a matter and thus finally arriving at certainty:

"That philosophical system of the mohammedan people is an excellent

measure which one can apply to oneself as well as to others in order toknow on which station of spiritual virtue we actually are."About the unity of Allah Goethe said: "The belief in the one God has

always the effect to elevate the spirit because it indicates for man theunity within his own self." (Noten und Abhandlungen zum West-

stlichen Divan, chapter Mahmud von Gasna, WA I, 7, 42)Goethe tells about the difference between a prophet and a poet and

the confirmation of Muhammad - may Allah bless him and give himpeace! - as a prophet: "He is a prophet and not a poet and therefore

his Koran is to be seen as a divine law and not as a book of a human

being, made for education or entertainment." (Noten undAbhandlungen zum West- stlichen Divan, WA I, 7, 32)

Goethe said that there is "much nonsense in the doctrines of the

[christian] church." (Conversations with Eckermann, 11.3.1832) In his

"Divan" Goethe stresses the value of the precious present momentrather than having the Christian attitude of only waiting for the nextlife and therefore, disgracing what God gives man in every moment of

his life.


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Goethe refuses the christian view of Jesus and confirms the unity of

Allah in a poem of his "Divan":"Jesus felt pure and calmly thoughtOnly the One God;

Who made himself to be a god

Offends his holy will.And thus the right(ness) has to shineWhat Mahomet also achieved;

Only by the term of the One

He mastered the whole world"

"Jesus f|hlte rein und dachteNur den Einen Gott im Stillen;

Wer ihn selbst zum Gotte machteKrdnkte seinen heil'gen Willen.

Und so mu_ das Rechte scheinen

Was auch Mahomet gelungen;Nur durch den Begriff des Einen

Hat er alle Welt bezwungen."(WA I, 6, 288 ff)

Besides Jesus and Muhammad - may Allah bless him and give him

peace! - in the following verses Goethe also names Abraham, Mosesand David as the representatives of the Oneness of God. It is a known

fact that Goethe felt a strong dislike for the symbol of the cross. Hewrote:"And now you come with a sign ...which among all others I mostly dislike.

All this modern nonsense

You are going to bring me to Schiras!Should I, in all its stiffness,Sing of two crossed wooden pieces?"

"Und nun kommst du, hast ein Zeichen

Dran gehdngt, das unter allen ...

Mir am schlechtesten will gefallenDiese ganze moderne Narrheit

Magst du mir nach Schiras bringen!Soll ich wohl, in seiner Starrheit,

Hvlzchen quer auf Hvlzchen singen?..."Und sogar noch stdrker:

"Mir willst du zum Gotte machen

Solch ein Jammerbild am Holze!"

Also in Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre Goethe quite frankly wrote thatit is a "cursed insolence ... to play with secrets that are hidden in the

divine depth of suffering" One should rather "cover it with a veil".Finally, in the poem of the Seven Sleepers of his "Divan" Goethe calls

Jesus a prophet: "Ephesus for many years/ Honours the teaching of

the Prophet Jesus. (Peace be upon the good one!)" (WA I, 6, 269)


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Sufism / Practice of DhikrGoethe is fascinated by Saadi's metaphor of the "fly in love" flying into

the light where it dies as the image for the Sufi. See here especiallythe poem of the "Divan" about the butterfly flying into the light

"Blissful yearning / Selige Sehnsucht" whose earlier titles were

"Sacrifice of the self / Selbstopfer" and "Perfection / Vollendung". Inthe chapter about Rumi, Goethe acknowledges the invocation of Allahand the blessing of it: "Already the so-called mahometan rosary

[prayer-beeds] by which the name Allah is glorified with ninety-nine

qualities is such a praise litany. Affirming and negating qualitiesindicate the inconceivable Being [Wesen]; the worshipper is amazed,

submits and calms down." (WA I, 7, 59)ConclusionAfter examining the material evidence above and recognizing its

corroborative proofs in the writing of his close friends, Thomas Carlyle

and Schiller it is possible to come to a clear conclusion withoutambiguity or doubt.Everything contained in his scientific writings, especially "Zur

Morphologie" stands as a lifetime's propagation of the view that the

universe is the creation of a Divine Being and that the Creator has noconnected aspect to His creation.While he lived his life in a non-Muslim country, he wholeheartedly

adopted and declared commitment to the double Shahada andconfirmed that there can be no god but Allah, the One, and that His

messenger, and seal of the messengers was Muhammad, may Allah

bless him and give him peace.Uninstructed in Salat, Zakat, Sawm and Hajj, he nevertheless proudly

and with deep emotion took the rare opportunity to attend the Juma'a.In all this it is clear that he saw Islam as his own Deen.From the several renowned and confirmed Hadith in Muslim, Bukhariand the Sunnan collections it is known that confirmation of Allah and

His messenger was itself the indisputable door of Islam, and the key to

Jannah.Thus it can be clearly accepted that Europe's greatest poet, and the

glory of the German language and intellectual life is also the first ofthe Muslims in modern Europe, re-awakening in the hearts of people

desire for knowledge of God and His messenger, a knowledge that had

lain dormant since darkness had descended on Islamic Spain.In the light of his dazzling confirmation of the prophet, may Allah bless

him and give him peace, he should be known among the Muslims asMuhammad Johann Wolfgang Goethe.

goethe and islam

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