Approaching the Quran as a real poetic text: The Parable of the Gnat

http://www.al-shia.com/html/eng/books/quran/tafseer-of-holy-quran/light/html/002/02_26.htm

Look that over first and you have here something that is argued about in all religions and that is "meaning". What is meant by this? The Quran actually says it out loud i.e. What is meant by this?

26. " Allah does not disdain to set forth the parable even of a gnat, or anything greater than that. as for those who have faith, they know that it is the truth from their lord. and for those who reject faith, they ask : ` what does allah mean by this parable? ' thereby he leads many astray and guides many, and he leads none astray save the transgressors".

Therefore, the Quran logically allows a person to indulge in their own personal exegesis (tafsir). Dangerous if you are not a nice person and lovely if you are a great guy or doll with half a brain, a whole one and a brain stem to keep you alert to the minutiae. What is really important is the idea that many scholars of Islam admit to the negation of anything in there which , as a matter of fact, agrees with what Wittgenstein illuminated: all logical questions or statements must also serve truth in their reverse form. Easy enough.

So, what is scientifically important about the gnat? What is obvious about the gnat? It is of course, one of the tiniest VISIBLE pests in the wild. There are those much smaller like mites or chiggers and even smaller than that! Even mites get mites. And then there is the world of the bacilli. And of course, there is the pimpled and dimpled sky full of eternal stars constantly forming and disintegrating. We cannot even really photograph the most distant galaxies but we can 'deduce' their picture by codifying their light waves. When you view those photographs, it is imperative that you understand it is an interpretation of light waves, not an actual photo....not to my knowledge anyway but they are amazingly beautiful to look at.

Therefore, what is meant by a parable that deliberately points to SIZE of the gnat and those things that are greater than it in size? Did Allah mean to say the gnat was the smallest things visible to the naked eye? Well it most certainly is...I'll tell you what. Here in our'ville, the gnats this year have been absolutely horrendous, numerous and violent. My legs are permanently scarred from them. Did I ever see one? Well, once or twice and for sure, I could see whole swarms of them in the sunlight but never close to me or my person. By the time they get that close they are practically invisible. So what do ya think?

Did Allah mean to communicate that there are still tinier things that the gnat?

I think so and perhaps that is the parable of the gnat. Pre-microscope and circa, spontaneous generation and homonculus. Now that is a work of literacy and reason.

It behooves the poet of modern times to take a look...even if they cannot suspend their belief for a lifetime and become what is generally known as a muslim. Try it for a few minutes a day and go from there. The last paragraph of the article substantiates this notion of the negation as a property of the Quran as a fine work of literature and poetry:

"....some commentators have cited their ideas about the verse under discussion as follows :the arabic term /yudillu/ means : `misleading'. wherever this word is used in the qur'an, relating to allah, it means the withdrawal of his grace and allowing the individual to have the way of his own choice as a punishment, consequent to the individual's rejecting the divine guidance voluntarily offered to him. The holy qur'an presents the justification to the frequent metaphorical expressions in the form of parables, to stimulate the human mind and heart. the result is obvious: that a healthy mind grasps the truth whereas the perverted mind increases its doubts as to what allah meant by the parable. thus the one and the same expression has two opposite effects. the right impression is `guidance' /hidayat/ which is assigned to ` the pious ' /muttaqin/, and the wrong impression is /dalalat/ ` going astray ' which is allotted to the wrong-doers, and pointed out in the next verse. the two important characteristics of the wrong-doers are: the breach of the covenant of allah, after it has been confirmed and /qata`a ma amarallah/ i.e., the severing of the relation or the connection with what allah has commanded man to establish, and doing things subversive and harmful to the harmonious life on earth."