Continuing …
5. In the link about Rubaiyat-e-Ganjifa viewtopic.php?p=21328#p21328
that you gave earlier, you also link to a pdf with irreligious verses in the masnavi
https://aalequtub.files.wordpress.com/2 ... verses.pdf
My first thought was, these people (who wrote the pdf) only think their religion is worthwhile, and they reject anything that gives any value to anything else.
As i continued reading, my thoughts changed to, these westerners shamelessly modify ancient texts for their own agenda.
I only provide facts here that throw some light on the situation I found so that you + every other reader can catch up. Translating Arabic texts + even more so poems - into English is a very difficult task that comes with a lot of obstacles + cultural baggage – so don't be too judgemental on BOTH parties.
Later you say
Remember the supposedly wrong Rumi quote ...
"We have picked the essence of the Koran, throwing away the skin to the dogs."
Take it now as a “working hypothesis” that only the first 78 surahs are of importance for the much later conception of the Tarot.
I think you mean that the first 78 surahs are the essense of the Koran, and the rest is the skin to throw to the dogs, and that these fake verses in Masnavi are not (all?) fake. Curiously the verses after 78 are really short, so by removing them you dont miss much of the books volume. Just like throwing away the skin to the dogs, and keeping the bones and marrow.
Indeed: This supposedly wrong Rumi quote would be considered a blasphemy – but other Sufis have been accused of such in other contexts too + died for it under torture (Al-Hallaj - 26 March 922 CE for ex.)
When I began to look into this matter under the assumption that there should be proof for this “essence/dog food” model in the Qur'an itself (knowing about the different editions which are considered a No-No by mainstream Muslimin) I was quite amazed by the title of the 79th surah An-Naziat – bc there are several English translations for this name: “Those Who Drag Forth” - “Soul-Snatchers” - “The Pluckers” - “ The Snatchers” “ Those That Rise” ...
All of them come with the flavor of “Up – up + away”.
The first 78 surahs are tied to the 78 cards (Tarot de Marseille) Tarot decks.
In the surahs after 22 – so from 23 to 78 is a definite order of the 10 Pip-cards + the Court for all 4 suits.
Every time starting with the 1/Ace – 2 - 3 - 4 – 5 - 6 – 7 - 8 – 9 – 10 - Jack – Knight - Queen – King.
The interesting thing is that there were always different schools on what the meaning of the Pips + the Court cards in divination is based.
http://www.tarotforum.net/archive/index ... 50435.html
https://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/tob/tob52.htm
Here now you can see that the proposed meaning has nothing to do with odd or even – there is NO moral value connected to the numerical value of a pip card – the moral/meaning of the pip card is tied to the PLACE between the 78 surahs + the content that is stored THERE.
The order of the 4 suits instead is different from the popular opinions.
The order of the Qur'an suggests that the suits start with
14 CUPS. (Surah 23 – The Believers)
[with the meaning of achieving everlasting bliss in this world as well as in the Hereafter.]
1 - … - 10 – J – K – Q – King.
14 SWORDS (Surah 37 – The Rangers)
[with the meaning of trained soldiers]
1 - … - 10 – J – K – Q – King.
14 CLUBS (Surah 51 – The Scatterers)
[with the meaning of dispersing with brutal force]
1 - … - 10 – J – K – Q – King.
14 COINS (Surah 65 – Divorce)
[with the meaning of financial freedom for the woman]
1 - … - 10 – J – K – Q – King.
Maybe I will come up with a complete comparative list of the first 78 surahs + the 78 cards sometime - but you should really have a look for yourself in advance … + be amazed when you find for ex. that the surah 8 (The Bounties/The Spoils of War) deals with in God's eyes justified shares …
Surah 9 (The Repentance) is very easy on the eyes as VIIII – LERMITE (The Hermit – quite the personification of repentance
![Happy :)](./images/smilies/1.gif)
)
LEFOV dances along – in line with The Prophets in surah XXI (!) on the 21st place …
23 Al-Mu’minoun (the Believers) should be the Ace of Cups ...
37 As-saffat should be Ace of Swords right? And 51 Adh-Dhariyat should be Ace of Wands.
YES – you got that right. I explained the "why“ already above.
But thank you for this contribution.
Please explain HOW you came to that conclusion!?
30 Ar-Rum (the Romans) is about the importance of remembering - so that the future may be revealed - similar to the assumption that the 6 of Cups refers to the past and the consequences in the present ...
And shouldnt 30 be Eight of Cups? Or are they not in perfect order?
The pips are not easy to connect to some meaning since they just show shapes, how would one approach this problem?
Correct again! I made a deliberate mistake there to see if you look for yourself.
Surah 30 (The Romans/The Greeks) refers to the loss of the Byzantines (who were of Greek heritage but represented the eastern part of the Roman empire) to the Persians in 613/14 CE.
The 1. sentence says „The Romans/Greeks/Byzantines have been defeated“
All these 3 connotations are CODE for „Righteous Believers“ bc at that time they were considered „People of the Book“ = Christian + bc Muhammad the Prophet had just begun preaching in 610 they had not had a fair chance to convert to Islam.
In that battle against the Persians (who were considered disbelievers with their Zoroastrianism) the Christians were looked at as a kind of poorer stepbrothers of the Muslimin + the favored champions – but they lost ...
So they WALKed AWAY from their goal of winning …
This is depicted nicely in the Rider Waite Tarot by Pamela Coleman Smith + she does some good other symbolic impersonations that you might helpful with identifying the part of the concerned text.
http://www.albideuter.de/html/waite.html
The surah instead repeats several times after this that the Righteous Believers stay firm in their belief and stay the course in their actions …
The Byzantines went to war with the Persians again 10 years later – but in ANOTHER land.
That is what some Tarot card readers would probably align with the up-side-down or inverted appearance in a reading.
Enough now for today.
Adrian