Living

Can the Koran from Eternity be?

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749–1832

Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring (1853) · From West-Eastern Divan

Living

CAN the Koran from Eternity be?
'Tis worth not a thought!
Can the Koran a creation, then, be?

Of that, I know nought!
Yet that the book of all books it must be,

I believe, as a Mussulman ought.
That from Eternity wine, though, must be,

I ever have thought;
That 'twas ordain'd, ere the Angels, to be,

As a truth may be taught.
Drinkers, however these matters may be,
Gaze on God's face, fearing nought.

MLA

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. “Can the Koran from Eternity be?” Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/goethe/374/.

Chicago

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. “Can the Koran from Eternity be?” Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/goethe/374/.

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