Goethe and Islam

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) is the greatest German poet. He

was also a scientist and a local politician.

As a young man Goethe wanted to study oriental studies - but his father
finally wanted him to study law; he always admired the first travellers to
Arabia (Michaelis, Niebuhr), he was fascinated by it and read 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 (University of Jena) in reading and writing 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 the Prophet
was given the Koran completely from above". He also wrote: "No one may
wonder about the great efficiency of the Book. That is why 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 and Schiller-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 the Duke's family in Weimar and their guests.
Being witnesses the other great German poet and Goethe's friend Friedrich
Schiller and 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 for new
translations. In his "Divan" Goethe says:

"Whether the Koran is of eternity?

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

"Ob der Koran von Ewigkeit sei?

Darnach frag' ich nicht ! ...
Daß er das Buch der Bücher sei
Glaub' 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 with oriental scholars about
these matters. Goethe liked the German translation of Hafis' "Diwan" by
Hammer (May 1814) and studied the different translations of Qur'an of his
time. All of this inspired him to write his own "West-östlicher Divan" and of
course many poems of the "Divan" are clearly inspired by and relate to
different Ayats of Qur'an.

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.

In his "West-Eastern Divan" (published 1816), a book of poetry, inspired by

the Persian poet Hafiz and other world-famous Muslim writers, Goethe
refuses the christian view of Jesus – peace be upon him - and confirms the
unity of Allah in a poem of his "Divan":

"Jesus felt pure and calmly thought

Only the One God;
Who made himself to be a god
Offends his holy will.
And thus the right(ness) has to shine
What Mahomet also achieved;
Only by the term of the One
He mastered the whole world"

"Jesus fühlte rein und dachte

Nur den Einen Gott im Stillen;
Wer ihn selbst zum Gotte machte
Kränkte seinen heil'gen Willen.
Und so muß das Rechte scheinen
Was auch Mahomet gelungen;
Nur durch den Begriff des Einen
Hat er alle Welt bezwungen."
(WA I, 6, 288 ff)

Beside Jesus – peace be upon him - and Muhammad - may Allah bless him
and give him peace! - in the following verses Goethe also names Abraham,
Moses and David – peace be upon them - as the representatives of the
Oneness of God (Tauhid). It is a known fact that Goethe felt a strong dislike
for the symbol of the cross. In his "Divan" he wrote:
"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 gehängt, das unter allen ...
Mir am schlechtesten will gefallen
Diese ganze moderne Narrheit
Magst du mir nach Schiras bringen!
Soll ich wohl, in seiner Starrheit,
Hölzchen quer auf Hölzchen singen?..."
Und sogar noch stärker:
"Mir willst du zum Gotte machen
Solch ein Jammerbild am Holze!"

Also in his late novel „Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre/Wilhelm Meister's years

of travel“ (1829) Goethe quite frankly wrote that it 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)

Goethe is fascinated by Saadi's metaphor of the "fly in love" flying into the
light where it dies as the image for the Muslim who loves God. See here
especially the 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". In the chapter about Rumi
Goethe acknowledges the invocation of God/Allah and 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 qualities indicate the inconceivable Being [Wesen]; the
worshipper is amazed, submits and calms down." (WA I, 7, 59)

Goethe considered it not to be a mere accident but rather as meaningful

incidents, in fact as part of his decree and signs of God, 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 it himself with the help of the
professors in Jena who had helped him in finding out the manuscript's
content
- in January 1814 he visited a prayer 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 things happening these days, which they
would not have allowed a prophet to say. Who would have been allowed
some years ago to say that there would be held a mahommedan divine
service and the Suras of Koran would 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 I was presented with a bow and arrows which for eternal
memory I will 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 Koran from the library."
Goethe's positive attitude towards Islam goes far beyond anyone in Germany
before: As an introduction to his "West-eastern Divan" he published on
24.2.1816: "The poet [Goethe speaks about himself as the author]... does
not refuse the suspicion that he himself is a Muslim." (WA I, 41, 86)

In another poem of the "Divan" Goethe says:

"Foolish that everyone in his case

Is praising his particular opinion!
If Islam means submission to God,
We all live and die in Islam."

"Närrisch, daß jeder in seinem Falle

Seine besondere Meinung preist!
Wenn Islam Gott ergeben heißt,
In Islam leben und sterben wir alle."
(WA I, 6, 128)

Apart from Goethe's - the poet's - fascination for the language of Qur'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 in Goethe'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'an from Arabic into German by Megerlin 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. The
multiplicity of the phenomena indicates the One God. The relation towards
nature as the Qur'an presents it connected with the teaching of 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's sympathy and affinity towards
Islam was based. Goethe said we should realize "God's greatness in the
small" - "Gottes Größe im Kleinen" 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 to mankind 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 the Qur'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 to the same Ayat Goethe repeats in a letter to Thomas
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)

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 the Prophet, / 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 "Mahomets Gesang".

The meaning of the prophet is put into the metaphor of the stream, 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 the religious genius in carrying the other
people with him like the stream does with small brooks and rivers. On a
handwritten manuscript of the Paralipomena III, 31 of the "Divan" Goethe
writes on the 27.1.1816:

"Head of created beings / Muhammed". (WA I, 6, 482)

Furthermore Goethe was impressed by the Muslim view that true religion is
shown by good action. Here Goethe especially liked the action of giving
Sadaqa, giving to the needy. In several poems of the Divan, "Buch der
Sprüche" 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), being a good action 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 their undertakings and what rules
most obviously at its best where their greatness should shine - the chance as
they call it later - exactly this is God, 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 with chancellor
MŸller, 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 wonderful guidance 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 one may avoid his once assigned destiny." (WA I, 7, 151ff)
resulted in his personal attitude of submission under the will of God, i.e.
Goethe saw it as an order to accept it thankfully and not to rebel against it.
See famous examples for this in his famous works "Egmont", "Dichtung und
Wahrheit/Poetry and Truth", "Urworte Orphisch/Primal Words Orphic" and
"Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre/Wilhelm Meister's years of travel" etc.

A deeply moving example from his own life was his reaction to the accident of
his coach when he started his third journey to Marianne von Willemer (July
1816), who he intended to marry after his wife Christiane had died about
which he felt extremly unhappy. Goethe took this as a clear warning not to
pursue his wish anymore and completely refrained 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 than this 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 he consoled a friend: "Here no one
can counsil the other; each one has to decide 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 every religious-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:
"The religion 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 to know 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 the
unity within his own self." (Noten und Abhandlungen zum West-östlichen
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 him peace! - 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 und Abhandlungen zum West-
östlichen Divan, WA I, 7, 32)

Conclusion
Everything contained in Goethe's poetic as well as scientific writings,
especially "Zur Morphologie", stands as his lifetime's propagation of the view
that the universe is the creation of a Divine Being and that the Creator has no
connected aspect to His creation.

Thus it can be said that Goethe, Germany's greatest poet and the glory of the
German language and intellectual life, is also one of the first intellectuals in
modern Europe, who re-opened their hearts and minds to Islam since
darkness had descended on Islamic Spain. Goethe stands for a re-awakening
in the hearts of European people of the desire for knowledge of God and His
messenger, a knowledge that had lain dormant for many centuries. Especially
today, when narrow and self-centred minds talk about a "clash of
civilizations", Goethe is a reminder that Islam in fact is not a specific culture
but rather a filter for every culture! The Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, said: „I was sent to perfect good character“. God
has placed good character in every culture of the world. Goethe reminds us of
the inseparable unity and power and generosity of the Creator of Mankind,
God Allmighty. He was the first great intellectual in the West of modern times
who opened the way for the West to understand the need to overcome
confrontative attitudes and see the power of the One God.

"God's is the Orient!

God's is the Occident!
Northern and Southern lands
Lie in the peace of His Hands."
(West-eastern Divan, 1816)

"Gottes ist der Orient!

Gottes ist der Occident!
 Nord- und südliches Gelände
Ruht im Frieden seiner Hände.“
(West-östlicher Divan, 1816)

Note:

1. The reference code WA I, 6, 288 means:

WA = Weimarer Ausgabe/Weimar Edition (classical and largest edition of
Goethe's writings), I = Section I, 6 = Volume 6, 288 = page 288

2. The worldwide leading expert on the subject of Goethe and Islam, from
whom we took all this information, is Prof. Dr. Katharina Mommsen.
Please find more information: http://www.katharinamommsen.org/