http://ipraudio.interlochen.org/July%205%20-%20RAW.mp3
IPR: Monday, July 8 brings us around to summer's first New Moon, which marks the onset of Ramadan in the Islamic calendar. Is this always the New Moon of Ramadan?
MARY: Because the Islamic calendar is based on the rhythm of the Moon, without adjusting to the rhythm of the Sun, the Islamic New Year seems to sweep back to an earlier date through the calendar each year. This is because the Moon only repeats the same phase on the same date every 19 years.
Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic year. The year started with the New Moon November 14, 2012, and while Ramadan started on July 19 last year, July 8 this year, it will be on June 28 next year, so we witness this sweeping that is akin to the rhythm of the Moon itself. The Moon moves one degree every two hours so it is a visible rhythm that one can live into.
IPR: How is Ramadan, then, related to the stars? Or is it?
MARY: Ramadan is a month of fasting and prayer, charity and self-accountability and is regarded as the month when the Angel Gabriel revealed the first verses of the Qu'ran, the sacred text, to the prophet Muhammed, commanding him to "recite!" Ramadan begins with the first visibility of the Moon after New Phase and continues until the next visibility of the Moon after New Phase, so from July 8 to August 7 this year. It is believed that it was during the last ten days of the month that Muhammed received the first verses, so this year, during the time from around July 28 to August 7. August 7th will bring first visibility of the next Moon, which will mark the tenth month in the Islamic calendar.
The word "Qu'ran" in Arabic means, roughly, "recitation", and there was a title given to those who memorized and could then recite it in its entirety. This title is "Hafiz", whom many now recognize as a 14th-century mystic poet, like Rumi, or even Omar Khayyam before them. These are the "embroiderers in gold" for they speak the language of the divine from their hearts, rather than reading written text on paper. And it is no small task. The Qu'ran is about the length of the New Testament! And Hafiz was said to have memorized it "14 different ways."
IPR: What are some references to stars, then, found in the culture of Islam and in the rendering of the 'divine' through poetry?
The 11th century Islamic mathematician and astronomer Omar Khayyam wrote:
We are no other than a moving row
Of Magic Shadow shapes that come and go
Round with the Sun-illumined Lantern held
In Midnight by the Master of the Show...
If we look for something similar in the English language, we can consider the cultural significance of translating the Bible into English. This was a challenging proposition in the late 16th century, since the English language was considered a low language, and thereby an offense to God. But rather than the Bible being diminished by the English language, many felt the language was lifted up by this "Word of God," and at the time of the King James rendering, we have, simultaneously, the work of William Shakespeare, reputedly some of the greatest literature in the English (or any) language. The beauty of the poetry, prose, meter and rhyme is that it is meant for recitation and rendering aloud, rather than reading to oneself. And it is through this means, this recitation, that one engages the divine, celestial world.
In the Qu'ran we find it expressed this way: "And he it is who has made the stars for you that you might follow the right way thereby in the darkness of the land and the sea; truly we have made plain the communications for a people who know." This is a direct reference to the speaking of the stars.
And we can imagine the Moon as the vehicle for the speaking of this divine, starry world. We can actually see the Moon moving and growing brighter from New phase to Full phase at which point we say it is fully reflecting the sunlight to us, and then we follow it as it gets dimmer from Full phase back to New Phase, reflecting less and less light, then we get this sense of the rhythm and poetry of it.
But rather than just reflecting sunlight, we could say the Moon reflects all the celestial light, the light of the planets and all the stars as well. And it is not just 'reflecting' but gathering that light and imparting it to Earth. This is why Moon is known as Mother, or Grandmother, or in the case at hand, as the Angel Gabriel. It is Gabriel who announces the prophecy to Muhammed. It is Gabriel who announces the birth of John to Zachariah in the Christian world; it is Gabriel who announces the Christ Child to Mary.
These are the communications of the divine through the vehicle of the Moon in the language of the stars to the Earth. And it is quite specific.
IPR: So Monday's New Moon ushers in a season for reciting poetry under the stars?
MARY: Yes! And Hafiz perhaps spoke it best with his poem:
I caught the happy virus last night
When I was out singing beneath the stars.
It is remarkably contagious
So kiss me!