The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 10.0201  Sunday, 7 February 1999.

[1]     From:   Robin Hamilton <
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        Date:   Friday, November 5, 1999
        Subj:   Re: SHK 10.0196 The Holy Qura'n & The Bible

[2]     From:   Sean Lawrence <
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        Date:   Friday, 05 Feb 1999 09:20:51 -0800
        Subj:   Re: SHK 10.0196 The Holy Qura'n & The Bible

[3]     From:   Tim Perfect <
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        Date:   Friday, 5 Feb 1999 09:26:45 -0800 (PST)
        Subj:   Re: SHK 10.0196 The Holy Qura'n & The Bible

[4]     From:   Larry Weiss <
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        Date:   Friday, 05 Feb 1999 15:23:47 -0500
        Subj:   Re: SHK 10.0196 The Holy Qura'n & The Bible


[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Robin Hamilton <
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Date:           Friday, November 5, 1999
Subject: 10.0196 The Holy Qura'n & The Bible
Comment:        Re: SHK 10.0196 The Holy Qura'n & The Bible

>I find the following quotation from Richard II: "It is as hard to come
>as for a camel / To thread the postern of a small needle's eye. (V.v.
>ll.  16-17)," which the Bard had taken from Matthew 19:14, 24,
>synonymous to the following quotation from The Holy Qur'an: "To those
>who reject / Our signs and treat them / With arrogance, no opening /
>Will there be of the gates / Of heaven, nor will they / Enter the
>Garden, until / The camel can pass / Through the eye of the needle: /
>Such is Our reward / For those in sin.  (trans. A. Yusuf Ali, 1975, PP.
>350-51)" indicating that both The Holy Qur'an and the Bible must have
>come from one source-Allah.
>
>Ali A. Al-Ghamdi

Or that both draw on what may have been a familiar saying.  I seem to
remember reading somewhere that in Jerusalem, there was a gate called
The Needle which was so narrow that a camel couldn't pass, and that this
became a common image of difficulty or impossibility.

Robin Hamilton

[2]-------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Sean Lawrence <
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Date:           Friday, 05 Feb 1999 09:20:51 -0800
Subject: 10.0196 The Holy Qura'n & The Bible
Comment:        Re: SHK 10.0196 The Holy Qura'n & The Bible

Hi, Ali.

>I find the following quotation from Richard II: "It is as hard to come
>as for a camel / To thread the postern of a small needle's eye. (V.v.
>ll.  16-17)," which the Bard had taken from Matthew 19:14, 24,
>synonymous to the following quotation from The Holy Qur'an: "To those
>who reject / Our signs and treat them / With arrogance, no opening /
>Will there be of the gates / Of heaven, nor will they / Enter the
>Garden, until / The camel can pass / Through the eye of the needle: /
>Such is Our reward / For those in sin.  (trans. A. Yusuf Ali, 1975, PP.
>350-51)" indicating that both The Holy Qur'an and the Bible must have
>come from one source-Allah.

Could Richard II have come from the same source?

By the way, as I understand it, there's an additional rub.  "The eye of
the needle" was a gate in Jerusalem just large enough for pedestrians.
Apparently, it was possible to get a camel through on its knees, but
with enormous difficulty.

Cheers,
Se