I can’t read – in The Bible and The Qur’an

I can't read

This sentence appears in Isaiah.

It also shows up in the explanation of Sura 96 in the Qur'an.  While Sura 96 may seem to be pretty far into the Qur'an, it's actually the very first one in chronological order - meaning it's at the very beginning.

Coincidence?  Or not?

I came across this yesterday, while writing "I muttered prayers for the first time in many years".  No - not me - at least not today.  Many years ago - but not today.  Anyway - when I read the passage about 'I can't read' - it hit me that those very same words are in "The Message Of The Qur'an" - which is the version passed out by CAIR (Council on American - Islamic Relations).  
As with yesterday's topic where I mentioned how the reference verses were totally appropriate to the situation, but not always applied correctly - I can't help but wonder if the same isn't true for these two situations: Isaiah and The Qur'an interpretation.

So - here we go.

Isaiah 29

The chapter starts off with some scary words for the people of "David's City" -

Woe to David’s City

^{Isa 29:1} Woe to you, Ariel, Ariel,
the city where David settled!
Add year to year
and let your cycle of festivals go on.
^{Isa 29:2} Yet I will besiege Ariel;
she will mourn and lament,
she will be to me like an altar hearth.
^{Isa 29:3} I will encamp against you all around;
I will encircle you with towers
and set up my siege works against you.
^{Isa 29:4} Brought low, you will speak from the ground;
your speech will mumble out of the dust.
Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth;
out of the dust your speech will whisper.

Indeed, it does sound bad.

However - when we quote from this part of the passage and ignore what comes next - as we saw yesterday, we get the wrong picture - tell people the wrong things - because we reached the wrong conclusions by stopping prematurely.

^{Isa 29:5} But your many enemies will become like fine dust,
the ruthless hordes like blown chaff.
Suddenly, in an instant,
^{Isa 29:6} the LORD Almighty will come
with thunder and earthquake and great noise,
with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire.
^{Isa 29:7} Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
that attack her and her fortress and besiege her,
will be as it is with a dream,
with a vision in the night—
^{Isa 29:8} as when a hungry man dreams that he is eating,
but he awakens, and his hunger remains;
as when a thirsty man dreams that he is drinking,
but he awakens faint, with his thirst unquenched.
So will it be with the hordes of all the nations
that fight against Mount Zion.

Oops. The message of woe and doom has turned into one of future hope.

But it's still not time to stop reading.  There's more -

^{Isa 29:9} Be stunned and amazed,
blind yourselves and be sightless;
be drunk, but not from wine,
stagger, but not from beer.
^{Isa 29:10} The LORD has brought over you a deep sleep:
He has sealed your eyes (the prophets);
he has covered your heads (the seers).

Yes - the people of David's city, who have strayed so far from God - are going to be stunned and amazed by what God's going to do.

I can't read

Then we get to the verse in question - I can't read -

^{Isa 29:11} For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say to him, “Read this, please,” he will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.” ¹² Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” he will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”

It's a vision - sealed in a scroll.

When the scroll is given to someone who cannot read, that person will answer - "I don't know how to read".

It's interesting to look at The Message translation of this passage, using words more in line with the type of speech prevalent when both The Message Bible translation and The Message Of The Qur'an were written -

You Have Everything Backward

^{Isa 11-12} What you’ve been shown here is somewhat like a letter in a sealed envelope. If you give it to someone who can read and tell her, “Read this,” she’ll say, “I can’t. The envelope is sealed.” And if you give it to someone who can’t read and tell him, “Read this,” he’ll say, “I can’t read.”

Coincidence?  Or not?

The passage continues -