Thirteenth-century Spanish scholars translated Qur’anic revelation as divine commandments or precepts

Evidence

Some Spanish authors of the thirteenth century used the term praeceptum. Mark of Toledo spoke of Muhammad’s making excerpts of praecepta from the Old and New Testaments (in composing the Qur’an) (Pret. Q.). Archbishop Roderick described a stirah as made up of praecepta; in the Spanish version of the same text this appeared as /eys. In another place zohara ( = (lat. ) azoara =stirah) was explained as meaning mandamiento; and in another, as meaning /aws of God. (Hist. Arab. v1; Cron. de Esp. cxx1/493, cf. cv1/478.) Fitzralph naturally followed Ketton on his use of words of Arabic origin. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1907

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader history of how medieval Europeans translated and misread the Qur’an, alongside Ketton’s translation discussed throughout this chapter. — connects to: Medieval Spanish translators read praeceptum as divinely revealed command