英语听力：Prophet Muhammad 先知穆罕默德 - 8

 Rather than a physical image of God or of Muhammad, it is the beauty of the Koran itself that is celebrated¹ in Islam.

 

Islam developed in this context where pictures were not favored. The Koran, as it was revealed, was God’s representation on earth, and Muslims felt from a very early time that the only just representation of God’s word was the Koran itself, not any picture of God, certainly not, because you couldn't represent God; and certainly not a picture of Muhammad, because he wasn’t divine.

 

In certain times and places, people did make images of the prophet Muhammad, but these are not religious images; these are not images meant to be worshipped; they're not images of a saint or of God. They are images of Muhammad as a historical figure. He’s sort of given honor by having a very bright blue background or white cloud near him. But he’s not otherwise distinguished² from the other characters in the story. At other times, people did represent the prophet, but he was always represented with a white cloth over his face to hide his face, so that there were different approaches to doing it. But in all of these, these are not devotional images. You are not supposed to look at them and pray towards them. You are to learn more about the history of your religion with the emphasis on history from them.

 

As Muhammad’s community grew, so did the opposition³.

 

People, of course were skeptical⁴ and said: “Look! If you are a prophet, where’s your miracle? And the prophets in the Koran, Moses had miracles, Jesus had miracles. Where is your miracle? The Koranic answer to that challenge is—this is the miracle, this Koran.”

 

But that wasn’t miracle enough for the people who defined themselves by the Gods of their ancestors and totems of their tribe. Their doubts increased. The idea of life after death appalled⁵ them.

 

So the Koran presents people as really being skeptical. You mean to tell me that after I die and my body has gone back to the elements and I have been putrefied that I’m gonna be put back together again, and brought back to life? That, of any of the messages in the Koran, that struck the people of Arabia as being the most hard to believe.

 

Muhammad also spoke⁶ of eternal damnation for the unjust. He used the language of apocalyptic⁷ imagery, talking about the signs of the ends of time when the mountains crumble⁸ when the skies are rolled up like scrolls⁹. Then you will know what responsibility you bear for your actions.

 

There are references to those who are unjust--going to the fire.

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

5 appalled   

v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• They were appalled by the reports of the nuclear war. 他们被核战争的报道吓坏了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 apocalyptic   

adj.预示灾祸的，启示的

参考例句：

• The air is chill and stagnant,the language apocalyptic.空气寒冷而污浊，语言则是《启示录》式的。
• Parts of the ocean there look just absolutely apocalyptic.海洋的很多区域看上去完全像是世界末日。

8 crumble   

vi.碎裂，崩溃；vt.弄碎，摧毁

参考例句：

• Opposition more or less crumbled away.反对势力差不多都瓦解了。
• Even if the seas go dry and rocks crumble,my will will remain firm.纵然海枯石烂，意志永不动摇。

9 scrolls   

n.（常用于录写正式文件的）纸卷( scroll的名词复数 )；卷轴；涡卷形（装饰）；卷形花纹v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的第三人称单数 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕

参考例句：

• Either turn it off or only pick up selected stuff like wands, rings and scrolls. 把他关掉然后只捡你需要的物品，像是魔杖(wand)，戒指(rings)和滚动条(scrolls)。 来自互联网
• Ancient scrolls were found in caves by the Dead Sea. 死海旁边的山洞里发现了古代的卷轴。 来自辞典例句