Engraved Light

Long have I wished to read great poetry and recently had the chance to read John Milton’s Paradise lost and Paradise Regained. These two poems, consisting of 12 and 4 books respectively around 400 pages is a masterpiece in Literature, accessible to all; though some passages’ full effect will only be felt by a reader that has a knowledge of The Hellenistic Religion and its stories.

Here are 3 questions that are apt for an intellectual inquiry into Milton’s style and theology; as well as a view from an Islamic metaphysical lens.

“What did this author see that most people miss?”

Milton so beautifully and carefully highlighted how envy, fear, wrath, jealousy, and a disdain for a submission to the Almighty presents itself as a primordial reflex to disgust at Satan’s charmingly watched character; he frames angels as powers of God of might whom it is only right for us to emulate.

“Where is this author wrong but useful?”

The theology regarding the Messiah being a son of God is this books only weakness as it inserts a logical problem. God cannot beget a son. He has no wife. These sections are less rhythmic but are very few and in between as most of the book focuses on the Devil. This is useful in training the discernment of a reader who may disagree with Milton’s theology but learn from his poetry nonetheless!

“What would I say to this author if I had one hour?”

Accept Islam! Milton so amazingly utilises blank verse (pre-empting disdain calling a need for rhyme in poetry something that ‘vulgar’ readers would insist upon)

This poet taught me what the ancient Arab Bedouins meant when they believed that Jinn would reveal poems to poets like angels reveal to prophets. The way Milton speaks as the devil is so precise, the scene he sets of hell with the entire pantheon of daemons is nothing short of a masterpiece in this work for the ages.