The Real Story Behind the Satanic Verses
Long before a British Orientalist renamed it, Islamic philosophers all referred to the controversial ‘Satanic verse’ in the Quran as the story of the cranes. The Satanic Verses: Reimagining the Story of the Cranes offers a focused telling of the story of Islam around its most controversial and tabooed history.
The story has nothing to do with satanic influences. The story of the cranes is a story of goddesses as messengers to the divine, no more or no less divine than the breath we blow to the heavens after each prayer as Muslims. It’s a story of beauty, and a moment rich with grace.
The story of the cranes (misnomered as the Satanic verses) speaks to the sacred feminine emissaries of the natural world. Birds as messengers in a beautiful and symbolic symphony of prayers ascending to the God of all realms. The story of the cranes is one verse among many in the Quran that speaks to the dark feminine aspect of God, an aspect that unveils Islam as the unfurling rose rich with layers of hidden mysteries.
The following is a 5 chapter excerpt from Shireen Qudosi’s first book, The Song of the Human Heart: Dawn of the Dark Feminine in Islam.
