HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE POETRY OF THE QUR’AN IF ONE CANNOT READ ARABIC? (On the danger of reading).

(21-5-2020, Amsterdam). How? ‘With difficulty!’ as Mike Hayes would say. That does not mean nothing can be achieved if you cannot read Arabic nor that it is impossible to understand more of the poetry and message conveyed in the poetry compared to someone who can read Arabic.

In what follows the goal is to show how poetry not reduced to rhyme creates brain structures rather than structures of the brain needed to retain ‘information’. To phrase this differently: you remember better if what you have to remember is a memory of something you immediately experienced yourself rather than a second hand experience. The question poses itself how to be able to experience that which you have to remember. The short answer is that in thinking you must creatively appropriate that which is outside your brain in order to let it penetrate into your brain and deep memory. In poetry the experience forces itself upon you and you are being experienced so to really remember poetry you must understand poetry.

An example of poetry is an ayat (‘a passage consisting of more than one sentences that can be considered a meaningful unity’) of the second surah (‘chapter’) of the Qur’an. The ‘ayats’ are the beads to remember in order to make a whole ‘rosary’ to carry as a neckless. This ayat is called ayat ‘al kursi’ and is considered (to say the least) extremely potent and important in its ability to fend off evil. Although this article will not argue for or against this claim I would like to say this: a word, a sentence, an ayat, a story exists more for you when you understand what you are reading, saying, listening to. 

PART ONE: A POEM

Poetry without rhyme

Japanese poetry is expressed in koans that do not rhyme, but consist of three sentences in which the first sentence consists of 5 syllables, the second sentence of 7 syllables and the third sentence of 5 syllables.. The goal of the koan is to suddenly allow a break to break through, to have a sudden insight beyond words into eternity. Japanese poetry does not confine itself by rhyme. 

African laughter

This first poem I wrote without rhyme was in 2007. It was a surprise to me that it was poetry. A translation in English is given.

Afrikaans lachen om God

(23-10-2008, Conakry)

Reeds bestemde hoop

in een lachen gehuld

breder dan het (ge)zicht

versluierd in blij groeten,

dat geen gesprek meer toelaat.

Dit is hun Zwijgen!

Herinneren zonder gedachten

van reeds bestemde hoop

African ABA

(15-6-2013, Diemen)

Hope found a good place

in loudest laughter

shrouded too large for one`s face

Veiled in happiness

that cannot allow talking

this is their stillness

Not a thought to save

in order to hope

justly lively in the grave

C(zes)law Milosz

In 2012 I had my second experience of non-rhyming poetry. I do not read a lot of poetry because most so called poets write from despair believing you are born and die and in between the best you can hope for is some fleeting experience of temporary love. Western philosophy truly begins with a poem by Parmeneides who was not a philosopher or a philosopher in the true sense: a friend of wisdom rather than an vague acquaintance of someone who has heard a story about wisdom (as most academic ‘philosophers’). No one has understood him sofar and even if it is explained (as in my book on René Descartes (1596-1650) ‘Methode tot Meditatie’) many will lack the memory to understand. In wanting to understand what I have written one can refresh ones memory once again. Plato understood that Parmeneides was a challenge and needed to be understood. Parmeneides gave science to mortals in order that mortals have some truth even if it is just objective truth it is truth. Aristotle in the slipstream of Plato clarified scientific thinking that paved the way for modern science. Parmeneides rhymed. The poetry is what he has to say among other things: be born in death and die in your life time, that is be silent, unmovable, in order that the musical notes become meaningful and be heard. His poem I appropriated in a musical metaphor for the truthful road to the Good (that He did not see as the presence of the One) and music is etymologicaly justified in Greek for ‘road’ and ‘music’ are almost the same words.

What evoked the experience was this poem by Milosz (1911-1980): https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/on-angels/:

All was taken away from you: white dresses,

wings, even existence.

Yet I believe you,

messengers.

There, where the world is turned inside out,

a heavy fabric embroidered with stars and beasts,

you stroll, inspecting the trustworthy seems.

Short is your stay here:

now and then at a matinal hour, if the sky is clear,

in a melody repeated by a bird,

or in the smell of apples at close of day

when the light makes the orchards magic.

They say somebody has invented you

but to me this does not sound convincing

for the humans invented themselves as well.

The voice -- no doubt it is a valid proof,

as it can belong only to radiant creatures,

weightless and winged (after all, why not?),

girdled with the lightening.

I have heard that voice many a time when asleep

and, what is strange, I understood more or less

an order or an appeal in an unearthly tongue:

day draw near

another one

do what you can.

Notice that this poem is an argument (as William Blake says). Notice that the very question of what rhyme is is thematised for do ‘apple’ and ‘appeal’ rhyme? Notice all the analogies between different parts and for example how the repetitious movements of the angels show themselves in sensibility, to our ears in the repeated melody (taking note that a melody is already a repetition). Read it yourself.

Appropriation

In order to understand I translated the poem in 2012 into Dutch. My translation principles where the thinking of Parmeneides and Pseudo-Dionysius (the great Christian Neo-platonic thanker) and I used some classical rhyming schemes. In 2013 I transformed the poem into a poem of haiku poems both in Dutch and English.

On bareness (22-2-2013, Diemen)

White dresses taken

Wings and existence no more

Yet I believe you

Where the world is turned

the surface with stars and beasts

you inspect sharply

You are a bird’s song,

a fresh apple near the night,

make orchards pointed

You are invented

they say, but humans too

are made of dear thoughts

The voice a sound proof

To light creatures it belongs

wholly dressed with wings

Your voice repeated Abstruse,

but justly ordered

I hear an appeal:

The day draweth near

This other day will pass soon

Now do what you can

A musical version (of this poem) by my good friend Edwin van Veen: https://youtu.be/9mGdochQ6iI.

A few weeks later I translated the Dutch rhyming translation back into English preserving the rhyme and the principles of translation. I added (as a way to introduce the poem – giving the snake eyes) some extra at the beginning and added a long tail to its head (completing the snake and allowing it to eat itself and become a dragon once again that can make all its dreams true, except for one dream: the dream of another, that can resists dreams, a loved one that can give dreams meaning and who can be the path to the Wholly Other, as Levinas could have said, that makes all dreams meaningless and meaningful at the same time). The ‘extra added’ beginning that allows the poem the beginning before its beginning is inspired by the Jewish Catholic mystic Simone Weil who said that it is a greater miracle to cry for someone than to walk over water (not realising that being able to walk on water means that you have been able to cry an ocean before you have been taught to cry silent joy for angels do not cry nor laugh and to go beyond them you need to stop crying visibly and disguise tears in a kind of Mona Lisa smile that the angels can just bear on their light wings). The tail is an argument against Carlos Castaneda (1925-1998) who’s thinking contains much truth (and similarity to western thought for all thought thinks the same so that is not surprising), but who is ruled by despair (by the winged whisperers of despair). 

On a tear

 (8-3-2013 & vanaf ‘Catching’ 9-3-2013, Diemen)

Those mythical glass spheres by which witches see 

really do exist in round transparent tears when dropped

& are left for another human compassionately.

Once I saw deep into a tear & for a moment time stopped:

Everything was taken from you:

white dresses, wings, even being.

Yet I believe passionately in what you do

& even more in your powers of concealing.

Messenger!

There, where you turn the world inside out as a an earthly globe,

a heavy black firm fabric arises embroidered with wild tense stars & fiery territorial beasts,

you walk sturdy accurately inspecting the indestructible seams of your own feats

Seemingly short is your stay:

now & then at an early hour, when the bright sky is still openness for a wild flower

& in a monotonous melody repeated by a black bird that after each ending starts

to sing again of the fresh smell of apples when the old day just makes it until the late hour

& the unifying colorless light tells of magical fertile colorful ordered orchards.

One retorts that someone has thoughtfully invented you,

but to me this does not sound convincingly clear,

for humans started to begin with a thought too.

The voice – surely without doubt is a sound proof & clear as a tear,

for it can belong only to formless colorless radiant creatures

weightless & well-formed feathered white wings as essential features

surrounded by golden gurgling appointing sky fire that you cannot hear.

I have repeatedly heard that lively voice when my waking was conquered by sleep

&, what is strange, accurately I understood when being awake in dreams

an obligating order or free appeal in a wild inscrutable language of dancing feet:

Day draws near.

Another one to reap.

Do…what you can.

Day draws near

Another one

Do what you can

CatChing Carlos Castaneda:         Feathered Eagle of time

for the warrior a reality

its flight more than sublime

the richest actuality

It stops once in your life

Grab on with all your power

Leave your children & your wife

If not your life will be sour

What if I had hold on?

The answer of your madness

Chance forever forgone

Linger in sadness

The Eagle giver of time,

giver of destinies,

flies in a straight line,

& is the inventor of remedies

Never will the Eagle return,

for the line is equal to Infinity

even if you are born

again in the Eagle`s vicinity.

Prayer:

Angel please pluck this Bird

 its feathers & its flight.

Curve time with your Word.

This time I Will choose right.

Answer:

The Eagles diner a serpent

So you must become a snake

not merely with your mind repent,

but know what is at stake:

Everything in All.

So in your dreams be awake

by dreaming at day your fate

for it makes your tail tall.

If the Eagle pricks thee out

devours your experienced body

At that moment shout aloud

The one word that will disembody

Awareness, in one moment, from your life

Do not attach & distill very precisely

Your awareness is passions Strife

By which you wisely

can fabric your own wings

Become this loveable

curious robin that sings

to lure the untouchable

Eagle who is the world he subjected

by singing you are a mirror

the eagles seeing will be reflected

his flight changed and nearer

to you man, so you will fly

with the eagle as a man

and when you die

The eagle can

If you whisper in his ears

Take you to what is beyond the beginning

And if you are without fears

If loosing or winning

Have no more meaning

If all you are is a happy feeling

Than you can meet G`d the Creator

at the heavenly equator

you will walk in well-ordered orchards

Magic apples you may eat

As a Great Marabout you will return to earth

via a fatherless birth

The wise will praise your deeds & the bad take heed

in your wise handling of birds of Jove

that you will steer for you know their Names

you can award men these birds of Love

In love men and bird become the flames

Become the goddess that is the Phoenix,

the fertile snakelike penis

the great healer that can make the world (go) round

that can heal the illness before it is found,

but only when you hear the personalized word to collect

your whole life in one cry in order to disconnect

the to be eaten life-force from awareness

This is Life in all Fairness!

The Marabout will read your sign

Which animals of the land to sacrifice

In order that he opens the divine

and birds can eat exactly what will suffice,

so they can fly you in the right direction

Nearer the golden Celestial section

To drop you off purified by the Fire

To reserve for G`d all you Desire

Prayer:

Thank you Angel

Tell me my word please?

Answer:

Dance and you will hear

Repeat this word same in same

And hear it before the day draws near

And the word will be your Name

To call upon your Powers

Call the Angels

About a month later i kept the structure of the argument of Milosz his miraculous poem and preserved one of its themes (faith in the invisible that is rewarded by seeing what is invisible) and made a non-rhyming poem about a mother who believes that her mentally handicapped ‘crazy’ son is intending something reasonable that is more reasonable than ordinary reason. One of the thoughts in one of the lines can be translated as follows: ‘Average people control their folly by speaking about the same things over and over’. (‘Controlled folly’ is a poetic discovery of Castaneda). Than after for months I sadly had to write on the early death of my stepsister Sandy Hayes reusing the structure and theme of Milosz his poem as an a priori template by thinking more than Milosz could think thereby invigorating his structure and theme and honoring him. In 2014 I used the structure to poetically describe a technological invention of mine on how to store ideas without needing (your own) servers. (This is found in the last reference in this article to one of my articles on LinkedIn). It was an exercise in ‘profanisation’.

The star of David also consists of a triangle pointing downwards. It shows the power of manifestation of the higher in the lower. This does not mean all the higher must by manifested, for to make something profane that should not be made profane is not ‘good’, but that one should have an eye for the worldly and be able to manifest some unworldliness in the world: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/turing-test-gender-can-you-make-clear-distinction-between-roolvink/. (A ‘verification method’ on how to verify if a poem is good by testing if people can guess the gender (class etc.) of the poet with the idea that they cannot in case the poem transcends gender (class etc.) and (therefor) is a good poem. Certain lovers of poems may find it appalling to verify quality for they interpret it as quantification. Subtle humor is subtle). 

All of the above poems can be found in ‘De kleine prins telt mee’ 2017 by James Roolvink.

Retaining memory & anticipating poetry

In teaching memory skills (to both adults and children) by first teaching how to become more creative, studying ancient poetry, allowing poetry to enter my pen I cannot deny the power of poetry in being able to remember great lumps of meaningful unities of meaning, ‘information’. Poetry has a melody in anticipation on what is coming and referring to what has been (just) heard. In this play of anticipation the retention is possible due the fact that the music already started before you head hears.

Poetry, music and thinking

To understand in this context means being able to listen to the music. Music itself is the objectification of time itself (according to the ‘accords’, chords, of Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)) and being able to symbolise time itself music is more than temporary or to phrase it a little bit more daring ‘time is itself musical’, that is time itself is not temporary (an insight that suddenly struck Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) in his book on Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), who with his book ‘Critique of pure reason’ (1781) really intended to day that time does not belong to eternity). If time itself is not temporary it is eternal. (My book ‘Methode tot Meditatie’ (2020) in which I convey a non-Western ontology in western terms, mainly via the great René Descartes (1596-1650), apostle of the new sciences, a new theory of time or rather the ontology of time itself is given in analogy to how Ludwig Wittgenstein conveyed the ontology of logic in his Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (published in 1921) rather than giving solely an ontology within the bounds of logic, that is an ontology that is logical structured).

Schopenhauer did seem to come up with the idea that time itself is musical , thus eternal, when he, in retaining his past, heard in a certain melody, a destiny, his destiny. A melody cannot change dramatically or a melody can only change when one is conscious of the melody.

Thinking, poetry, thanking & dancing

In ‘Dutch’ (and German as Dutch originated from German) making poetry (‘dichten’), thinking (‘denken’) and ‘thanks giving’ (‘danken’) all belong to the same family of ‘d*chten’ words. When you give thanks thinking is born in wanting to express thanking and when you think you are able to make poetry. That kind of poetry is an expression, an objectification of thinking itself, as music is the objectification of time itself. Thinking is the (musical) ‘movement’ of reflecting on itself and giving birth to itself in order that thinking can be visible before itself in order that it can think better about itself. This kind of thinking does not think from within itself, but is being thought by what that thinking gives thanks to. The key to understand this is to listen to Saint Augustine (354-430) who said the God is more interior to yourself than you are interior, close, to your own self. That means it is God who preserves your (thinking) self.  

When one is spontaneously able to bundle all this in a dance (‘dansen’ – a word of the same family of the ‘d*chten’ words, but a relative less close, yet a relative due the similar sound), remember all of this in one movement, the dancing will initiate the musicians and the dancer will not dance to the music, when the dancer as the hero will dance as a way to thank. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4klahR4S1ME).

PART TWO: A POET

Poetic (wo)man of life and how to survive labour(ious jobs)?

Who is the poetic (wo)man life? Realise that poe-try is not bounded by the laws of rhyme, the laws of bodily association or to be more clear poetry had nothing to do with rhyme, yet a poet can use rhyme. Realise that poetry is about the melody, but just not a melody, but the melody of your life and realise that the healer-poet can write a melody of your life in which he gives you a brain, organises your brain, in order that you can remember, retain, your life and anticipate on what is coming, namely the end. This enables you to see the ‘destinality’ (a neologism) of your life in which your life is being objectified (in order that you are in front of yourself as an object and are able to change the melody. The word ‘objectification’ is brought by the ‘poet’ philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) who is part of the melody of modern western philosophy). Not able, but being able to see the possibility to really change, that is to see and be aware of freedom. The true seer-healer-poet can give memory by allowing to give you your memory to yourself in thanks-giving. The man of power can be silent or just be friendly and give a friendly healing word. The man of power is free, freedom being a kind of power, has the power to change destinies, change melodies. The Great composer composes a composition of melodies. 

To be a poetic (wo)man of life does not mean to write poetry. A poet lives poetically in that a poet is able to first hear melodies around him and can become a seer if he can hear his own melody. When the poet sees by hearing he can hear the melodies around him even better. Yet the poet can choose to express himself in poetry or not. To express oneself in doing certain work is poetry as well. The poet understand you better than you yourself understand you if you are not a poet (https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/categories-illness-african-medicine-hermeneutic-keys-passage-james/).

Poetic time machines and the forbidden fruit/article

A poet is able to bring you back in time. I would like to bring you to the time of the prohibition of the forbidden fruit (it does not say an apple!) of the tree of life. That fruit is both fleshy and liquid therefor you are not allowed in these times to eat certain flesh or drink certain liquids.

‘You are allowed to read all articles and poems except that one over there: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/finishing-off-jeff-weiners-venn-diagramhow-complete-diagram-roolvink/’.

Is this poem a poem?

I have not made any advertisement so far on LinkedIn and use LinkedIn to store articles, use it to approach certain people, investigate reactions and lack of them. (Note that these articles only touch the outer surface of my thinking. ‘The inner game of thinking’ is kept for the books). Even an article that has been send to certain people in the business who can profit from the free insights (one how to develop certain functionalities and giving certain functionalities) in the article they are too indifferent or too stupid to read it: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/creating-culture-creativity-cloud-cognition-james-roolvink/. Some even get offended by the article because it reveals their ignorance on the topic although they have a title that claims otherwise and view the article as an attack on their position (lacking memory due a life of anger to even read rather than just view and click). They themselves are also responsible for their indifference. 

It says something of these times that the only article in which also I tried to be ‘funny’ is the article best viewed. It is the forbidden article. That article contains a certain knowledge on how to make Venn-diagrams (or Funn-diagrams), but I consider the article the least valuable of them all. Anyway do you feel how it is not be allowed to do something?! Just be aware of something, the command(ment) to listen to the great composition as a means to hear the composer and hear His composition is more beautiful than your own melody and realise that He composes through you that allows you to compose your own melody if you realise this.

In case you want to read more on the continuity of time go to: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/doing-business-history-making-your-james-roolvink/. (Check out the political poet in that article: Sir Winston Churchill). This continuity is thought more or less ‘horizontally’. In case you want to rethink the continuity of time more vertically as a continuity that starts, hangs, in eternity, and ends, hangs, in ‘time’ and like a story on story telling go to: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/story-storytelling-james-roolvink/. This is a story on the poetic Jews. A Jew may or may not be a poet, but the Jews as a people are poetic people. Listen to their melody. Through them the Great Composer had given us a free day. Music without silence is a screaming hell. Remember the future, that is eternity, and remember the heaven in which hell is included and remember how hell encircles earth. Time is a ladder, of music notes, to climb to eternity, so be aware and to not stop at the level of lusty false fruits.

First I have climb down the ladder

till a reached my first end.

Falling was the way to reach the bottom.

I decided to fly down and I flew.

Sudden reversal.

Bottom up & up became down.

No highest no low. Only the presence

as the Good of the Great One

bestowing greatness too heavy to carry.

Wings reborn in the crash.

(21-5-2020).

Is this a poem (without a title a poem)?

On how to withstand the dreamers that dream your dreams to death

Are you a poet? This article is about how to survive labour, your job. It is about how to survive if you work to make dreams of other people true. How to survive if you cannot withstand the obligation to dream the dream of others, shareholders, managers, entrepreneur’s etc.? Dreamers that dream of killing of dreams and of making you deaf. Some pointers: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/business-poetry-james-roolvink/.

PART THREE: TRUE POETRY BY THE TRUEST POET

By now you had some exercise in freeing the poem from superficial rhyme and seeing that the true form in which an eternal Word can descend is in music transforming that one Word into a poem consisting of many words.

Analysing ayat Kursi

Let it be very clear that I do not understand any Arabic and even do not have an understanding of punctuation marks and the use of capital letters. (I have heard of capital punishment). I have used the translation of the Qur’an by M.A.S. Abdel Haleem from the Oxford University Press 2004 (2010 print) for a first understanding of the text and I used the translation of N.J. Dawood from Penguin books 1956 (the 2003 print). The latter translation seems to be more literal and more truthful in not combining two sentences into one sentence (and it contains s-even sentences). That is the reason why I used that translation to arrange the amount of sentences. (That amount is meaningful for everything has meaning (or everything is meaningless)). The former translation (with six sentences) I used qua wording. The latter translates for example to ‘eternal’ while the former to ‘Watchful’ and even from within the context of the ayat (musical note) itself it shows that the former translation is more truthful especially when you take the whole context of the surah (melody) into account or the whole Qur’an (composition – note that no atomic units of meaning are being referred to for the ayat is the smallest unit of meaning. The whole Qur’an however can be seen in the hearing and seeing of the Name(s, but a Name is not a word ). ‘Weary’ used in both translation at the end of the ayat does refer to ‘Ever Watchful’ in the sense that the ‘Ever Watchul’ never gets weary.

Sentences are not the second smallest meanings of unities after letters so it is possible from within the ayat to cut sentences in parts because no unity is ‘cut’.

Taking into account the following notes

‘High’ refers to ‘Ever Living’. ‘Tremendous’ refers to ‘Ever Watchful’. ‘High’ is still attached to what is created for a created being compared to God sees God from within himself and must refer to God as High and itself as low. (Pseudo-Dionysius in ‘On mystical theology’ explains that very clearly although nobody has seemed to notice that and before him Plato in discussing dividing a line conquered that idea).

‘Weary’ refers via ‘Ever Living’ to living beings who get weary. If ‘weary’ refers to life then ‘ever watchful’ refers by analogy to what is more than life.

‘Preserves’ refers to ‘belongs’. ‘Belong’ has the meaning of brutal and violent possession, but later we learn the essence of the ‘possion’, namelijk as the ability to preserve. (‘Preservation’ can be thought as constant creation (from within the future)). The connotation of violence in ‘belongs’ can be though of as the Good (as in Plato) for the Good preserves both good and evil. The Good can by thought by analogy as the sun that shines both on the righteous and evil. Yet the Good is Justice and can destroy. Destruction means not to preserve, not to create, anymore, rather than that it means ‘destruction’ (of something that exists). Destruction means not to let exist anymore.

The ‘before’ is named before, as in sooner, than the ‘behind’, although the ‘before’ stands symbolically for what is later, so this means that the later causes what is ear-liar. This is thought and comprehended within the domain of the ‘behind’.

Clean & clear transparent interpretation to objectively reflect absolute colours

To read a unity of meaning means judging it and that judgement is a judgement upon you. (Reading can be very dangerous…but not reading too van be very dangerous). People are unities of meaning melodies or compositions. Judge them not well neither good, but judge them with justice that is more than just. If you are unclean and you read that may be dangerous. Unclean is the effect of immoral deeds upon the body (and thus the soul). That does not mean the unclean can be reduced to immorality for immoral deeds can also, besides an evil will/soul, be caused by ignorance. People who are unclean are not necessarily immoral, evil, but some unclean beings are unclean due their being evil. See the difference between the immoral act and an evil will.

Eight or nine sentences? Thinking before linguistics and etymology

(30-5-2020). Nouman Ali Khan (https://youtu.be/zZEanPAqS84) calls ayat Kursi a linguistic miracle and he is absolutely right in this respect. His argument is that the first and ninth, second and eighth etc. can be paired of leaving the fifth ‘unpaired’ allowing the miracle to occur because this sentence speaks of that God knows what is before and after. The sentences before the fifth sentence symbolise the ‘behind’ and the sentence after the fifth sentence symbolise the ‘before’. So part of ayat Kursi, namely the fifth sentence, determines the whole, namely ayat Kursi, that is sentences one till nine. The whole of ayat Kursi reflects reality in the sense that God, as a part of reality, determines the whole of reality. Ayat Kursi, which is part of reality, can reflect reality for it reflects the part-whole relation of reality within itself.

It seems Nouman Ali Khan thought is determined by the idea of symmetry in which the behind and before are the same size. Why can the before not be bigger?

The correlations Nouman Ali Khan makes seem for the most part justified, but he does not go far enough. Saying and seeing the first and the ninth sentences refer to each other because both contain two names of God does not say how and why each name refers to one other name. He could be even more objective.

An interpretation cannot be purely linguistic because with thinking one has to understand what a word really means. A good example is the word ‘being’ in English. One has to think and understand ‘being’ in order to define the meaning of being in specific sentences. No interpretation can have its fundament by referring to the meaning of a word in a dictionary. An interpretation must be rooted in thinking, but thinking is not something ‘subjective’. Being able to think objectively is an absolute gift.