ABSTRACT
In framing the issue in this manner, I use a word, spirit, from everyday language but also at the heart of the world's religious traditions. Among the many common meanings of the word "spirit" are: "an animating or vital principle"; "a supernatural being"; "a temper or disposition, especially when vigorous or animated"; "the immaterial intelligent or sentient part of a person"; and "an inclination, tendency, mood."3 The English word derives from the Latin spirare (to blow, breathe) and the English inspiration means literally a "breathing into." There is no doubt that Qur'anic recitation is based on breath patterns and has an effect of slowing and modulating the breathing. Modulation of breathing is an aspect of almost all meditative traditions, and Qur'anic reciters are trained rigorously in breath control.
