In Which Language Does the Holy Spirit Speak? On Arabic Language and Coptic Heritage

Abstract

A widely known medieval Copto-Arabic text, the Apocalypse of Samuel of Qalaman, famously complains that the Copts “are abandoning the beautiful Coptic language, in which the Holy Spirit has spoken many times through the mouths of their spiritual fathers”—and are learning and teaching the Arabic language instead. The text’s negative evaluation of the place of Arabic in the life of the Coptic Orthodox community is one that continues to leave traces today. This article is a kind of apologia for Arabic as a language of the Coptic Orthodox tradition, and will argue that Copto-Arabic studies is an indispensible subfield within the wider field of Coptic Studies. Particular examples will be given of the way that Arabic texts serve the study of specifically Coptic literature, preserve various aspects of Coptic history and heritage, and engage wider Christian and religious worlds.