Bogus Koran

Glen Reynolds comments on a widely circultated email containing an eerie prophecy concerning 9/11

Quran (9:11) -- For it is written that a son of Arabia would awaken a
fearsome Eagle. The wrath of the Eagle would be felt throughout the
lands of Allah and lo, while some of the people trembled in despair
still more rejoiced; for the wrath of the Eagle cleansed the lands of
Allah; and there was peace.

Glen thinks its bogus because his copy of the Koran says Sura 9 is "Repentance" and contains this verse 11:

Yet if they repent, and perform the prayer, and pay the alms, then they are your brothers in religion; and We distinguish the signs for a people who know.

In all matters Koran, I usually refer to the online The Holy Qur'an hosted by the University of Virginia. It's Chapter 9 is titled "The Immunity" and states the following at verse 11:

"9.11": But if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, they are your brethren in faith; and We make the communications clear for a people who know.

Pretty close to what Glenn found but with some unique and perhaps important differences. Repentence and Immunity, are indicative of completly seperate paths to a similar goal. Also interesting is the that the last sentence seems to say something different. What do these differences mean? I am not a scholar on the Koran but I would speculate they are simply within the margin of error of translating Arabic.

One thing nice about the online koran is that I am able to do a text search whenever I get these random emails. Most, alas, turn out to be bogus. My search of the entire text for the terms eagle, bird, and falcon turned up no passages.