The Concept of Death in John Donne’s Poetry and The Holly Quran: A Comparative Study

Abstract

This study is a comparative descriptive investigation of the representation of death in the Holy Quran and the poetry of the English poet John Donne. It focuses on the concept of death as a real and ultimate truth. The study considers death as a thematic contemplation that every Man is worried about. Death in the Holy Quran and Donne’s poetry has been previously studied from different individual viewpoints, but none has adopted it comparatively from a thematic perspective. This study also adopts many echelons of the religious themes presented by these works in the treatment of death such as the truth of death, submission and forgiveness, and resurrection in both Islamic and Christian religions. The study signifies the similarities and differences in the discussion and analysis part. It concludes that despite the cultural, religious beliefs, and time and place differences, the Holy Quran and Donne’s poetry share some thematic and religious factors that lead towards religious perception of death including evidences of the reality of death, mortality of people, and the resurrection after death.