KHUTAB III - 37. THE ARABIC QUR’ĀN (1)
37. THE ARABIC QUR’ĀN (1)
Introduction
There has never
been any doubt that the Qur’ān was revealed in Arabic, the language of the
Quraysh tribe to which the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. belonged. The
expression قُرْآنًا عَرَبِيًّا (lit. “an Arabic Qur’ān” )
is mentioned in the Qur’ān in many places, such as: 12:2, 20:113, 39:28,
41:3, 42:7 and 43:3. In another verse it is said that the Qur’ān was sent as a
judgment of authority in Arabic language, as follows:
وَكَذَلِكَ أَنْزَلْنَاهُ حُكْمًا عَرَبِيًّا (الرعد : ٣٧)
And thus We sent it (the Qur’ān) to be a judgment
in authority in Arabic… (Q. 13:37).
The Qur’ān
was also referred to as a Book in Arabic language, as follows:
وَمِنْ قَبْلِهِ كِتَابُ مُوسَى إِمَامًا وَرَحْمَةً
وَهَذَا كِتَابٌ مُصَدِّقٌ لِسَانًا عَرَبِيًّا
لِيُنْذِرَ
الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا وَبُشْرَى لِلْمُحْسِنِينَ (الأحقاف
: ١٢)
And before this was the Scripture of Moses as a guide
and mercy. And
this is a confirming Book (the Qur’ān) in the
Arabic
language, to warn those who do wrong, and as
glad tidings to
the doers of good. (Q. 46:12).
When the people of Makkah rejected the Qur’ān and believed that it was
not the very word of Allah, He revealed that it was revealed
وَلَقَدْ نَعْلَمُ أَنَّهُمْ يَقُولُونَ إِنَّمَا يُعَلِّمُهُ
بَشَرٌ لِسَانُ الَّذِي يُلْحِدُونَ
إِلَيْهِ أَعْجَمِيٌّ وَهَذَا لِسَانٌ عَرَبِيٌّ مُبِينٌ (النحل : ١٠٣)
And indeed We know that they (polytheists and pagans)
say; ‘It is only
a human being who teaches him (Muhammad)”. The tongue
of
the man they refer to is foreign, while this (Qur’ān)
is in
a clear Arabic tongue. (Q. 16:103; see also Q. 26:195).
The Arabic language is one
of the Semitic languages, which include the Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldean,
Babylonian, and Aramaic. Prophet Jesus (‘Īsá)’s mother tongue was Aramaic, but
he also spoke Hebrew. The term a’jamī in the above verse has two
meanings: non-Arabic and broken Arabic, and the Qur’ān is none of these.
Peculiarities of Arabic Language
As the language of
revelation there must be some peculiarities of Arabic, among which are as
follows:
1.
Dual: Unlike many other
languages it has dual beside singular and plural numbers, mostly broken plural,
especially the inanimate beings.
2.
It has two alphabetical orders; (a) the classical one, starting with alif
and ending with ghayn, has a numerical value, starting from 1 till 10,
then 20, 30 till 100, then 200, 300, till 1000. This classical order is similar
to that of the Greek alphabet, e.g. alif , bā’, jīm, dāl correspond to
alpha, beta, gamma delta,…and kāf, lām, mīm correspsond to kappa, lamda, mu, etc.
(b) the modern one starts with alif
and ends with yā’. Letters which have similar shapes are put together in
order, such as ب ت
ث , ج
خ ح ,
ش س , ز ر ص
, , ض etc.
3.
Like Latin the Arabic language has five i‘rāb (desinential
inflection): Nominative case, Accusative case, Genitive case, Dative case and
Ablative case, and the pronoun indicating the subject and object are included
in the verb itself, such as the expression sa’arāka (سَأَرَاكَ) meaning “I
shall see you”, sa indicates “the future”, ’a means “I”,
and ka means “you”.[1]
4.
Arabic language is called lughatu’l-ad.dād
(لُغَةُ
الأَضْدَاد)”the
language of opposite meanings”. A word (and its derivatives) may have both the
opposite meanings, although originally it has only one meaning. For example:
a.
Shirā’ (شِرَاء)
originally means “buying”, but it may
also mean “selling”, such as in the verse
وَشَرَوْهُ بِثَمَنٍ بَخْسٍ دَرَاهِمَ مَعْدُودَةٍ...
(يوسف : ٢٠)
And they sold him for a low price—for a few
dirhams (silver
coins)… (Q. 12:20).
Here the
travellers who found the boy Joseph in the well sold him to an Egyptian man for
a few silver coins. (However, it is also said that the original meaning of shirā’
is “exchange, trade, or substitution”, so that both “buy” and “sell” are
applicable to this term).
b. The word fawqa (فَوْقَ, above) could also mean دون (dūna, below), such as,
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَسْتَحْيِي أَنْ يَضْرِبَ
مَثَلًا مَا بَعُوضَةً فَمَا فَوْقَهَا (البقرة : ٢٦)
Behold, God does not disdain to propound a parable of
a gnat,
or of something [even] less than that. (Q. 2:26, Asad).
Quoting
from al-Zamakhsharī, Asad comments in his footnote, as follows:
Lit. “something above it”, i.e., relating to the
quality of smallness
stressed
here—as one would say, “such-and-such a person is the
lowest person,
and even more than that”
[Zamakhshari].
Pickthall translated famā fawqahā in his
translation as “even”, i.e., “Lo! Allah disdaineth not to coin the
similitude even of a gnat.” Dr. Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din Al-Hilali and Dr.
Muhammad Muhsin Khān in their translation of the Qur’ān The Noble Qur’an translate it
“ … even of
a mosquito or so much more when it is bigger (or less when it is smaller) than
that” to avoid translating the opposite meaning of fawqa, as Asad
did above.
c.
The word z.ann (الظَّنّ, doubt) could mean al-yaqīn (اليَقِيْن, certainty, something certain), as in
إِنِّي ظَنَنْتُ أَنِّي مُلَاقٍ حِسَابِيَهْ (الحاقة : ٢٠)
Behold, I did know that [one day] I would have
to face my account. )Q. 69:20, Asad),
but could also mean shakk (الشَّكّ
, doubt, something doubtful), as in
وَإِذَا قِيلَ إِنَّ وَعْدَ اللَّهِ حَقٌّ وَالسَّاعَةُ
لَا رَيْبَ فِيهَا قُلْتُمْ مَا نَدْرِي مَا
السَّاعَةُ إِنْ نَظُنُّ إِلَّا ظَنًّا وَمَا
نَحْنُ بِمُسْتَيْقِنِينَ .
(الجاشية : ٣٢)
When it was said that
the promise of Allah was true and that
the Hour there was no doubt about its (coming)
ye used to say
“We know notwhat is
the Hour; we only think it is an idea
and we have no
firm assurance.” (Q. 45:32, Ali).
d.
The word al-rajā’ (الرَّجَاء, hope, expectation) could also mean al-khawf
(الخَوْف, fear). The expression مَا رَجَوْتُ فُلانًا (“I did not expect
So-and-so) could meanمَا خِفْتُهُ (“I
did not fear him”), as generally one is not afraid of something one does not
expect.
e.
The word al-khashy (الخَشْي , fear, apprehension), could also mean al-‘ilm (العِلْم, knowing), such as the poem of an unknown
poet, as follows,
وَلَقَدْ خَشِيْتُ بأنَّ مَنْ تَبِعَ الهُدَى
* سَكَنَ الْجِنَانَ مَعَ النَّبِيِّ مُحَمَّدِ[2]
Verily, indeed I knew that whoever followed the
guidance, he would enter Paradise with Prophet Muhammad.
The
Arabic language of the Qur’ān
Every
language, including Arabic is divided into prose and poetry, but the language
of the Qur’ān is between the two. One of the characteristics of its eloquence
is in the choice of words, namely, in selecting the words that are easier to
articulate, especially for non-Arabic speakers, for example:
a.
Instead of using ajdād (أَجْدَاد, “grand-parents”) the Qur’ān uses ābā’ (آبَاء, which means “fathers” as well as “fore-fathers”)
which is easier to articulate, as عَلَيْهِ
آبَاءَنَا in Q. 2:170, 5:104, 7:28, 10:78, and 31:21; عَلَيْهَا
آبَاءَنَا in Q. 7:28;
وَجَدْنَا
آبَاءَنَا in Q.21:53,
26:74, and 43:22-23; there are more than sixty verses using the term ābā’
(mostly meaning “forefathers”) instead of ajdād which is more difficult
to articulate.
b.
Instead of using akhbara (أِخْبَرَ, “to tell, to inform, to report”), khabar
(خَبَر, “report, message, story, affair, news”)
and its plural form akhbār (أَخْبَار) the Qur’ān uses in most cases its
respective synonyms, anba’a (أَنْبَأَ)or nabba’a نَبَّأَ)) naba’ (نَبَأ), and anbā’ (أَنْبَاء) , mentioned more than
eighty times in the Qur’ān, for example,
... فَقَالَ
أَنْبِئُونِي بِأَسْمَاءِ هَؤُلَاءِ ... (البقرة : ٣١)
…then He said, ‘Tell
me the name of these… (Q. 2:31),
قَالَ يَا آَدَمُ أَنْبِئْهُمْ
بِأَسْمَائِهِمْ فَلَمَّا أَنْبَأَهُمْ بِأَسْمَائِهِمْ ... (البقرة : ٣٣)
He
said: “O Adam! Inform them of their names”,
and when he
had informed them… Q. 2:33),
فَلَمَّا
نَبَّأَهَا بِهِ قَالَتْ مَنْ أَنْبَأَكَ هَذَا قَالَ نَبَّأَنِيَ الْعَلِيمُ الْخَبِيرُ (التحريم : ٣)
...
Then when he told her thereof, she said:
“Who
told you this?” He said: “The All-Knower,
the All-Aware (Allah) has told me.” (Q. 66:3).
For more examples, see Q. 6:34, 28:3, 38:67 and 78:2.
The Qur’ān uses the term khubr (sing. khibrah, “experience;
knowledge”) twice in Q. 18:68 and 91; the term bikhabarin in Q. 27:7 and
28:29; the term akhbārikum in Q. 9:94, akhbārakum in Q. 47:31;
and the term akhbārahā in Q. 99:4.
Instead of using the
term zawāj (زواَج)and its derivatives (used about five times) the Qur’ān uses mostly nikāh. (نِكَاح) for “marriage” and its derivatives (more than twenty times),
such as
وَلَا
تَعْزِمُوا عُقْدَةَ النِّكَاحِ... (البقرة
: ٢٣٥)
….Do not
confirm the marriage tie… (Q.
2:235).
For other examples, see Q. 2:221, 230 and 237; 4:3,
24:3.
c.
The word akh (أَخٌ, “brother”) in Arabic is also used to
indicate two identical things. For example, when we talk about two identical,
we point to one of them and say هَذَا أَخُوْهُ
(lit. “this is its brother”), and two similar watches we say هَذِهِ أُخْتُهَا “lit. “this is its sister”). There are two
plural forms ofأَخٌ (brother),
namely, إخْوَان (ikhwān) andإخْوَة (ikhwah).
Both have the same meanings, “brothers” and are used indifferently in Arabic
and in the sayings of the Prophet. But in the Qur’ān, they are used
differently. Ikhwah is used to indicate affinity, blood and blood
relationship, and the rest is ikhwān, except for one thing. For “the brothers
of Prophet Joseph (Yūsuf)” ikhwah is used, namely,
قَالَ
يَا بُنَيَّ لَا تَقْصُصْ رُؤْيَاكَ عَلَى إِخْوَتِكَ... (يوسف : ٥)
He (the
father) said: “O my son! Relate not your vision
to your brothers…” (Q. 12:5)
لَقَدْ
كَانَ فِي يُوسُفَ وَإِخْوَتِهِ آَيَاتٌ لِلسَّائِلِينَ (يوسف : ٧)
Verily,
in Joseph and his brethren there were āyāt (proofs,
lessons, signs) for
those who ask. Q. 12:7)
وَجَاءَ إِخْوَةُ يُوسُفَ... (يوسف : ٥٨)
And Joseph’s brethren came … (Q. 12:58)
... مِنْ
بَعْدِ أَنْ نَزَغَ الشَّيْطَانُ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ إِخْوَتِي ... (يوسف
: ١٠٠)
…, after
Satan has sown enmity between me and
my brothers. (Q. 12:100).
On the other hand, persons who are spendthrift are
called in the Qur’ān, the devils’ brothers,
إِنَّ الْمُبَذِّرِينَ كَانُوا إِخْوَانَ الشَّيَاطِينِ...
(الإسراء : ٢٧)
Verily,
the spendthrifts are brothers of the devils… (Q. 17:27).
Muslim brothers are also called ikhwān. But there is one verse
where ikhwah is used as if the Muslims were brothers and sisters in
blood, namely,
إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ ...(الحجرات
: ١٠)
All believers are but brethren… (Q. 49:10, Asad).
There is a hint here that Muslims should treat their
Muslim brothers and sisters as if they belong to the same parents. There should
be a strong family bond among them.
d.
The Qur’ān does not mention any person contemporary with the Prophet,
even his most beloved wife Khadījah r.a., except two persons: a slave, who
then became an adopted son of the Prophet and who preferred to live with him
rather than going back to his tribe; his name was Zayd. Allah said,
فَلَمَّا قَضَى زَيْدٌ مِنْهَا
... (الأحزاب : ٣٧)
So, when Zayd
divorced her… (Q. 33:37)
The other one, a noble person of the Quraysh tribe,
the Prophet’s own uncle who freed his slave-girl when she brought the news of
the Prophet’s birth, but became infidel and an enemy of the Prophet; his name
was Abū Lahab. Allah said,
تَبَّتْ
يَدَا أَبِي لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ
(المسد:
١)
Perish the two hands
of Abū Lahab and perish he!
(Q. 111:1).
This is a kind of a table turned upside down situation.
We have seen that Allah used His Own style in the Qur’ān
as a divine revelation. He chose words which have deeper meanings. As the Qur’ān
will be read by people of various language backgrounds, He chose words and
expressions easier to articulate, especially for non-Arabs. No wonder that it
is easier to read the Qur’ān than any other book in Arabic. (ANUMA, 29 May, 05)
[1]When a new pope was just selected after the death of
Pope John II, it was displayed on his window in Vatican
(Rome) abamus
papam (mus means “we”, and the letter m
in papam indicates an object, so that the expression means “we have a
pope”, i.e., the newly elected Pope Benedict).
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