al-Salāmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullāh,
There are some commentaries on the Qur'an (tafseers) which have a strong linguistic element, and within such commentaries one may sometimes find that the different types of ishtiqaaq have been used to offer a depth of meaning and insight that would not ordinarily be understood had reference to the ishtiqaaq not been made.
One such example of this can be found in the tafseer of al-Qurtubi in which he commented on the regret expressed in verse 54 of Surah Yunus,
وَلَوْ أَنَّ لِكُلِّ نَفْسٍ ظَلَمَتْ مَا فِي الأَرْضِ لاَفْتَدَتْ بِهِ وَأَسَرُّواْ النَّدَامَةَ لَمَّا رَأَوُاْ الْعَذَابَ وَقُضِيَ بَيْنَهُم بِالْقِسْطِ وَهُمْ لاَ يُظْلَمُونَ
And if every self that has done injustice had whatever is in the earth, it would indeed ransom itself therewith; and they will keep secret [their] regret (al-nadaamah) as soon as they see the torment, and [the case] is decreed between them with equity, and they are not done an injustice.
al-Qurtubi commented that the word used for regret - al-nadaamah - comes from the root noon-daal-meem ن-د-م. He then mentioned that these letters rearranged form the root daal-meem-noon د-م-ن, which means to continue and persist in something.
Such knowledge undoubtedly deepens our appreciation of the type of regret that such a person as is mentioned in the verse will feel - a regret that is continual and everlasting, and from the chains of which they will never break free.
May Allah protect us from being one of these people. Ameen.
As Salam Alaikum,
This blog has a become an excellent source of Sadaqa Jariyya for you. May Allah reward you abundantly. Everytime I stop by this blog, I learn something new or I’m reminded of something I’d heard or learned of before.
To add to what you mentioned from Imam Qurtubi, here’s an example from the book, Matharatul Qulub (Purification of the Heart), written by Allamah Muhammad Mawlud:
Alif/Hamza-Daal-Baa’ (Adab, loosely translated Manners)
Baa’-Daal-Alif/Hamza (Bada’a, to begin/start)
The wisdom is: Begin everything with Adab.
The adab of reading the Qur’an is to begin by saying Bimillah. Likewise, the adab of eating or drinking or even starting your car. The adab of meeting someone is start with a greeting (as-Salam qablal Kalam)…and so on and so forth.
Wassalam.
Correction: …to begin by saying Bismillah.
** And perfection belongs to Allah alone. **
Wow. Ameen. Jazakallah Khairan.
Assalam ‘Alikum
Yaser
Yaser, wa ‘alaykum al-Salaam. Wa iyyaakum.
Qushayri, wa ‘alaykum al-Salaam. Jazaakum Allaahu khayran for that excellent addition. I also am fortunate to learn new things from those who visit the site, al-Hamdu lillah. I ask you to please continue to benefit us with your knowledge.
wa al-Salaamu ‘alaykum.
Assalam-o-Aliakum,
Once again a very very informative post;good work Arabicgems, may Allah reward you for this.
Can you (or someone else) please explain why the word عین in Arabic means both an eye and a river?Is there a connection somewhere?
Thankx in advance…
Sheepo: Do you know of an instance where ‘Ayn is used to mean river?
Curious to know, cause I’ve mostly seen nahr refer to river. Although, I have read ‘Ayn to mean spring or fountainhead (of water).
Wassalam.
Qushayri,
That is what I meant: something flowing, like a spring (I called it a river just because I could nto think of a better word)
Sheepo,
I think the connection lies in the shape they share. An eye and a fountainhead/spring both are ring-shaped.
That may sound too simple of an answer, and Allah knows best.
Wassalam.
al-Salaamu ‘alaykum,
Jazaakumaa Allaahu khayran sheepoo and Qushayri.
Ibn Faaris mentions that the root ‘ayn-yaa’-noon originally refers to the actual body part which is used to see things with (i.e. the physical eye) and any other usage has been derived from this meaning.
The word ‘ayn was later applied to a spring of water (according to him) because of how it is similar to an eye in its purity and how both of them contain water.
I think Qushayri’s explanation is also valid, and could be added to the reasons mentioned by Ibn Faaris as well.
And Allah knows best.
As-salaamu `alaykum
I was thinking of a possible link/ishtiqaaq between 2 certain verbs – ablasa and albasa. As in the ayah:
“And on the Day when the Hour will be established, the Mujrimun will be plunged into destruction with deep regrets, sorrows, and despair.” [30:12]
The word used to describe all that is ‘yublisu’ (root ba-lam-seen)
But I couldn’t find it in the dictionary – it means to plunge into destruction/regret/despair etc as stated above in translation… The connection to ‘albasa’ / ‘labisa’ (to wear/dress in) is amazing in that it is almost saying that just that clothes enclose you & surround you, the feeling of regret and destruciton on that Day will enwrap and enclose the Mujrimoon.
The term ‘Iblis’ is also a derivative of this word I believe, right? 🙂
Your thoughts please…
Jazaakumullaahu khayran
Amin.
Excellent and informative post.
Ya Haqq!
Masha Allah!
The gems of knowledge keep coming through.May Allah reward all those who are helping students like me (and many others)
al-Salaamu ‘alaykum,
Fajr, the link you noticed was a good attempt, maa shaa’ Allaah. I am currently writing my thesis on the usage of ishtiqaaq in tafseer, and from what I have noticed is that when the muffassireen mention an example of ishtiqaq, the meaning is usually related in the primary usage and not the secondary one, as in the example you have mentioned. (i.e. if we assume that the primary meaning of the root laam-baa-seen is to enclose and surround a thing, and that the primary meaning of root baa’-laam-seen is related to despair, then to say that despair will envelop a person is to look to one of the characteristics of the despair at a certain point in time, rather than the original meaning of the despair itself).
The original meaning of the root laa-baa-seen, according to Ibn Faaris, is al-mukhaalatah and al-mudaakhalah (mixing together), and the meaning of clothes was then developed from this original meaning.
If however, the roots baa’-laam-seen and laam-baa’-seen are used together in the same ayah, it could be said that it has been done to bring across this meaning.
Yes, the word Iblis is derived from the root baa’-laam-seen, because he despaired from the mercy of Allaah.
And Allaah knows best.
Salaam to All,
I have already asked this question on the IslamicNetwork site, but no harm asking it here since I have not found a satisfactory answer there:
In Surah Al-Feel, could the word ترمیھم
mean you were throwing stones?
Note that the word تَرَ in the same Surah means you see.
At least one translation I have read (by Amin Ahsan Islahi, found here)
says that the birds were throwing stones.
Any ideas?
Correction to the above:
The translation says you were throwing stones
Sorry for the mistake!
wa ‘alaykum al-Salaam,
The word tarmee is derived from the root raa’-meem-yaa’. The confusion has arisen because the verb conjugation for the second person male imperfect verb (i.e. ‘you’ (male) performing an action in the present/future tense) is the same as the verb conjugation for the third person female imperfect (i.e. ‘she’ performing an action in the present/future tense)…so I would say for example ‘anta taktubu’ (you [male] are writing), and ‘hiya taktubu’ (she is writing). Similarly, ‘anta tarmee’ (you [male] are throwing) and ‘hiya tarmee’ (she is throwing). The ‘birds’ in this verses are referred to as ‘she’ because of their collective noun status.
The word ‘tara’ in that verse comes from a different root – raa’-hamzah-yaa’ رأي – it would normally read taraa ترى with an alif at the end, but the word ‘lam’ before it makes the verb jussive (majzoom), and the effect on this on a verb ending in a ‘weak’ letter (alif, waw, or yaa’) is that the letter is truncated, become tara ترَ.
With regards who did the throwing – it is a matter Id rather leave to the scholars of tafseer, but I am personally inclined to the consensus view that it is the birds who were throwing the stones.
And Allaah knows best.
It is a little odd that an exegete like Islahi overlooked this point because this has resulted in actually changing the meaning of the verse.
Is there any other mufassir who has taken a similar point of view?
I havent come across any.
I dont think he overlooked that it could mean the birds dropped the stones, I just think he gave more weight to his own view, due to the reasons he mentioned.
Just a small clarification:
The adab of beginning to read the Qur’an is to first read Al Isti’aatha (seeking refuge in Allah from the cursed Shaitaan) as Allah orders us to do so in Suratun Nahl, Ayat 98. Then one may read the Basmalah if one wishes to do so, except in certain places such as Al Fussilat Ayat 47 where the Basmalah should definitely be read to not confuse the listener as the Ayat begins with a reference to Allah “Ilaihi yuraddu ‘ilmus saa’ati” and the reader would have just finished Al Isti’aatha and would therefore have finished with “shaitaanir rajeem” so the listener could misunderstood that “Ilaihi” is referring to Shaitaan, may Allah curse him.
If starting to read the Qur’an at the beginning of a surah, then first Al Isti’aatha, followed by the Basmalah and then the surah should be read.
Jazakum Allaahu khayran.
Wa iyyaakum, ameen.
mashallah may allah bless you for the constant benefit we all obtain from you. ameen. wonderful job your doing.
Truelly amazing subhanAllah. May Allah grant you the highest place in jannah
And all of us, Ameen.
my name is faaris my nationality is somali …. i beleive the islamic religion…. i live in mogadishu…
al-Hamdu lillaah. Thank you for visiting the site.
AssalamuAlaykum wr wb,
InshaAllah this reaches all in best health and highest eimaan,ameen!
Can anybody help me out with this plz?
About the meaning of the word ‘yakhfa’ in ayat 38 of Surah Ibrahim. Its meaning is given as ‘it is hidden’ making this verb majhool (passive). What is the ma’aroof (active) form of the present tense form of this verb? Could you please help? I was not able to find this out.
Jazakumullah khairan khateeran,
Wassalamualaykum wr wb,
I am sorry my question is can words effect the verb causing the change the meaning of active in to passive. Because Yakhfa is active verb right or is it becuase of context?
plz modify this comment and then add it to your forum, i ve heard that when in arabic one has to give tashbee with the qualities(sifaat) of a person the word ka is used and when the tashbee is to be given in Being(zaat) the word “misl” is used, so when its written in surah shura “There is nothing like unto Him” it means that there not a one who is like Him in Zaat(Misl) as well as Sifaat(ka).
Excellent work…
May allah reward you for this
Salamu aleykum
Jazakumu Allahu khayran for an excellent blogg. I became so inspired by your blogg so I decided to start another one like it.
There is another site like this here:
arabictreasures.wordpress .com without space between wordpress and .com
Assalam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
Has your thesis on the usage of ishtiqaaq in tafseer been completed yet ?
If it has been completed can you please upload its softcopy ?
Jazak Allah Khair
@strive4jannah –
Still waiting for your kind reply to my previous post
Wa alaikum as salaam, Im very sorry the comment totally missed me!
My thesis alhamdulillaah was completed in 2007. It is much more specific than ishtiqaaq in tafseer in general, and it is written entirely in Arabic. Please email me if you would still be interested despite these two points.
@arabicgems –
Yes I’m interested in reading the softcopy of your Tafseer thesis despite it being wrtitten in Arabic
I don’t have your email address so not able to email you the request.
Please, kindly email me the the softcopy of your Tafseer thesis