- Arabic Tidbits -

One of al-Mutanabbi’s most peculiar lines of poetry is the one below:

ألمٌ ألَمَّ ألمْ أُلِمْ بِدَائِهِ *** إنْ انَّ آنٌ آنَ آنُ أَوَانه

If you look at it closely, you’ll see that each partial bayt is almost entirely composed of a single word… or so it seems!

This is what we get if we break it down for explanation:

ألمٌ – Pain
ألَمَّ – to hurt or surround in pain
ألمْ – not
أُلِمْ – to know
بِدَائِهِ – its (cause of) illness

إنْ – If
انَّ – to cry or complain (of pain)
آنٌ – one who is in pain
آنَ – to arrive
آنُ – time
أَوَانه – its cure

So we get the following:

ألمٌ ألَمَّ ألمْ أُلِمْ بِدَائِهِ *** إنْ انَّ آنٌ آنَ آنُ أَوَانه
“I have come to be surrounded by pain the cause of which I do not know
If the one in pain cries out in agony, then the time for its cure has surely arrived.”

The French scholar, Ernest Renan (1823-1894), who carried out extensive research on Semitic languages, said about Arabic:

"The Arabic language is the most astonishing event of human history. Unknown during the classical period, it suddenly emerged as a complete language. After this, it did not undergo any noticeable changes, so one cannot define for it an early or a late stage. It is just the same today as it was when it first appeared”.

In Surah al-Zumar, Allah says, "He created the heavens and earth in truth. He *wraps* the night over the day and wraps the day over the night and has subjected the sun and the moon, each running [its course] for a specified term. Unquestionably, He is the Exalted in Might, the Perpetual Forgiver." [39:5]

Look at the word I've starred above ('wrap'). This is taken from Sahih International translation of the Qur'an, but almost every single translation that I've come across has a different word for the above. They all try to bring out the meaning and message of what is happening, but let us dig a bit further into the linguistics...

The Arabic word used in the Qur'an at this particular point, is actually 'Yukawwiru' (from: كوَّر) which gives the sense that something is being connected to something else either by way of wrapping, or drawing into a circle, or forming into a ball etc (in fact, the term 'football' or 'ball' is 'kurah' which comes from this root). So we get the message that the night comes over the day but in a 'kurah' or 'takwir' fashion, i.e. in a wrapping, or ball, or circular movement.

This is very interesting because it gives the hint and the knowledge that the night comes over the day in a gradual circular way. At the time the Qur'an was being revealed to our Prophet (s), no-one knew that the earth was round, but this verse is actually hinting at just that!! If one knows the science behind how day and night supercede each other, they will know that the circular/ball form of the earth and its spinning on its axis is what allows the sun's light to move across the planet in a certain manner which gives birth to the day. At the same, on the other side of the ball-shaped earth, this same movement and shape is what allows night to move in (due to the lack of sunlight).

Subhan'Allah. Through the language, you not only realise that the verb Allah used (yukawwiru) gives such a great hint of earth being a ball shape, but you also get the perfect image of how night and day succeed each other on this rounded earth. May Allah grant us understanding, ameen!