Islamic Views on the Shape of the Earth: Difference between revisions

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Dahaha used for flat earth in poem by Zayd b. 'Amr

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 دحو = dahawa = spread out or forth, expand, make wide.<ref name="LanesLexiconDaHaWa" />
+The word dahaha ("He spread it out") also appears in a poem about the creation of a flat earth attributed to the pre-Islamic poet Zayd b. 'Amr, who reportedly was a monotheist who met Muhammad before his prophetic career began. The poem is certainly a very early demonstration of the meaning of the word dahaha in this context since it is recorded in the biography of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq (d. 767 CE) and must pre-date that work.<ref name="Guillaume102">Guillaume, A., The Life of Muhammad, London: Oxford University Press, 1955, p. 102</ref> Like the Quran, the poem says "He spread it out" (daḥāhā) i.e. the earth, then even clearer than the Quran, saw that it was level (استوت istawat<ref>استوت istawat - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume4/00000201.pdf Lane's Lexicon] p. 1477</ref>) on the water (i.e. flat), "and set firm the mountains on it" (arsā ʿalayhā l-jibālā, very similar to wa-l-jibāla ʾarsāhā in verse 32 of the Quranic passage).
+{{Quote|1=Poem attributed to Zayd b. 'Amr, as found for example in Ibn Al Jawzi's Al Muntazam,<ref name="IbnalJawzi">https://shamela.ws/book/12406/736</ref> and Ibn Ishaq's biography of Muhammad (as translated from Ibn Ishaq by Guillaume<ref name="Guillaume102" /> and transliterated by Bravmann<ref name="Bravmann">Bravmann, M. M. (1977) Studies in Semitic Philology, Leiden: Brill p.439</ref>)|2=دحاها فلما رآها استوت ... عَلَى الماء أرسى عليها الجبالا
+daḥāhā falammā raʾādā istawat ʿalā l-māʾi arsā ʿalayhā l-jibālā
+'''He spread it out''' and when He saw that it was settled upon the waters, He fixed the mountains upon it}}
 For further discussion of this word and of modern claims attempting to associate it with the shape of eggs, see the [[Islamic_Views_on_the_Shape_of_the_Earth#Qur'an 79:30 - ''daha'' ("spread out", said to mean "ostrich egg")|dedicated section below]].
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 :''midha'' midhan: pl. ''midaah'' madahin roller, steam roller}}
-======Tradition and scripture======
+====Dahaha used for a flat earth in pre-Islamic poetry====
+As discussed in more detail above in the section [[Islamic_Views_on_the_Shape_of_the_Earth#Qur.27an_79:30_-_daha_.28.22spread_out_wide.22.29| Qur'an 79:30 - daha ("spread out wide")]], a pre-Islamic (or at least very early) arabic poem attributed to Zayd b. 'Amr used daḥāhā "He spread it out" to very explicitly describe the spreading of a flat earth.
+{{Quote|1=Poem attributed to Zayd b. 'Amr, as found for example in Ibn Al Jawzi's Al Muntazam,<ref name="IbnalJawzi" /> and Ibn Ishaq's biography of Muhammad (as translated from Ibn Ishaq by Guillaume<ref name="Guillaume102" /> and transliterated by Bravmann<ref name="Bravmann" />)|2=دحاها فلما رآها استوت ... عَلَى الماء أرسى عليها الجبالا
+daḥāhā falammā raʾādā istawat ʿalā l-māʾi arsā ʿalayhā l-jibālā
+'''He spread it out''' and when He saw that it was settled upon the waters, He fixed the mountains upon it}}
+====Tradition and scripture====
 Tafsirs explain that this verse describes the Earth to be flat. Two clear and brief examples of this are found in Tafsir al-Jalalayn and Tanwir al-Miqbas.{{Quote|[https://tafsir.app/jalalayn/79/30 Tafsir al-Jalalayn 79:30]|and after that He spread out the earth '''He made it flat''' for it had been created before the heaven but without having been spread out;
 }}{{Quote|[http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo&#61;0&tTafsirNo&#61;73&tSoraNo&#61;79&tAyahNo&#61;30&tDisplay&#61;yes&UserProfile&#61;0&LanguageId&#61;2 Tanwir Al-Miqbas 79:30]|