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Dhul-Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring - Part One: Difference between revisions
Dhul-Qarnayn and the Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring - Part One (view source)
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, 26 May→Could balagha mean “it reached”?
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Firstly, the words following balagha, “maghriba alshshamsi” (“the setting place/time of the sun”), can only be the object of the verb balagha. It is not grammatically possible that the sun is the subject of balagha since it only appears as part of a genitive construction (called ’idāfa) with maghriba, which has the accusative case ending (indicating the object of the transitive verb, balagha). If balagha meant “it reached”, where “it” meant the sun, the verse would be grammatically incomplete since there would be no referent to which “it” refers.<ref>Mohtanick Jamil - [http://www.learnarabiconline.com/verbal-sentences.shtml Verbal Sentences] - LearnArabicOnline</ref> The same grammatical problem would also occur in 18:90. Note also that in Arabic, the word balagha cannot implicitly refer to the time of day as the subject. You can’t just say, “balagha almaghriba”, meaning “It reached sunset” (i.e. that the time of day had advanced to sunset), as someone might occasionally say in English. | Firstly, the words following balagha, “maghriba alshshamsi” (“the setting place/time of the sun”), can only be the object of the verb balagha. It is not grammatically possible that the sun is the subject of balagha since it only appears as part of a genitive construction (called ’idāfa) with maghriba, which has the accusative case ending (indicating the object of the transitive verb, balagha). If balagha meant “it reached”, where “it” meant the sun, the verse would be grammatically incomplete since there would be no referent to which “it” refers.<ref>Mohtanick Jamil - [http://www.learnarabiconline.com/verbal-sentences.shtml Verbal Sentences] - LearnArabicOnline</ref> The same grammatical problem would also occur in 18:90. Note also that in Arabic, the word balagha cannot implicitly refer to the time of day as the subject. You can’t just say, “balagha almaghriba”, meaning “It reached sunset” (i.e. that the time of day had advanced to sunset), as someone might occasionally say in English. | ||
Secondly, alshshamsu is a feminine noun, so verbs must use the feminine gender when the sun is their subject.<ref>Mohtanick Jamil - [http://www.learnarabiconline.com/gender.shtml Gender] - LearnArabicOnline</ref> We also see this in the next parts of the verses, which use the feminine 3rd person singular imperfect tense prefix, ta-, in words referring to the sun, taghrubu (“it/her set”) in 18:86, and tatluAAu (“it/her rise”) in 18:90.<ref>Thus, those words cannot refer to sababan, “way /road / means” which is masculine ([http://corpus.quran.com/wordbyword.jsp?chapter=18&verse=84 Word-by-Word Grammar - Verse (18:82)]), such that Dhul Qarnayn found the way / road / means going down into a muddy spring.</ref> Balagha, as noted above, uses the masculine suffix, -a (called fatha in Arabic), rather than the feminine suffix –at, | Secondly, alshshamsu is a feminine noun, so verbs must use the feminine gender when the sun is their subject.<ref>Mohtanick Jamil - [http://www.learnarabiconline.com/gender.shtml Gender] - LearnArabicOnline</ref> We also see this in the next parts of the verses, which use the feminine 3rd person singular imperfect tense prefix, ta-, in words referring to the sun, taghrubu (“it/her set”) in 18:86, and tatluAAu (“it/her rise”) in 18:90.<ref>Thus, nor can those words cannot refer to sababan, “way /road / means” which is masculine ([http://corpus.quran.com/wordbyword.jsp?chapter=18&verse=84 Word-by-Word Grammar - Verse (18:82)]), such that Dhul Qarnayn found the way / road / means going down into a muddy spring.</ref> Balagha, as noted above, uses the masculine suffix, -a (called fatha in Arabic), rather than the feminine suffix –at, so it cannot refer to the same subject (the sun) as taghrubu and tatluAAu do. Dhu’l Qarnayn must be the subject of balagha. | ||
===An interpretation invented in modern times=== | ===An interpretation invented in modern times=== | ||