As
the riddle of the reed
continues,
we embark on a new odyssey in the quest for another famous
term for
"reed".
This
new term for reed
originated in Arabic. It has played a wide role in many foreign
languages, most of them belonging to the
Indo-European
language family group, including prominently English and French
languages today.
The
odyssey of this term begins in Old Arabic where it referred to the
ancient Pre-Islamic name of Makkah. This was attributed to
the overwhelming number of houses built of reeds in the town.
This term also occurred in the Holy Qur'an in at least
33 verses ('Ayah) across 26 chapters (surah).
In some verses the Arabic term refers, in general, to the various dwelling
structures of Makkah at that time (trellis, canopies, porticos,
roofs - all made of pliable
reeds),
and by extension, the term in the Holy Qur'an describes the
celestial
abode of God: the Empyrean, or the
highest
reaches of Heaven representing the Supreme Divine Dominium.
In
Arabic scientific texts the term came to refer to the sharp edge or salient
angle formed by two surfaces meeting each other, and/or the continuous
portion of a circle. In early Arab Astronomy, as mentioned by
Al-Biruwniy, the term referred to the apparent surface of the imaginary
sphere on which celestial bodies appear to be projected. This term
is still currently used in Modern Astronomy, as it follows the traditional
Arabic use of prefixing the term to the name of constellations in order
to describe their paths,
as celestial bodies, when they rise above and fall below the horizon.
In
early Arabic Medical texts the term described the supination of
the foot (i.e. the curved shape bone of the foot). The term is still in
use Modern Orthopedics, specifically by podiatrists (foot doctors).
The
same term also refers to the name of a celebrated town in Egypt
which is renowned for its shady palms, and for having played host to the
Holy Family (Jesus and Mary may peace be upon them)
during their flight into Egypt. This town, situated on the northern
coast of Egypt, has retained the name to this very day.
This
mysterious Arabic term for reed
has grown to become a linguistic conundrum. Though the Hebrew/Aramaic;
a sister language of Arabic belongs to the same family group (Semitic/Afro-Asiatic),
this term was conspicuously absent in the Old Testament. When the
Old
Testament was translated into English (in Wycliff's and king James
Bibles). Surprisingly the English translators used this Arabic
term for reed to refer to the little basket made of
reeds in which the mother of Moses
(May peace be on them) placed the baby boy when he was three months
old, and put the floating vessel in the River.
Originally,
the Septuagint had used in the Exodus text, the Hebrew/Aramaic
terms ('aron,and teiva "a chest" cf. Old
Arabic'Arwah for water trough and tubwah/tabut
for coffin respectively) and bulrushes (Heb; .gome,cf.
Old
Arabic; Gumah "papyrus"), none of these
Hebrew/Aramaic
terms made their way into the English translation of the Bible.
In the same context, this Arabic term was also used to refer to
a bier or a casket for a corpse (synonym of
tabuwt ) cf. the celebrated bier of Sa`d b. Mu`adh
who fell martyr in battle of the "Ditch" (al-Khandaq).
This
specific Arabic term for reed
was also apparently borrowed earlier into the Germanic languages, including
Old English
(Anglo-Saxon),
in the early
8th century. Though the term today has undergone many
spelling changes over the centuries, the earlier versions of the Germanic
(Teutonic) languages were closer to the original Arabic spelling.
Amazingly, one version of this term has survived unchanged in Modern
English and still faithfully sticks to the original Arabic meaning,
referring to: reed
and/ or the stubble of wheat or grass.
Can you name,
either in Arabic or in English, this new mysterious term, which has survived
in so many languages, referring to so many different applications?
Please Email your
answers to:
The winners of
the second Riddle will be announced next Thursday Ramadan 21 (October
28).
|
