|
|
|
 |
The table below, representing Arabic syllables (mainly consonants), is sourced from the public and invaluable information available at al-Qur'an: the Linguistic Miracle. It serves as a keyset to decipher the meanings of verbs and nouns in the Arabic language.
Arabic verbs and nouns trace their composition to combinations of these syllables, or root-letters, a feature which it shares with other Semitic languages. These roots typically comprise of three-to-four letters in the case of verbs, and upto five in the case of nouns. With the aid of the table below, it is possible to assign to each root-letter a unique (orthogonal) concept and then combine (i.e. integrate) the respective primary concepts into a coherent second-order concept which then serves as the root-meaning of that word.
Such an exercise can assist the naked-eye to extract the core-sense of the word hidden behind the veil of popular usage and a variety of acquired connotations. Once in grasp of this core-sense, the inquisitive intellect can stretch that meaning in various directions without breaking the root-meaning to suit the context in which the verb or noun happens to find itself, thereby packaging the connotations back upon it.
This invariably involves guess-work, imagination, several mental passes and on-going triangulation with actual usage. Fortunately, in the case of Arabic, the message and text of The Qur'an serve as authoritative sources for this sanity-check for a simple reason: the message of The Qur'an is timeless by definition. It is meant to be relatable to any individual across any age and at any point in life. As such, the way The Qur'an would use verbs and nouns to express that message would be (in a manner) so that their meanings (as intended) can always be 'recovered'.
A need for such recovery arises due to meanings being diluted, lost or corrupted; perhaps, by passing through the decorated halls of custom; or filtered by the passage of time; or throttled by vested interests: a phenomenon by no means unique to Arabic. The Qur'an, therefore, becomes the natural preserver of its own linguistic heritage; and to it, belongs the custodianship of 'rooting' the language in which it chose to express itself.
Of course, the knowledge of the root-letters – and their associated concepts – hardly makes for an informed understanding of The Qur'anic vocabulary. A detailed grounding in morphology (sarf) and syntax (nahw) is indispensable. However, lacking in such intimacy, is not cause or excuse to not dig deep into the annals of The Qur'anic Arabic. For, the excursion may begin with the simplest of curiosities: of asking what things make-up this word and what really comes out when these things are all meshed, assembled, composed or put together?
The table below serves as a handy-man's tool-kit to confront this curiosity with confidence. The answers that emerge thereof can spur the joy of learning and build a foundation for any honest and permanent engagement with The Qur'an. With practice, it is possible to enjoy this exercise as much as a child may enjoy solving mathematical problems: once it understands the underlying rules and logic which govern the language of mathematics.
This particular page has been created for the very specific purpose of being cross-referenced in write-ups on The Qur'an in this website. However, this page, and this website in general, suffer from the grave defect of being unable to render Arabic fonts: hence interested readers may visit the aforementioned link to familiarise themselves with the respective letter forms. A highly inviting tutorial for beginners is to be found at Learn Arabic. Readers whose curiosity of The Qur'an is pricked further may stand to benefit in handsome measure from continued visits to The Qura'nic Arabic Corpus.
Those who harbour indifference, or sport a jaundiced view regarding The Qur'an, may find their position nullified were they to carefully involve their minds with the etymology of the Classical Arabic of The Qur'an. This linguistic exertion should, hopefully, encourage them to tone down the presumptions they have ingested without much forethought. Doing so will help them accrue the benefits that come from a critical examination of the timeless meaning embedded in that (exquisite) recitation of a singular and inescapable message intended for the entirety of mankind.
Language and time are the only two gifts free of any encumbrances: spending time to learn the former may help use wisely what is left of the latter.
As an illustration, consider the singular, feminine and abstract noun hikma, conventionally translated into English as wisdom. It is a phonetic cognate of the word hukm, which colloquially has come to mean a decree of law, an order by the Sovereign and the likes thereof.
Wisdom is a commonly encountered term, greatly emphasised upon and many may claim to know of its meaning: then why bother to dig deeper to seek clarity? If the term wisdom was used in a novel it was acceptable to give it a cursory thought and move to the novel's more interesting aspects, such as its narrative. However, The Qur'an evidently is not a novel. Terms used within The Qur'an have a definite purpose, and their interpretations can have important consequences on how men think and act. It becomes therefore imperative to ask: what does wisdom in its essence really mean?
Now, the noun hikma is composed of three root-letters: ((#ha(6); kaf(22); mim(24)#)). Transcribing the meanings mapped to these three letters from the table below gives us a set of elementary meanings: ((#living; in likeness of; thing#)). Making a first-pass to integrate over these three elements (into one whole) results in: ((#living in likeness of a thing#)). Further delineating this composition will result in: ((#actualising a thing#)). Therefore, the core-sense embedded in the use of the term hikma is that of ((#actualising / making alive a thing that may be more general/abstract/distant#)).
—
As a second step (i.e., a second-pass), this phrasing must now be transposed to the context of The Qur'an. This requires replacing the term ((#a thing#)) in ((#actualising a thing#)) by a term suitable to the context of The Qur'an. That term happens to be ((#the Writ#)). Thus, the literal transliation (effectively a definition) of hikma in The Qur'anic context would be ((#actualising the Writ#)).
It is further possible to expand on this definition by probing the term ((#actualising#)) by asking: what does actualisation finally entail? It entails application in a context. Thus, the above definition may further be improvised to read as ((#application in context of the Writ#)). This may be further fine-tuned, for the purpose of clarity, to read as ((#application in (daily) context (of living) of the Writ#)).
This kind of improvisation may be carried to the point where either the mind is exhausted or common-sense revolts. The energy for this improvisation is provided by imagination and the riches of vocabulary at one's disposal.
For instance, to stretch further the above definition, it is possible to ask: is there a better way to replace the mouthful of "application in (daily) context (of living)"? A phrase which intuitively captures the same meaning is "discernment in action". Using this replacement the definition of hikma now becomes ((#discernment-in-action of the Writ.#))
—
Equipped now with a definition, the third-pass would entail going through the entirety of The Qur'an and carefully validating whether this definition holds true with its actual use in The Qur'an. If the definition is found to hold unevenly or only patchily, then it will require repeating this entire three-pass-exercise again — albeit this time the process is starting from a certain definition and trying to improve upon it.
—
This, of course, begs a follow-up question: what exactly is the definition of the term Writ in The Qur'an? That would require repeating a similar process as above with the term kitab as it applies to The Qur'an. It is a significantly move involved exercise and goes beyond beyond the scope of this little illustration, but hopefully the reader may get the larger point — The Qur'an lends itself to systematic scrutiny to help arrive at a set of consistent definitions of verbs and nouns with which to access and actualise its own meaning. In other words, to acquire wisdom – no pun intended.
The table below also seems to confirm a critical feature of The Qur'an: it is recursive. It helps the reader mathematically recurse its text repeatedly till there is no iota of doubt left of what is the final message contained within it for makind. As the above example shows, it is possible to start from single syllables, construct clear definitions and then further understand the primary units of its speech, i.e., ayats, and then move onto larger narrative structures. The Qur'an uses additional mechanisms, such as cross-referencing, to further link different parts of itself.
Along with extensive use of repetition, this is how The Qur'an guards itself from corruption and provides a path to recover its original intended message. By guarding itself thus, it makes its message difficult to escape from, and thereby binding. The fact that there is an incorruptible source of message warning mankind of its folly should strike both fear & dread as well as hope in the hearts of those still care.
Those sceptical, including the atheists, are invited to try their hand. Perhaps, for all one knows, contrary to expectations, they may end up being validated as sceptics and atheists. Either way, unless they try they wouldn't know.
Note: The reader, in comparing the table below with the original, shall find the meanings (in the third column) attributed to the letters za(y) and Zal interchanged. The author has reason to believe that the original table carries an unintentional typo. In case they have reason to doubt, readers are advised to independently verify the same with other sources. (The terms in brackets at the end of a particular list are suggestive of synonyms that provide further colour to the meaning(s) conveyed by the other word(s).)
|
| Sr # | English representation of Arabic syllables | Meaning(s) |
| 1 | Alif | First; Reference; Manifest itself |
| 2 | ba | Medium; Bring |
| 3 | ta | Time; Following |
| 4 | tha | Relation; Affiliate; Pair |
| 5 | Jim | Assembly; Join |
| 6 | Ha | Life; Benefit; Live |
| 7 | Kha | Creation; Create; Compound; Composition/Decomposition |
| 8 | Dal | Direction; Tend towards |
| 9 | Dhal | Carrying a representation; Represent; Substitute |
| 10 | Ra | Order; Command; (Cause) |
| 11 | za(y) | Appearance; Extend |
| 12 | Siin | In progress; Support; Energy flowing |
| 13 | Shin | Radiance; Diffusion; Spread |
| 14 | Sad | Homogeneity; Consistent; Full; (Constancy) |
| 15 | Dad | Lower plane; Properties; Earth |
| 16 | Ta | Establish; Surface; Axis |
| 17 | Zal | Separation; Slice |
| 18 | 'aiin | Perception; See |
| 19 | Ghaiin | Veil; Cover |
| 20 | Fa | Inside; Breath; Insert |
| 21 | Qaf | Conscience; Existence; Stand; Maintain; (Erect; Uprightness) |
| 22 | Kaf | Similarity; Other like me; Likeness |
| 23 | *Lam* | Service; For; Provide |
| 24 | Mim | Place; Thing; Being |
| 25 | Nun | Us; Generic; Unite |
| 26 | *Ha* | Him; The retract (invisible); Souvenir |
| 27 | Waw | Add up; Fastening; Passive; Attach |
| 28 | Ya | Me; Will; Power |
|
|
|