For Pacifica - random quotes on Arabic and Qur'an

 

Bestiola

Nequissima

  • Civis Illustris

  • Sacerdos Isidis

Muqattaʿat

The mysterious letters[1] (muqaṭṭaʿāt, Arabic: حُرُوف مُقَطَّعَات ḥurūf muqaṭṭaʿāt, "disjoined letters" or "disconnected letters"[2]) are combinations of between one and five Arabic letters figuring at the beginning of 29 out of the 114 chapters (surahs) of the Quran just after the Bismillāh Islamic phrase.[3] The letters are also known as fawātiḥ (فَوَاتِح) or "openers" as they form the opening verse of their respective surahs.[4]
 
 

Bestiola

Nequissima

  • Civis Illustris

  • Sacerdos Isidis

Muqatta'at occur in Quranic chapters 2–3, 7, 10–15, 19–20, 26–32, 36, 38, 40–46, 50 and 68. Multiple letters are written together like a word, but each letter is pronounced separately.
 

Pacifica

grammaticissima

  • Aedilis

Location:
Belgium
I posted Surah 1 and verses 1-4 of Surah 2 on the other thread. I won't start over but I'll just pick up from there.

5
أُولٰئِكَ عَلىٰ هُدًى مِن رَبِّهِم ۖ وَأُولٰئِكَ هُمُ المُفلِحونَ
Transliteration

ʾulāʾika ʿalā hudan min rabbihim wa-ʾulāʾika humu l-mufliḥūn(a)
Translation
Those follow their Lord’s guidance, and it is they who are the felicitous.

(The source of this and any subsequent Qur'an quotes, including transliteration, translation and notes, unless otherwise specified, is this.)

For an audio, see here.
 
 

Bestiola

Nequissima

  • Civis Illustris

  • Sacerdos Isidis

Tafsir bi'r-ra'y, or commonly known as tafsir bi-al-diraya, is the method of using one's independent rational reasoning and mind (ijtihad) to form an opinion-oriented interpretation. The most distinctive feature of tafsir bi-al-diraya is the inclusion of the opinions of the commentator, thus forming the more objective view on Quranic verses. The relative paucity of traditional sources is also a practical reason why the scope of the methodology is augmented. This is considered sanctioned by the Quran itself,[1] as written in the surah Sad verse 29:

(This is) a Scripture that We have revealed unto thee, full of blessing, that they may ponder its revelations, and that men of understanding may reflect.
— Quran 38:29
 

Pacifica

grammaticissima

  • Aedilis

Location:
Belgium
An author of a tafsir is a mufassir
Those are respectively the verbal noun and the active participle (substantivized) of the verb فسّر (fassara), meaning interpret or clarify. فسّر belongs to a class of verbs that are usually factitive in meaning and characterized by the reduplication of the second root consonant (here s).
 
 

Bestiola

Nequissima

  • Civis Illustris

  • Sacerdos Isidis

Those are respectively the verbal noun and the active participle (substantivized) of the verb فسّر (fassara), meaning interpret or clarify. فسّر belongs to a class of verbs that are usually factitive in meaning and characterized by the reduplication of the second root consonant (here s).
Thanks, I don't know any of this :)

I'm just quoting Wikipedia with some interesting Arabic words/quotes since you said you don't want to be here alone.
 

Pacifica

grammaticissima

  • Aedilis

Location:
Belgium
6
إِنَّ الَّذينَ كَفَروا سَواءٌ عَلَيهِم أَأَنذَرتَهُم أَم لَم تُنذِرهُم لا يُؤمِنونَ
Transliteration
ʾinna lladhīna kafarū sawāʾun ʿalayhim ʾa-ʾandhartahum ʾam lam tundhirhum lā yuʾminūn(a)
Translation
As for the faithless, it is the same to them whether you warn them or do not warn them, they will not have faith.

Latin (my translation): Infidelium autem nihil interest moneasne eos necne: non credent.

Audio (sorry I can't link to a specific verse; just scroll down).
 

Pacifica

grammaticissima

  • Aedilis

Location:
Belgium
Regarding the italics in this word, let me quote again a note on an earlier verse. They don't convey emphasis—there's no particular emphasis on "you" in the Arabic, otherwise I would of course have used tu in Latin.

"Throughout this translation whenever the pronoun ‘you’ refers to the second person singular in the Arabic and is meant as an address to the Prophet, it has been italicized (for similar reasons, also the related verbs) in order to distinguish it from cases where it stands for the second person plural. This is to avoid the use of ‘thee’ and ‘thou,’ which are, unfortunately, archaic in contemporary English."
 
 

Bestiola

Nequissima

  • Civis Illustris

  • Sacerdos Isidis

There are at least 11 words for 'love' and hundreds of words for 'camel'

Arabic has at least 11 words for love and each of them conveys a different stage in the process of falling in love. The word 'hawa', for example, describes the initial attraction or inclining of the soul or mind towards another. The term comes from the root word ‘h-w-a’ - a transient wind that can rise and fall.

'Alaaqa', which comes from the root word (‘a-l-q) which means ‘to cling on to’ describes the next stage when the heart begins to attach itself to the beloved, before evolving into a blind desire 'ishq' and all-consuming love 'shaghaf'. The final stage of falling in love, 'huyum', describes the complete loss of reason.

Interestingly, the most common word for love in Arabic, 'hubb', comes from the same root as the word ‘seed’ – that which has the potential to grow into something beautiful.

The word for heart, ‘qalb’, comes from the root word (q-l-b), meaning to flip or turn something over. Although the word refers to the physical heart, spiritually the root word becomes appropriate when we think of our hearts as something constantly turning over emotions, decisions and opinions. Be careful to pronounce the first letter correctly as the word 'kalb' translates as ‘dog', and is very insulting.
 

Pacifica

grammaticissima

  • Aedilis

Location:
Belgium
7
خَتَمَ اللَّهُ عَلىٰ قُلوبِهِم وَعَلىٰ سَمعِهِم ۖ وَعَلىٰ أَبصارِهِم غِشاوَةٌ ۖ وَلَهُم عَذابٌ عَظيمٌ
Transliteration
khatama llāhu ʿalā qulūbihim wa-ʿalā samʿihim wa-ʿalā ʾabṣārihim ghishāwatun wa-lahum ʿadhābun ʿaẓīm(un)
Translation
Allah has set a seal on their hearts and their hearing, and there is a blindfold on their sight,1 and there is a great punishment for them.
  • 1. The hearing and sight, often mentioned in the Qurʾān, refer to the inner spiritual hearing and vision by the means of which someone possessing faith apprehends the reality lying beyond the physical realm.
My Latin translation: Deus cordibus et auditui eorum sigillum imposuit visusque eorum obligatus est, magnumque eos supplicium manet.

Audio.
 
 

Bestiola

Nequissima

  • Civis Illustris

  • Sacerdos Isidis

This expansive vocabulary is not just limited to the world of poetry and literature, but also practical life. Arabic is said to have hundreds of words for ‘camel’. For example, ‘Al-Jafool’ means a camel that is frightened by anything; ‘Al-Harib’ is a female camel that walks ahead of the others by a great distance so that it appears to be fleeing.

‘Trust in God, but tie up your camel’ is a great (and practical) Arabic proverb used to express the nature of destiny and personal responsibility. The matter of destiny is also very much embedded within everyday Arabic phrases such as ‘Insha’Allah’ (If God wills). The expression can be used so fervently that, when asking someone’s name, I was once given the response ‘Ahmed, Insha’Allah’.
 
Top