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KITAB, QURAN & ARABIC

CHAPTER 1     KITAB, QURAN & ARABIC –     IS "ARABIC" THE NAME OF A LANGUAGE OF MIDDLE EAST AND "QURAN&quo...

Wednesday, 25 March 2020

TRANSLATION IS A DIFFICULT JOB



TRANSLATION IS A DIFFICULT JOB:

The job of an honest and blank translator of the book Quran is not at all simple even if he has all the tools of translations within his reach. It is like swimming in the deep ocean, gasping for breath while looking for the nearest shore. The book Quran is the most read or recited book in the world but the irony is nobody understands the crux of its message. It is foolishness and waste of time / energy to read / recite any book without understanding it at all. Why people fail to understand this simple logic that why they read this book blindly? If people believe or have faith that this book is divine then why don’t they learn Arabic and try to understand directly from the original script rather than relying on so many translations. People have no right to believe that the book Quran is divine unless they understand it themselves without relying on third party for its confirmation. They have no right to defend, criticize or love this book if they have not understood its message. Giving judgments on the basis of the third party translation is not just and fair to the author of the Quran or its message or those who are researching on the subject by themselves. Don’t argue to be right, converse to find the truth. Very vast majority of Muslims are hypocrites they are giving step motherly treatment to the book Quran and claiming to own it like their original child.

Note my brothers and sister this blind faith of yours has taken us to the abyss of the abysmal condition in the world. The only way out of this condition is to use your own divine reason / intellect unbiasedly or objectively.  If you have passion to dive in the deep ocean first learn to swim. This is like extra curriculum activity for some and not as main subject but if you have the passion / courage to decode the entire book then you have to step into the sea and cross it as “Musa” did. A small request for those who are passing their time on the beach not to ridicule, criticize, discourage and pass irrelevant comments to those who have made their mind to cross the sea. Majority of them are satisfied with the translations of their predecessors so enjoy on the beach and please don’t invite those who want to swim deeply.

Some who failed to cross the sea they deserve big applause / respect for their daring, determination and sincere hard work.  Healthy criticism is good but if you want to criticize their work make sure you have better option of your own and not copy paste references from other sources. Learn to be a good student or listener before jumping to criticism or conclusions.  If you want to contribute anything to them please give your blessings, your motivation and encouragement to continue with their work. Thank you.   

Saturday, 21 March 2020

WHAT IS GABRIEL - JIBRAEEL ?


WHAT IS GABRIEL - JIBRAEEL IN ARABIC - جِبْرِيلَ ?


We cannot understand any ancient foreign language on the basis of faith, belief or assumptions. If we are really interested in knowing the truth we need to look / search into various lexicons of that language in order to know the right essence of vocabularies used to describe a particular narrative. Many of us are earnestly sincere to know the truth but unfortunately we believe / trust / rely on ready-made translations as the ultimate source of truth and that is enough / sufficient for them to come to conclusions.

The message of the book Quran or Islam is not about flying angels or archangels like some fairy tales or holy personalities performing miracles in the name God. Quran is the magnum opus instructional book for self / nafs. Every words or terms of the book Quran must relate or direct us to self development, self healing and guidance to self. The book Quran emphasis time and again that if we want peace, security and tranquility we need to search inside; searching outside is ascribing partner to God which is shirk in Quranic parlance.  

According to Wikipedia the term Gabriel or Jibraeel can be found in many ancient languages of the world. "Gabriel (/ˈɡeɪbriəl/; Hebrew: גַּבְרִיאֵל‎, lit. 'Gavri'el "God is my strength"', Ancient Greek: Γαβριήλ, lit.'Gabriel', Coptic: Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, Aramaic: ܓܒܪܝܝܠ‎, Arabic: جبريل, Jibrīl or جبرائيل Jibrāʾīl, Amharic: ገብርኤል), in the Abrahamic religions, is an archangel. He was first described in the Hebrew Bible and was subsequently adopted by other traditions" -


As you have seen it, the above term Gabriel or Jibrāʾīl is older than the religion Islam. In religion Islam جبرائيل /Jibrāʾīl is a chief of Malaikah [faculty firmly rooted in mind - page 3023 EWL] who carries the revelation from Allah [system of consciousness]. As we know from the book Quran that Allah is inside us - 2:186, 50:16 so one who makes an effort to seek knowledge, Jibrāʾīl appears in him as an assistant to help to decode what he / she is earnestly seeking.

The Arabic word Jibrāʾīl is a compound of two words (1) جبر and (2) ايل - the word Jibreel appeared 3 times in the entire Quran. First we must know the overall essence of the meaning of J-B-R by analyzing the root word of Jibreel. The basic meaning is to reduce from fractured state, restoration, recovered, repaired to sound / good / right state - Algebra علم الجبر is one of the derivative of J-B-R and is in the the same family of words that include word جبريل / Jibrāʾīl -  second the word ايل is a name of the God; originally it is Hebrew or Syriac word but later it is Arabicized according to Ibn-El-Kelbee [died 204 AH]. He says that جبرائيل and مِيكَالَ are similar to عبد الله and عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَن - the word ايل signifies servant according to Ajams but it signifies name of the God according to majority of people.


According to my understanding in Quranic context Jibrāʾīl is the authority inside us that solves / restores the hidden knowledge or unknown factor x through deduction  and calculation as done in Algebra.

 

UNDERSTANDING JIBRAEEL THROUGH QURAN:


2:97 قُلْ مَن كَانَ عَدُوًّا لِّجِبْرِيلَ فَإِنَّهُ نَزَّلَهُ عَلَىٰ قَلْبِكَ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَهُدًى وَبُشْرَىٰ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ


Say, "Whoever is an enemy for Gabriel [faculty of mind which solves the unknown (x) factor - Algebra shares the same root word as Jibraeel] -Then indeed he who has brought it down upon your heart / mind / intellect, with call of Allah [system of consciousness], assuring the truth that which distinct within its power / authority and a guidance and sensibility for those who are safe / secure."


بِإِذْنِ - with call - 

قَلْبِكَ - your heart / mind / intellect
يَدَيْهِ - its power, authority, control, influence, possession, help, hand...


2:98 مَن كَانَ عَدُوًّا لِّلَّهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَجِبْرِيلَ وَمِيكَالَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ عَدُوٌّ لِّلْكَافِرِينَ


Whoever is an enemy to Allah and His Malaikah and His messengers and Gabriel and Michael [source of intelligence]- then indeed, Allah is an enemy for those who camouflage / conceal / ignorant.



2:99 وَلَقَدْ أَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ آيَاتٍ بَيِّنَاتٍ ۖ وَمَا يَكْفُرُ بِهَا إِلَّا الْفَاسِقُونَ

And We have certainly revealed towards you clear / distinct signs, and no one would disguise / hide them except the defiantly disobedient.  


JUST FOR THE PURPOSE OF EXPLANATION:

In modern terminology Allah is the System of Consciousness or an Internet that delivers provides different services to the electronic device. We are electronic devices that need tools and applications like data storage, servers, databases, networking, and software. I consider Quran as the book of instruction that direct / guide our internal mechanism to operate correctly.

Malaikah [authority to balance], Rasuls [inherent developers], Nabis [inherent self inspired programmers], Jibraeel [decoder], Mikhaeel [provide intelligence] and Kitab [programming language and script] are those tools and applications which drives the mechanism of human machine. If we are hostile or become enemies to these applications we ceased to remain human beings. The word Mutaqi signifies one who take precaution and are thoughtful, diligent, careful in operating these applications.


I want to keep this article very simple,brief and digestible for the readers as the subject is unconventional and require deliberation. I do not wish to touch other verses and make the article lengthy or more complex.






Wednesday, 4 March 2020

SWIM TOWARDS KNOWLEDGE [SUBHAAN]



To learn how to swim [seek knowledge - TASBIH] is a natural instinct, dormant in all of us. Step in the sea of knowledge [الْبَحْرَ] and fling your mental faculties vigorously to stay afloat and you will be a good swimmer. One who makes an intense effort to seek knowledge is called الْمُسَبِّحِينَ [l-musabiḥīna] by the Quran. The word l-musabiḥīna also means good swimmer in colloquial Arabic. The message of the book Quran is similar. The criterion [Furqan] will come to you as your guide once you step in the battleground of knowledge [لْمِحْرَابَ]. The Arabic word l-miḥ'rābi is wrongly translated as prayer chamber; actually it is place of internal fights and not an open physical war. Its a space where diverse thoughts clash.

If you stay safe in shallow waters [knowledge] you will never learn swimming even in a hundred years. The Quran is revealed only to those who dare to swim in the sea of knowledge like how Moses did and made a path for fear / arrogance / pride [Pharoah] to get drown in it.

The word Subhaan سُبْحَانَ means one who is abundant in knowledge a derivative of الْمُسَبِّحِينَl-musabiḥīna