User:CPO675/Sandbox 1: Difference between revisions

Not only is this metonymy immediately understandable thanks to the early ‘excuse’ in Q 79:32: wa-l-jibāla arsāhā (“and established the mountains firmly”), it is also already prepared in the poetry (see Zuhayr 13:101: a-lā lā arā ʿalā l-hawādithi bāqiyan wa-lā khālidan illā l-jibāla l-rawāsiyā, “I see nothing that can withstand the processes or is eternal but the established mountains”; see SEAP, 516). Because it is based on the image of the anchor throwing, cf. Noah’s Ark Q 11:41: wa-qāla rkabū fīhā bi-smi llāhi majrāhā wa-mursāhā (“He said: ‘Embark in it, in the name of God make it journey and drop anchor.’​”). The idea of the mountains as supporting pillars on which the tent of Heaven rests can already be found in the Psalms, for example Ps 104, which is reflected in the Qurʾan in Q 78 (see HC 1, 274–289).

V. 19–21 wa-l-arḍa madadnāhā wa-alqaynā fīhā rawāsiya wa-anbatnā fīhā min kulli shayʾin mawzūn / wa-jaʿalnā lakum fīhā ma ʿāyisha wa-man lastum lahu bi-rāziqīn / wa-in min shayʾin illā ʿindanā khazāʾinuhu wa-mā nunazziluhu illā bi-qadarin ma ʿlūm] The āyāt series, which began with the embellishment of Heaven, continues with the description of the earth, in which—according to the same worldview that is also used in ancient Arabic poetry—mountains (here metonymically referred to as “solidly founded,” rawāsin,) serve as the pillars of the sky and are therefore firmly fixed (see Zuhayr, Diwan 13:101; SEAP, 361: a-lā lā arā ʿalā l-hawādithi bāqiyan wa-lā khālidan illā l-jibāla l-rawāsiya, “Well I see nothing that face the blows of fate and outlast them as the firmly inserted mountains”). For this idea of the earth as a tent covered by Heaven spread evenly, see Ps 104 and see its qurʾanic paraphrase in Q 78:6–16 (on this HC 1, 274–289). Qualifying the vegetation as mawzūn could refer to its paired character; elsewhere min kulli zawjin bahīj (Q 50:7), min kulli zawjin karīm (Q 26:7) are mentioned.