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Semen Production in the Quran: Difference between revisions
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===Verses 86:6-7=== | ===Verses 86:6-7=== | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|86|6}}| | There is relatively little disagreement over the proper translation of {{Quran|86|6}}. The only recurrent disagreement between translations is over whether the word ''maa'' should be translated literally as 'water' or generalized to 'fluid'. Most translations opt for the former translation, which is accurate to the Arabic text, as opposed to the latter, which amounts to a metaphorical interpretation. No scholar has expressed disagreement over the fact that the word for water (''maa'') was the standard Arabic euphemism for 'semen' - many translations have included this point in their footnotes on the verse.{{Quote|{{Quran|86|6}}|'''Arabic:''' خُلِقَ مِن مَّآءٍ دَافِقٍ<br>'''Corpus translation (literal):''' He is created from a water [''maa'', the word 'water' was the standard Arabic euphemism for semen], ejected,<br>'''Transliteration:''' ''Khuliqa min main dafiqin''}}As can be seen in the competing translations listed below, there is significant disagreement among Islamic translations and, as will be discussed, controversy surrounding the translation of the subsequent verse, {{Quran|86|7}}.{{Quote|{{Quran|86|7}}|'''Arabic:''' يخرج من بين الصلب والترائب<br>'''Corpus translation (literal):''' Coming forth from between the backbone and the ribs.<br>'''Transliteration:''' ''Yakhruju min bayni alssulbi waalttara-ibi''}}{{Quote|{{Qtt|86|7}}|'''Yusuf Ali:''' ''proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs.'' | ||
'''Pickthal:''' ''that issued from between the loins and ribs.'' | |||
'''Pickthal:''' ''that issued from between the loins and ribs.'' | |||
'''Arberry:''' ''issuing between the loins and the breast-bones.'' | '''Arberry:''' ''issuing between the loins and the breast-bones.'' | ||
'''Shakir:''' ''coming from between the back and the ribs.'' | |||
'''Shakir:''' ''coming from between the back and the ribs | |||
'''Sarwar:''' ''which comes out of the loins and ribs.'' | |||
''' | '''Khalifa:''' ''from between the spine and the viscera.'' | ||
'''Hilali/Khan:''' ''proceeding from between the back-bone and the ribs.'' | |||
''' | |||
'''Malik:''' ''that is produced from between the loins and the ribs.'' | |||
'''QXP:''' ''that issued from between tough rocks and mingled dust.'' | |||
'''Maulana Ali:''' ''coming from between the back and the ribs.'' | |||
a. as the part of the body that should be covered with clothing and about which the clothes are bound; so, to gird (up) the loins (lit. and fig.), to prepare for strenuous exertion.}}The Lane's Lexicon of Classical Arabic definition for ''sulb'' includes the following: | '''Free Minds:''' ''it comes out from between the spine and the testicles.''}} | ||
====The word ''sulb'', translated as 'loins'==== | |||
Many Islamic translations opt to translate the word ''sulb'' in {{Quran|86|7}} as 'loins', evoking the euphemistic sense of the word 'loins' which alludes to the reproductive organs of a male. It is important to note that this sense of the word 'loins' is secondary to its primary sense, which refers to the lumber portion of the back (hence the word ''sirloin'', which refers to '(a piece of) meat from the back of an animal near the tail or from the top part of the back legs').<ref>[https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/loin "Loin", Cambridge Dictionary]</ref> Both sense of the word are accounted for in the Oxford English Dictionary.{{Quote|"Loin", Oxford English Dictionary|Loin, n.<br>1. a. In the living body. Chiefly pl. The part or parts of a human being or quadruped, situated on both sides of the vertebral column, between the false ribs and the hip-bone.<br>2. Chiefly Biblical and poet. This part of the body, regarded: a. as the part of the body that should be covered with clothing and about which the clothes are bound; so, to gird (up) the loins (lit. and fig.), to prepare for strenuous exertion.}}The Lane's Lexicon of Classical Arabic definition for ''sulb'' includes the following:{{Quote|[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume4/00000436.pdf صلب Lane's Lexicon]|and any portion of the back containing vertebrae: (S, MSB, TA:) [and particularly '''the lumbar portion; the loins''':] and the back [absolutely]}}Lane also quotes an Arab saying that features ''sulb'', translating and explaining it as follows (''sperma'' is a Late Latin word meaning seed, or semen):{{Quote|[http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume4/00000436.pdf صلب Lane's Lexicon]|''These are the sons of their loins:'' Because the sperma of the man is held to proceed from the sulb of the man}} | |||
===Supporting evidence in other verses and hadith=== | ===Supporting evidence in other verses and hadith=== | ||
Independent corroboration that ''sulb'' in the Qur'an refers to the back or backbone is found in another verse on the same subject using a different word for back. Verse 7:172 says that the offspring of the children of Adam are from their backs (loins). Instead of ''sulb'', the word here is ''thahr'', which means the back<ref>thahr - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume5/00000212.pdf Lane's Lexicon Book I page 197]</ref>, as is clearly the case in other verses such as {{Quran|6|31}}.{{Quote|{{Quran|7|172}}|When thy Lord drew forth from the Children of Adam - from their loins - their descendants...}}Arabic: مِنۢ بَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ | Independent corroboration that ''sulb'' in the Qur'an refers to the back or backbone is found in another verse on the same subject using a different word for back. Verse 7:172 says that the offspring of the children of Adam are from their backs (loins). Instead of ''sulb'', the word here is ''thahr'', which means the back<ref>thahr - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume5/00000212.pdf Lane's Lexicon Book I page 197]</ref>, as is clearly the case in other verses such as {{Quran|6|31}}.{{Quote|{{Quran|7|172}}|When thy Lord drew forth from the Children of Adam - from their loins - their descendants...}}Arabic: مِنۢ بَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ | ||
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*[[Scientific Miracles in the Quran]] | *[[Scientific Miracles in the Quran]] | ||
{{Hub4|Reproduction|Reproduction}}{{Hub4| | {{Hub4|Reproduction|Reproduction}}{{Hub4|Mistranslations of Islamic Scripture (English)|Mistranslated Verses}} | ||
==External Links== | ==External Links== | ||