Internal Rhymes as Evidence for Old Hijazi: Difference between revisions

Among the internal rhymes in the Quran, there are cases that shows an unusual word choice by the Quran which clearly shows that these unusual words were chosen so that they form an internal rhyme.

Q80:42﴿ أُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْكَفَرَةُ الْفَجَرَةُ۝﴾

Old Hijazi:          hum ǝl-kafarah ǝl-fajarh

Classical Arabic: humu l-kafaratu l-fajarh

humu l-kafaratu l-fajarh.

The last word cannot be pronounced “l-fajartu” because it’s at the end of the verse and hence the ‘u’ marker for the nominative isn’t added. And since that nothing was added, the final feminine ‘h’ remains and doesn’t turn into a ‘t’.  

The verse is spelled in the Quran as: hum al-kafarah al-fajarh. The classical Arabic pronunciation turns the famine ending of the word “al-kafarah” into a ‘t’. So the word should be spelled with a ‘t’ الكفرت . Yet the word in the Quran isn’t spelled with a ‘t’ in accordance with the claimed pausal spelling rule which justifies the mismatch between the spelling of the Quran and the Classical Arabic pronunciation. Note how if the verse is read the same way it’s spelled then the two words rhyme with each other. This observation applies on all Old Hijazi internal rhymes except the ones where the classical Arabic pronunciation only adds final short vowels on words that don’t end with the feminine ‘ah’. In this special case there’s no mismatch between the classical Arabic pronunciation and the spelling as short vowels cannot be spelled in Arabic. An example of this is:

﴿إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا يُسَارِعُونَ فِي الْخَيْرَاتِ وَيَدْعُونَنَا ‌رَغَبًا وَرَهَبًا ۖ وَكَانُوا لَنَا خَاشِعِينَ۝﴾  

Old Hijazi:            raghabā wa rahabā

Classical Arabic: raghaban wa rahabā

The two words are spelled in the Quran as: raghabā wa rahabā. The classical Arabic nunation of the word “raghab” isn’t written in accordance with the claimed pausal spelling rule. Note how if the two words are read the same way they are spelled then they rhyme with each other.  

﴿‌عُرُبًا أَتْرَابًا۝﴾   

CA: ʕuruban ʾatrābā

The word “ʕurub” wasn’t used anywhere else in the Quran.  

﴿وَلَا يَلِدُوا إِلَّا فَاجِرًا ‌كَفَّارًا ۝﴾

OH: fājirā kaffārā

CA: fājiran kaffārā

The word “fājir” wasn’t used anywhere else in the Quran.  

﴿إِنَّهَا تَرْمِي ‌بِشَرَرٍ كَالْقَصْرِ۝﴾

Note: In the canonical readings, the final word is read “qaṣr”. But a number of non-canonical readings read it as “qaṣar” which makes it rhyme perfectly with the preceding word “sharar”.

﴿وَيْلٌ لِكُلِّ ‌هُمَزَةٍ لُمَزَةٍ ۝﴾   

OH: humazah lumazah

CA: humazatin lumazah

The word “humazah” wasn’t used anywhere else in the Quran.