Document Type : Academicm and Research
Author
Associate Professor, Shiraz Faculty of Quranic Sciences, University of Qur'anic Studies and Sciences, Qom.iran
Abstract
Highlights
One of the verses that exegetes and translators disagree on is verse eleven of the al-Tariq Chapter. What caused the difference is the exact meaning of the word “rajʿ” in this verse. God states in this verse: “By the resurgent heaven.” In translations and exegeses, several meanings have been provided for this word. All of these meanings can probably not be correct.
The most important question of the current research is: what is the reason for the difference between the translators in the translation of the word “rajʿ”? The answer to this question depends on the answer to the following questions: What is the view of etymologists on the meaning of “rajʿ”? Is there narrative evidence in the meaning of “rajʿ”? And if the answer is positive, which narration is preferable? Are the exegetes in different eras more influenced by etymologists or narrations in the meaning and interpretation of “rajʿ”? Are syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations, which are used in new semantics, effective in recognizing the correct meaning of the word?
The exegetes have presented four views on the meaning of “rajʿ” in verse eleven of the al-Tariq Chapter:
Rain: Rain as the meaning of “rajʿ” has been presented by exegetes more than other meanings (to see some of these commentators, see Maqatil, 2002, vol. 4, p. 660; Qommi, 1984, vol. 2, p. 416;). Samarqandi (1416 AH/1995) has said in this regard that “dhat al- rajʿ” means clouds return with rain and rain follows rain (vol. 3, p. 569). This view is supported by the most narrative evidence.
Rotation of the stars, the moon, and the sun: Mahaimi (1983, vol. 2, p. 398) and Buqaie (2006, vol. 8, p. 390) did not mention rain in the meaning of “rajʿ” and interpreted it as the movement of stars and planets.
Angels: Mawardi (n.d.) has raised the possibility that the meaning of “rajʿ” is the angels because they return the actions of God’s servants to heaven (vol. 6, p. 248).
The returning spirit: Ibn Arabi (1422 AH/2001) has defined “rajʿ” as a spirit that returns (vol. 2, p. 423).
Persian and English translators of the Quran, like the exegetes, differ on the meaning of “rajʿ”, such that they have translated it as rain or the rotation of the stars. Influenced by the exegetes, the translators have also paid attention more to narrations.
One of the new methods that has established its position in the semantics of the Quran is semantics based on syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations. One of the most famous figures of this science is the Japanese Toshihiko Izutsu, who has discussed this kind of semantics in two books, God and Man in the Qurʾan and Ethico-Religious Concepts in the Qurʾan.
There are two verses in the Quran that are similar in structure to the verse in question: the verse “By the heaven with its Houses” [al-Buruj: 1] and the verse “By the Sky with (its) numerous Paths” [al-Dhariyat: 7]. The first three words of these two verses are repeated exactly in the eleventh verse of the al-Tariq Chapter and the difference is in the two words “al-burūj” (houses; constellations) and “al-ḥubuk” (paths/orbits). According to this structural similarity, by using the method of paradigmatic relations, these two verses can help in identifying the correct meaning of “rajʿ” in verse eleven of the al-Tariq Chapter.
The explanation is that if we substitute “al-burūj” in the verse “By the heaven with its Houses” [al-Buruj: 1] in the verse and “al-rajʿ” in the verse “By the resurgent heaven” [al-Tariq: 11], the resulting meaning becomes “I swear by the sky with stars.” The semantic essence or the core meaning in the meanings given for “al-ḥubuk” in the exegeses is “beauty.” As explanation, if “al-ḥubuk” means the stars, it can replace “al-rajʿ” in the verse “By the resurgent heaven” and it means: “I swear by the sky full of stars.” According to the paradigmatic relations in these three verses, as well as Ibn Zayd’s narration, which confirms this meaning, we conclude that the translators and exegetes who have taken “al-rajʿ” to mean the rising and setting of the sun, the moon, and the stars are closer to the correct one. Similarly, meanings such as angels do not possess an acceptable aspect for “al-rajʿ” and the exegetes have quoted it without paying attention to Maturidi’s possibility.
Exegetes and translators disagree on the meaning of “rajʿ” in the verse “By the resurgent heaven”. Etymologists have considered the original meaning of “rajʿ” to be return. Therefore, for them, the meaning of “rain” for this word is not conclusive. Rain; the rotation of the sun, moon, and stars; angels, and spirit is one of the meanings mentioned for this word in exegeses, and rain and the rotation of the stars are two meanings mentioned in translations. Through the method of paradigmatic relations in new semantics, considering the two verses “By the heaven with its Houses” [al-Buruj: 1] and “By the Sky with (its) numerous Paths” [al-Dhariyat: 7], which have many similarities, the two words “al-burūj” and “al-ḥubuk” can be substituted for “al- rajʿ”, in which case, the meaning of “rajʿ” is closer to the rotation of the stars than rain.
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