Quran Translation Feedback and Comments - Translation of 67:5
- Thu 16 Aug, 2012 9:18 pm Post subject: Translation of 67:5
Salaam brother, hope all is well with you.
I was going through your translation and saw that you decided to translate the following verse as such
وَلَقَدْ زَيَّنَّا السَّمَاء الدُّنْيَا بِمَصَابِيحَ وَجَعَلْنَاهَا رُجُومًا لِّلشَّيَاطِينِ وَأَعْتَدْنَا لَهُمْ عَذَابَ السَّعِيرِ
And We have certainly decorated the lowest sky with lamps and have made it what is thrown at the devils and have prepared for them the torture of blaze.
All translators i am aware of relate the mafoul bihi in جَعَلْنَاهَا to the مَصَابِيحَ . This means the مَصَابِيحَ are "what have been made projectiles". But i never understood their rendering because the mafoul bihi is in the feminine singular yet مَصَابِيحَ is the masculine plural. The only word the mafoul bihi can be refering to is therefore the sama' that is also in the feminine singular. Is this how you understand the verse? Because this is exactly how i always understood it.
Is there a rule justifying these translators' rendering as such or are they mistaken:
And certainly We have adorned this lower heaven with lamps and We have made them missiles for the Shaitans, and We have prepared for them the chastisement of burning.
I have heard of a rule that the feminine singular is used for plural inanimate objects regardless of gender, is this true or not? Could their rendering be due to the fact that masaabiha is a jam' mukassar?
Thanks for taking the time to respond
- Sat 18 Aug, 2012 10:19 pm Post subject:
I just realized my error. The feminine "mafoul bihi" in جَعَلْنَاهَا doesnt have to be related to a feminine noun, when there is a plural. For example in وَالْبُدْنَ جَعَلْنَاهَا لَكُم مِّن شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ.
But we have an interesting situation in 67:5 because we have 2 nouns (sama' and masaabiha) to which جَعَلْنَاهَاcan be referring to.
- جَعَلْنَاهَاcan be referring to both at the same time for example the stars are rujum because of their gamma rays that reach even to the earth, and the sama' (ie what is above) because the meteors come from above the jinn.
- جَعَلْنَاهَا can be referring to the masaabiha alone, without the sama'
My other question is this. Can جَعَلْنَاهَا refer to the sama' alone, without the masaabiha or does it have to include the masaabiha because it is followed by the plural رُجُومًا?
- Wed 22 Aug, 2012 8:10 pm Post subject:
Salam brother
Happy Eid
Thanks for you feedback, and yes it certainly can refer to SAMA, but the translation should be
And We have made it places for stoning the devils
I see both possibilities valid
Take are and stay in touch
- Wed 22 Aug, 2012 10:10 pm Post subject:
Happy eid to you and your family.
I certainly understand it as refering to sama' only due to the fact that the Quran in 15:16-17 makes a distinction between the guarding system that was set in the times of revelation (through the meteors) and the shining objects adorning our sky. Again it says sama' addunya has been adorned with kawaakib 37:6 AND/WA guarding/hifthan against the devils 37:7,41:12. It seperates the guarding system and the shining objects decorating the night sky (stars, planets, etc). So it is because of these reasons that i think جَعَلْنَاهَا should only refer to sama' in 67:5
- Thu 23 Aug, 2012 5:09 am Post subject:
I actually believe that it referes to the sama more so I will change my translation inshaa Allah