Salam Alaikum brothers and sisters.
I have a question about a word in the Qur'an which I often see translated as corn, as in verse 12:43 for example.
"The king (of Egypt) said: 'I do see (in a vision) seven fat kine, whom seven lean ones devour, and seven green ears of corn, and seven (others) withered. O ye chiefs! Expound to me my vision if it be that ye can interpret visions.'"
Now as far as I know (unless I'm mistakin) corn was indigonious (sp?) to the Americas until the colonization of the Americas. So my question is, what is the word in Arabic that is being translated as corn? My guess is that the word has some other meanings, such as grain (in a general sense), and now holds the meaning of corn since the colonization of the Americas.
Wow. That's a good question. I've never come across that before.
Here's the verse: 43. And the king (of Egypt) said: "Verily, I saw (in a dream) seven fat cows, whom seven lean ones were devouring - and of seven green ears of corn, and (seven) others dry. O notables! Explain to me my dream, if it be that you can interpret dreams."
The word is sunbulatin. According to my dictionary, the word just means "ear" or "spike".
Also, keeping in mind what you said, the muslims at the time of the Prophet saws wouldn't have understood the verse as corn anyway! They didn't have corn. So their understanding would have been some kind of grain as you suggested.
Hope this helps.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Surely I was sent to perfect the qualities of righteous character" [Musnad Ahmad, Muwatta Mâlik]
Good i see the admin is doing his work, well done ansar
Say:"O Allah. Lord of Power (And Rule), Thou givest power to whom Thou pleasest, and Thou strippest off power from whom Thou pleasest: Thou enduest with honour whom Thou pleasest, and Thou bringest low whom Thou pleasest: In Thy hand is all good. Verily, over all things Thou hast power.
Ansar is correct. The Torah's reading of these events uses a similar Hebrew word, which is also translated as "corn", but means the same thing as the arabic word in the Qu'ran.
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