RE: [Quranic Reflection]: The universe is expanding
July 6, 2020 at 8:00 pm
(This post was last modified: July 6, 2020 at 8:16 pm by GrandizerII.)
(July 6, 2020 at 7:55 pm)WinterHold Wrote:(July 6, 2020 at 2:09 am)Grandizer Wrote: I'm not much familiar with classic Arabic, so don't know what "la" indicates grammatically. Are you sure it's referring to the future, and not the present? That said, it is important to note the good possibility that, as others have said, this resembles a few verses from the Bible itself where also a clear distinction between the heaven and the earth is made. So it seems to me the cosmology implied is that the heaven (sky) is stretched wide (by the divine) and the earth (separate from heaven) is spread out.
Rereading the verse, I'm not convinced "mousi3oun" is a verb, it sounds to me like it's a noun meaning something like the "widener(s)". "la" seems to be a qualifier of some sort, but not clear if it renders the term right after to be "future". It seems to be an article of some form.
"la" in Arabic has more than 4 types, each type adding an extra meaning for a word or a sentence.
The one used in this verse is called "lam al-tawkeed لام التوكيد"; it gets added to the "verbal sentence" and doesn't affect the "future tense".
An example for it is "ان التاريخ ليعيد نفسه "
Or in franco-Arabic writing: "2n al taree5 la yo3eedo nafsah"
In English: "history repeat itself".
Yes I'm sure about the future; the "lam al tawkeed" never comes with the past or present; or else the whole sentence doesn't make any sense.
"Mouse3oon موسعون" is called "اسم فاعل" from the original verb "awsa3 اوسع".
From what I'm reading, this "lam al tawkeed" is for emphasis, and nothing to do with time?
And if "mouse3oon" is an "ism" (noun) does it not mean "that/those who widen" (youse3)?
Look at it this way. Instead of "mouse3oun", let's consider the word "khalikoon" instead.
Wa inna la khalikoon (if I'm doing it right) should translate to "We are the creator(s)", it doesn't mean they will continue creating into the future, only that they are [its] creator