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Explaining Lexical Nuances

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Iththaqalthum
By Dr. V. Abdur Rahim
Islamic Foundation Trust
138-IFT Lane, Perambur High Road,
Chennai-600012
Rs. 100, Pages: 110
Email: [email protected]

Iththaqalthum (اثَّاقَلْتُمْ) means ‘to become heavy inasmuch as to cling to something’. This word appears in verse no. 38 of the Saurah Taubah of the holy Quran wherein Allah refers to reluctance of the hypocrites (munafiqeen) in coming to the battlefield. It is said to represent some morphological peculiarities of the Arabic language. Arabic scholar Dr. V. Abdur Rahim has explained the word in Quranic context. The meaning of the verse read as:
“O’ you who have Faith! What (excuse) have you that when it is said to you: ‘Go forth in Allah’s way’, you should incline heavily to the ground? Are you contented with the life of this world instead of the Hereafter? But the enjoyment of the life of this world, compared with the Hereafter, is but little.” (9: 38)
The preface says, since the explanations of such grammatical points of Arabic language are not available in English, the book assumes significance. The author goes into intricate details of the phonetics, accent and parts of the oral cavity used to pronounce them. The text has been presented in a dialogue form. The author goes on to explain several such Quranic words (verbs as well as nouns) where this lexical instruments find use.
(By A Staff Reviewer)

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