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I put Books to the Test of Life
Bismillah.
وقد وصفه كعب الأحبار فقال: "كان يوسف حسن الوجه، جعد الشعر، واسع العينين، مستوي الخلق، أبيض اللون، عريض الساقين والساعدين والعضدين، خميص البطن، صغير السرة، يخرج النور من ضواحكه إذا ابتسم ومن فمه إذا تكلم، فلا يستطيع أحد وصفه، يشبه حسنه ضوء النهار في الليل
"Yusuf was handsome, with kinky hair, wide-eyed, of upright character, white-skinned, with broad shins, forearms, and elbows, flat-bellied, with a small navel. Noor radiated from his cheeks when he smiled and from his mouth when he spoke. No one could describe him; his beauty resembled the daylight in the night."
The description is from كعب الأحبار. Ka`b Ibn Mati` al-Himyari, Abu Ishaq, known as Ka`b al-Ahbar, is trustworthy (thiqah). He belongs to the 2nd [tabaqah]. He lived during both Jahiliyyah and Islam. He lived in Yemen before he moved to Sham [~Syria]. Book is Likely from Imam at-Tabari.
You must be wondering now. You see, if you do not understand classical Arabic and what scholars and Arabs of the past have said about the meaning of white, you would be confused, so let me explain. How can someone have kinky hair and be white skinned at the same time - Whilst in the sweltering heat of ancient Egypt, three thousand years ago? It is not even possible for white people to have kinky hair.
Firstly, the Arabic term for kinky hair is جعد (ja'd). In Classical Arabic dictionaries, it is defined as the "opposite of straight/lank." Hair described as جعد القطط (ja'd al-qutṭ) without any additional term is a commendation and refers to hair that can grow into an afro. However, when accompanied by مفلفل (mufallafal), meaning "peppercorn," as seen in the description of Hussein from Ahlul Bayt, it implies very coarse hair. There are also mentions of Arabs having hair like a bush.
Additionally, there is جعد hair that is rajil(Prophets hair type), distinct from rajul, which simply means man. Kinky hair that is rajil is commonly observed in the Horn of Africa these days. This type of hair is still kinky but grows downward, often extending to or beyond the shoulders.
White/Abyad had only 2 meanings:
In Classical Arabic there are several distinct ‘shades of blackness’ as noted by al-Tha‘labīb in his Fiqh al-lugha [82-82] Abyad/bayad is a particular shade or ‘type’ of blackness. According to the important Syrian hadith scholar and historian of Islam, Shāms al-Dīn al-Dhahabī in his Siyar a’lām al-nubalā’ [II:168]:
“When Arabs say, ‘so-and-so is white (abyad),’ they mean a golden brown complexion with a black appearance.”
Al-Dhahbi wrote:
إِنَّ العَرَبَ إِذَا قَالَتْ: فُلاَنٌ أَبْيَضُ، فَإِنَّهُمْ يُرِيْدُوْنَ الحِنْطِيَّ اللَّوْنِ بِحِلْيَةٍ سَوْدَاءَ، فَإِنْ كَانَ فِي لَوْنِ أَهْلِ الهِنْدِ، قَالُوا: أَسْمَرُ، وَآدَمُ، وَإِنْ كَانَ فِي سَوَادِ التِّكْرُوْرِ، قَالُوا: أَسْوَدُ وَكَذَا كُلُّ مَنْ غَلَبَ عَلَيْهِ السَّوَادُ، قَالُوا: أَسْوَدُ أَوْ شَدِيْدُ الأُدْمَةِ “When Arabs say; So and so is ‘abyad’, they mean a wheatish complexion with slight darkness (hintiy al-lawn bi-hilyatin sawda).
Abu Tayyib Al Laghwi (350 AH) said in his book ,Book of opposites in the speech of the Arabs ( page 40)
”White is only used for people (to mean) being far from being impure and free from defects.”.
كتاب الأضداد في كلام العرب
” و انما الأبيض من الناس البعيد من الدنس، النقي من العيب“
Ibn Mandour, the author of Lisan al Arab narrates from Al Azhari on page 209
“When the Arabs say that a man is white or a woman is white , they mean that he has a pure, clean, free from ugliness…
They don’t mean that he has a white complexion, but they mean that someone is honourable and pure and clean.
When they say that a person’s face is white, they mean that his complexion is free from marks and a type of blackness that is unattractive ”.
إذا قالت العرب فلان أبيض، وفلانة بيضاء، فالمعنى نقاء العرض من الدنس والعيوب
لا يريدون به بياض اللون، ولكنهم يريدون المدح بالكرم، ونقاء العرض من العيوب
وإذا قالوا: فلان أبيض الوجه، وفلانة بيضاء الوجه، أرادوا نقاء اللون من الكلف والسواد الشائن
What Abyad/White means in complexion:
Yemeni children from Lank/Straight hair.
@Cush @Angelina
وقد وصفه كعب الأحبار فقال: "كان يوسف حسن الوجه، جعد الشعر، واسع العينين، مستوي الخلق، أبيض اللون، عريض الساقين والساعدين والعضدين، خميص البطن، صغير السرة، يخرج النور من ضواحكه إذا ابتسم ومن فمه إذا تكلم، فلا يستطيع أحد وصفه، يشبه حسنه ضوء النهار في الليل
"Yusuf was handsome, with kinky hair, wide-eyed, of upright character, white-skinned, with broad shins, forearms, and elbows, flat-bellied, with a small navel. Noor radiated from his cheeks when he smiled and from his mouth when he spoke. No one could describe him; his beauty resembled the daylight in the night."
The description is from كعب الأحبار. Ka`b Ibn Mati` al-Himyari, Abu Ishaq, known as Ka`b al-Ahbar, is trustworthy (thiqah). He belongs to the 2nd [tabaqah]. He lived during both Jahiliyyah and Islam. He lived in Yemen before he moved to Sham [~Syria]. Book is Likely from Imam at-Tabari.
You must be wondering now. You see, if you do not understand classical Arabic and what scholars and Arabs of the past have said about the meaning of white, you would be confused, so let me explain. How can someone have kinky hair and be white skinned at the same time - Whilst in the sweltering heat of ancient Egypt, three thousand years ago? It is not even possible for white people to have kinky hair.
Firstly, the Arabic term for kinky hair is جعد (ja'd). In Classical Arabic dictionaries, it is defined as the "opposite of straight/lank." Hair described as جعد القطط (ja'd al-qutṭ) without any additional term is a commendation and refers to hair that can grow into an afro. However, when accompanied by مفلفل (mufallafal), meaning "peppercorn," as seen in the description of Hussein from Ahlul Bayt, it implies very coarse hair. There are also mentions of Arabs having hair like a bush.
Additionally, there is جعد hair that is rajil(Prophets hair type), distinct from rajul, which simply means man. Kinky hair that is rajil is commonly observed in the Horn of Africa these days. This type of hair is still kinky but grows downward, often extending to or beyond the shoulders.
White/Abyad had only 2 meanings:
In Classical Arabic there are several distinct ‘shades of blackness’ as noted by al-Tha‘labīb in his Fiqh al-lugha [82-82] Abyad/bayad is a particular shade or ‘type’ of blackness. According to the important Syrian hadith scholar and historian of Islam, Shāms al-Dīn al-Dhahabī in his Siyar a’lām al-nubalā’ [II:168]:
“When Arabs say, ‘so-and-so is white (abyad),’ they mean a golden brown complexion with a black appearance.”
Al-Dhahbi wrote:
إِنَّ العَرَبَ إِذَا قَالَتْ: فُلاَنٌ أَبْيَضُ، فَإِنَّهُمْ يُرِيْدُوْنَ الحِنْطِيَّ اللَّوْنِ بِحِلْيَةٍ سَوْدَاءَ، فَإِنْ كَانَ فِي لَوْنِ أَهْلِ الهِنْدِ، قَالُوا: أَسْمَرُ، وَآدَمُ، وَإِنْ كَانَ فِي سَوَادِ التِّكْرُوْرِ، قَالُوا: أَسْوَدُ وَكَذَا كُلُّ مَنْ غَلَبَ عَلَيْهِ السَّوَادُ، قَالُوا: أَسْوَدُ أَوْ شَدِيْدُ الأُدْمَةِ “When Arabs say; So and so is ‘abyad’, they mean a wheatish complexion with slight darkness (hintiy al-lawn bi-hilyatin sawda).
Abu Tayyib Al Laghwi (350 AH) said in his book ,Book of opposites in the speech of the Arabs ( page 40)
”White is only used for people (to mean) being far from being impure and free from defects.”.
كتاب الأضداد في كلام العرب
” و انما الأبيض من الناس البعيد من الدنس، النقي من العيب“
Ibn Mandour, the author of Lisan al Arab narrates from Al Azhari on page 209
“When the Arabs say that a man is white or a woman is white , they mean that he has a pure, clean, free from ugliness…
They don’t mean that he has a white complexion, but they mean that someone is honourable and pure and clean.
When they say that a person’s face is white, they mean that his complexion is free from marks and a type of blackness that is unattractive ”.
إذا قالت العرب فلان أبيض، وفلانة بيضاء، فالمعنى نقاء العرض من الدنس والعيوب
لا يريدون به بياض اللون، ولكنهم يريدون المدح بالكرم، ونقاء العرض من العيوب
وإذا قالوا: فلان أبيض الوجه، وفلانة بيضاء الوجه، أرادوا نقاء اللون من الكلف والسواد الشائن
What Abyad/White means in complexion:
Yemeni children from Lank/Straight hair.
@Cush @Angelina
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