Scholars, linguists and dictionaries have all mentioned one of the meanings of alaqah as a leech. The fourteen century dictionary L sā l-‘A b states that “ alaqah refers to a worm living in the water that sucks blood, the plural of which is alaq”12 and in the dictionary of l-Qā ūs l-Muḥīṭ alaq is “a small creature of water that sucks blood [a leech] ”13
The word alaqah also occurs in several languages related to Arabic. In Hebrew there is
עֲלוּק lûqā (or alukah)14, the generic name for any blood-sucking worm or leech. And in Aramaic and Syriac there are words with apparently similar meanings:
In Qur’ānic translations, Abdullah Yusuf Ali (1934 CE) translates alaqah as a “leech-like clot”19, Saheeh International (1997 CE) has a “clinging substance” and “clinging clot”20 while Professor Abdul Haleem (2005 CE) has “clinging form ”21
12 Ibn Manẓūr, in Lisān al-‘Arab, Dār Ṣādir Beirut n d ol 10 pp 261-268; as cited in Zindani et al. (1994, p. 68) . The Lisān al-‘Arab ( لسان العرب , “The Tongue of the Arabs”) was compiled by Ibn Manẓūr (1232-1311CE). It is a monumental work of immense importance that continues until the present day to be the major reference work for the Arabic language.
13 Al-Qā ūs l-Muḥīṭ, vol. 3, p 275 as cited in Zindani et al. (1994, p. 68). Al-Qā ūs l-Muḥīṭ (القاموس المحيط “The Surrounding Ocean”) by Al-Fayrūzabādī (1326-1414 CE) is another major reference work of classical Arabic.
14 “The leech (עֲלוּקָה lûqā ) has two daughters: Gi e and Gi e ” Pro erbs 30:15 (ESV) Hebrew עֲלוּקָה lûqā meaning a leech (Blue Letter Bible). Although the Hebrew word is translated leech in most versions of the Bible, there has been much dispute whether this is the proper meaning. Recourse is therefore had to the Arabic language. See Kaltner (1996, pp. 86-87).
15 “Words or forms of words that occur once only. There are about 1,500 of these in the Old Testament; but only 400 are, strictly, "hapax legomena"; i.e., are either absolutely new coinages of roots, or cannot be derived in their formation or in their specific meaning from other occurring stems.” Hirsch, Casanowicz, Jacobs, and Schloessinger (1906).
16 Gluck (1964, pp. 368-369) Gluck’s opinion of lûqā as used in Proverbs 30:15 is that it does not appear to have been used in the context of a leech and proposes the translation “erotic passion” but this interpretation cannot be supported by the Arabic sources, see Kaltner (1996, pp. 86-87).
17 K āb Ḥayā al-ḥayawān (The Book of the Lives of the Animals) finished in 1372 CE as mentioned in De Somogyi (1950, p. 42).
18 Ibn Wahshīya’s Book on Poisons c.950 CE. Known under various titles: Kitāb al-Shānāq fī al-Sumūm wa’al-tiryaq, Kitāb al-Sumūm wa’al-tiryāqāt, and al-Sumū wadaf‘ madārrhā. Levey (1966, p. 84).
19 Qur’ān 40:67. Ali (1938).
20 Qur’ān 96:2 and 75:38. Saheeh International (1997).
A popular ninth century Christian polemic against Islam charges that Muslims belie e that “God created man from a leech” based on the work of Nicetas of Byzantium. Nicetas, who wrote between 842 and 867 CE, had a copy of the Qur’ān in Greek translation which he made use of to identify the tenets of Islam. His Greek translation renders both alaq and alaqah as bdella (βδελλα) meaning “leech” 22
And in Qur’ānic commentaries, Aṣ-Ṣābūnī (b. 1930 CE) mentions a “leech-like clot”23 while Ibn Kathīr (b. 1302 CE) also mentions the meaning of “elongated like the shape of a leech ”24
Sikandar Hussain (1980 CE) in his essay l l- Alaq) gives one of the meanings of alaqah as a leech25 and Qu ’ : E cycl entry for alaq also mentions the same meanings:
Leeches are bloodsucking worms that belong to the classification phylum Annelida (which includes earthworms, leeches and bristleworms) and are in the subclass Hirudinea.27 The most distinguishing characteristic of Annelida is body segmentation and the body structure of the leech is composed of a series of modular, repeating segments:
21 “[ Alaq is a] stage in the development of a foetus (cf. 22: 5), i.e. embryo. Alaq can also mean anything that clings: a clot of blood, a leech, even a lump of mud. All these meanings involve the basic idea of clinging or sticking.” Abdel Haleem (2005, p. 428).
22 “Nicetas accuses the Qur’ān of teaching that man comes from a leech (Confutatio1, lines 90–92): (he says that man is created from a leech). The phrase is then picked up by Zigabenos, who finds it absurd.. ” Simelidis (2011, pp. 900-902).
23 Aṣ-Ṣābūnī (1980 p 281). 24 Ibn Kathīr (1980 p 242): فصارت علقة حمراء على شكل العلقة مستطيلة
25 Hussain (1980, pp. 107-110).
26 Sahin (2006, p. 27).
27 Yeh (2002).
28 Yeh (2002).
29 Govedich and Bain (2005, p. 1).
The word alaqah also occurs in several languages related to Arabic. In Hebrew there is
עֲלוּק lûqā (or alukah)14, the generic name for any blood-sucking worm or leech. And in Aramaic and Syriac there are words with apparently similar meanings:
The first word ‘alûqāh is a typical hapax legomenon15, though it does occur in the post-Biblical literature in meanings apparently similar to an Aramaic and Syriac word.
In Ad-Damīrī's Arabic zoological lexicon Hayāt al-Hayawān (The Life of the Animals, 1372 CE), there is an article on the leech alaq)17 and in Ibn Wahshīya’s Kitāb al-Sumūm (The Book on Poisons, c. 950 CE) there is the treatment for the one who has swallowed a leech alaq).18
The word ‘alûqāh or ‘alûqā in Aramaic and ‘alqā or ‘alûqā in Syriac, means a “leech” particularly the tiny variety which is swallowed when drinking water and which sucks blood inside the body. The Tal. Bab. [Babylonian Talmud] describes it as a dangerous affliction; therefore we should perhaps understand this word [in Proverbs 30:15] as the name for a disease, one of its symptoms being the swelling of the belly...
The word ‘alaq also exists in Arabic where it means “a clot of blood” and, as a verb, “to stick, cling, hang onto, etc.” hence ‘alaqah = leech. In Arabic, however, it essentially indicates the worm itself, and not necessarily the disease. The word is also known in Amharic and also in the dialect of Tigrē, as ‘alaqětě = leech.16
In Qur’ānic translations, Abdullah Yusuf Ali (1934 CE) translates alaqah as a “leech-like clot”19, Saheeh International (1997 CE) has a “clinging substance” and “clinging clot”20 while Professor Abdul Haleem (2005 CE) has “clinging form ”21
12 Ibn Manẓūr, in Lisān al-‘Arab, Dār Ṣādir Beirut n d ol 10 pp 261-268; as cited in Zindani et al. (1994, p. 68) . The Lisān al-‘Arab ( لسان العرب , “The Tongue of the Arabs”) was compiled by Ibn Manẓūr (1232-1311CE). It is a monumental work of immense importance that continues until the present day to be the major reference work for the Arabic language.
13 Al-Qā ūs l-Muḥīṭ, vol. 3, p 275 as cited in Zindani et al. (1994, p. 68). Al-Qā ūs l-Muḥīṭ (القاموس المحيط “The Surrounding Ocean”) by Al-Fayrūzabādī (1326-1414 CE) is another major reference work of classical Arabic.
14 “The leech (עֲלוּקָה lûqā ) has two daughters: Gi e and Gi e ” Pro erbs 30:15 (ESV) Hebrew עֲלוּקָה lûqā meaning a leech (Blue Letter Bible). Although the Hebrew word is translated leech in most versions of the Bible, there has been much dispute whether this is the proper meaning. Recourse is therefore had to the Arabic language. See Kaltner (1996, pp. 86-87).
15 “Words or forms of words that occur once only. There are about 1,500 of these in the Old Testament; but only 400 are, strictly, "hapax legomena"; i.e., are either absolutely new coinages of roots, or cannot be derived in their formation or in their specific meaning from other occurring stems.” Hirsch, Casanowicz, Jacobs, and Schloessinger (1906).
16 Gluck (1964, pp. 368-369) Gluck’s opinion of lûqā as used in Proverbs 30:15 is that it does not appear to have been used in the context of a leech and proposes the translation “erotic passion” but this interpretation cannot be supported by the Arabic sources, see Kaltner (1996, pp. 86-87).
17 K āb Ḥayā al-ḥayawān (The Book of the Lives of the Animals) finished in 1372 CE as mentioned in De Somogyi (1950, p. 42).
18 Ibn Wahshīya’s Book on Poisons c.950 CE. Known under various titles: Kitāb al-Shānāq fī al-Sumūm wa’al-tiryaq, Kitāb al-Sumūm wa’al-tiryāqāt, and al-Sumū wadaf‘ madārrhā. Levey (1966, p. 84).
19 Qur’ān 40:67. Ali (1938).
20 Qur’ān 96:2 and 75:38. Saheeh International (1997).
A popular ninth century Christian polemic against Islam charges that Muslims belie e that “God created man from a leech” based on the work of Nicetas of Byzantium. Nicetas, who wrote between 842 and 867 CE, had a copy of the Qur’ān in Greek translation which he made use of to identify the tenets of Islam. His Greek translation renders both alaq and alaqah as bdella (βδελλα) meaning “leech” 22
And in Qur’ānic commentaries, Aṣ-Ṣābūnī (b. 1930 CE) mentions a “leech-like clot”23 while Ibn Kathīr (b. 1302 CE) also mentions the meaning of “elongated like the shape of a leech ”24
Sikandar Hussain (1980 CE) in his essay l l- Alaq) gives one of the meanings of alaqah as a leech25 and Qu ’ : E cycl entry for alaq also mentions the same meanings:
The linguistic definition of alaq (singular alaqah) is ‘leech’, ‘medicinal leech’, ‘(coagulated) blood’, ‘blood clot’, or ‘the early stage of the embryo’.26The Leech worm
Leeches are bloodsucking worms that belong to the classification phylum Annelida (which includes earthworms, leeches and bristleworms) and are in the subclass Hirudinea.27 The most distinguishing characteristic of Annelida is body segmentation and the body structure of the leech is composed of a series of modular, repeating segments:
[A]ll annelids are segmented. Segments, also called metameres, are structures that occur repeatedly along the body of the animal.28Leeches have a fixed number of segments, usually 34. They have a small sucker at the anterior (front) end containing the mouth, and a large, often circular sucker at the posterior (rear) end. Leeches feed by ingesting blood through their anterior sucker. Leeches produce an enzyme in their saliva called hirudin, a powerful anticoagulant which prevents the host’s blood from clotting whilst the leech feeds. The Latin name for the well-known blood sucking leech is Hirudo medicinalis. Leeches were once widely used by physicians and barbers for bloodletting practices.
Despite their close association with medieval medicine, leeches today are used for a variety of medical purposes including providing useful treatments for arthritis, blood-clotting disorders, varicose veins and other circulatory disorders and are also used in modern plastic and reconstructive surgery.29Also of interest to this study is the gut which is described as “a straight tube ”30
21 “[ Alaq is a] stage in the development of a foetus (cf. 22: 5), i.e. embryo. Alaq can also mean anything that clings: a clot of blood, a leech, even a lump of mud. All these meanings involve the basic idea of clinging or sticking.” Abdel Haleem (2005, p. 428).
22 “Nicetas accuses the Qur’ān of teaching that man comes from a leech (Confutatio1, lines 90–92): (he says that man is created from a leech). The phrase is then picked up by Zigabenos, who finds it absurd.. ” Simelidis (2011, pp. 900-902).
23 Aṣ-Ṣābūnī (1980 p 281). 24 Ibn Kathīr (1980 p 242): فصارت علقة حمراء على شكل العلقة مستطيلة
25 Hussain (1980, pp. 107-110).
26 Sahin (2006, p. 27).
27 Yeh (2002).
28 Yeh (2002).
29 Govedich and Bain (2005, p. 1).
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