On verses and signs congregated around the origin (Part 2)

In the previous post, I’ve shown you that signs are associated with physical forms. Furthermore, and in order to shed more light on the concept, I’ve added one other Arabic root, علم, that shows us several examples of what signs are, and to one of them I now wish to pay special attention: the standard or banner to which soldiers congregate.

In ancient Rome, the military standard was named signum (the source of our sign), a word whose general meaning was that of a a mark, token, sign, indication. In its particular use in military language, the signum was the distinctive sign of a division of an army, a meaning that gave birth to several expressions, such as the following of the standard to denote the marching in military order; the relinquishing the standard as a synonym of deserting, and the fixing the banner as likened to encamping. This last meaning was conveyed in Latin through the expression signa figere. Meaning to fix, fasten, attach, affix, the verb figo (the source of  adverb fixe, that is, fixedly) was used as an allusion to the fixing in the ground, hence to erect or set up.

The Arabic root نصب (nSb), means to put, set upright. It can be applied to stones set up as a sign or mark to show the way. Furthermore, when used with the standard of علم it means setting it up. One other interesting thing is that this root signifies origin, source, a place whence a thing grows.

The noun origin derives from origo, to rise, while the verb denoting that action, orior, was used applied to the heavenly bodies as meaning to become visible, appear.
Besides origin, نصب also means dust rising high. In order to understand its presence side by side with origin, I’ll first ask you to pay attention to 30:20 “And of His signs is that He created you from dust”, and 35:11 “And God created you from dust, then from a sperm-drop“.
Dust is the name given to fine dry particles of earth. The noun particle derives from Latin particula, a small part or little bit – a diminutive of pars, a part, piece, portion. This same word gave origin to: partibilis, divisible; particulatio (particularize), a dividing into small parts or pieces; and to partitio (partition), used by philosophers as meaning a logical division into parts or members.

The root نصب signifies a portion as well.

The Latin word for dust is pulvis, a source of derivation of to pulverize, that is, to reduce a substance to fine particles. Latin pulvis was also used in relation to soil, hence alluding properly to potter’s earth, a substance whose elasticity allows it to create artifacts of several shapes.

From all this, I think it is possible to conclude that origin is associated with that which comes to existence by means of the firm congregation of parts, of which the soldiers congregation to the banner, and the particles of earth gathered to form dust and potter’s earth seems to be a symbol.

In 83:6-7 we read “[Man] was created from a fluid, ejected, emerging from between the backbone and the ribs.” The noun ribs is conveyed by the same root denoting dust in 30:20 and 35:11 – that is, نصب.

In what backbone is concerned, it is conveyed by صلب (Slb), that not only refers to any portion of the spine (particularly the lumbar portion, or loins),  but also to a banner or standard.

The backbone is also known as spinal column. The spinal column is a vertical structure made up of bone and cartilaginous matter that supports the trunk and the head. It is composed of roughly 33 bones called vertebrae -  Latin word for joint. Each pair of vertebrae is connected by a joint that stabilizes it and allows it to move. The spine is home to the spinal cord, or spinal marrow, a column of nerve tracts that, along with the brain, form the central nervous system, to which is sent all the information apprehended by the senses  – which means that we should add the spine to the the list where we already have the standard and dust-potter’s earth as symbols of origin. But not only the spine… we should also add the mother, a meaning that we get from Arabic ام (‘m), also meaning that to which other things are collected together as well as source, origin, foundation or basis of a thing, its stay, support or cause of subsistence. This root does not mention the spine, however it sure denotes the ensign, or standard, which an army follows.

In the next post, I will be analyzing signs dependence on the sense of vision.

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