booke

182chapter fourHowever, etymologically the noun ÈanÊf is derived from the Arabicroot È-n-f which means ‘to drift’ or ‘to bend’ and almost alwaysimplies an aspect of incorrectness or distortion. If, for example, someonewalks with a twisted ankle or a crippled foot one would useadjectives derived from È-n-f (e.g., aÈnaf ) in order to indicate a footdistortion. Furthermore, related root words such as kh-n-f or j-n-f,which only differ from È-n-f by a different first radical, connote similarkinds of distortion or deviation, for example, khanafa, is to speakwith a nasal twang, while janafa indicates a distorted sense of justiceor unbalanced judgement, as indicated in the Book:But if anyone fears partiality or wrong-doing [ janaf an ] on the part ofthe testator… ( Al-Baqara 2:182)In our reading of Sårat Al-An#§m, verse 79, the quality of being‘curved’ or ‘bent’ (ÈanÊf ) is a natural quality as it is intrinsic to humannature in the material, objective world. The verse reads as follows:Lo! I have turned my face toward Him who created [ faãara] the heavensand the earth, as one by nature [ÈanÊf an ], 6 and I am not of theidolaters. ( Al-An#§m 6:79; MP)The term ÈanÊf occurs here in the form of a ȧl-accusative, ÈanÊf an ,and designates the state or quality of the act to which the previoussubclause refers, that is, to God’s creation of the heavens and theearth. 7 This implies that nature has been created in a nonlinearham was indeed a model, devoutly obedient to God, (and) true in faith [ÈanÊf an ], andhe joined not gods with God’ ( Al-NaÈl 16:120); ‘So We have taught you the inspired(message), “Follow the ways of Abraham the true in faith [ÈanÊf an ], and he joined notgods with God”’ ( Al-NaÈl 16:123); ‘Abraham was not a Jew nor yet a Christian; buthe was true in faith [ÈanÊf an ], and bowed his will to God’s (which is Islam), and hejoined not gods with God’ ($l #Imr§n 3:67); ‘Say: “God speaks the truth: follow thereligion of Abraham, the sane in faith [ÈanÊf an ]; he was not of the pagans”’ ($l #Imr§n3:95).6MP’s translation of ÈanÊf as ‘upright’ does not reflect MS’s intended ‘non-linear’,nor do AB: ‘a pure natural believer’; AhA: ‘I have chosen one way’; AA: ‘a man ofpure faith’; AH: ‘a true believer’; YA ‘never [shall I give partners to God]’. Lane(Book I) defines ÈanÊf as ‘inclining to a right state or tendency’, also ‘inclining, fromany false religion, to the true religion’, but in a more general sense ‘inclining, fromone religion, to another’. It seems that MS intends to capture this moment of fluctuation,shift (from one end to another), and inconsistency that lies in such ‘incliningfrom one to another’ when he defines ÈanÊf.7Alternative rendering: ‘I have turned my face as a true believer towards Himwho created the heavens and the earth. I am not one of the polytheists’ [AH adds:‘hanÊf an , here, refers to I (Ibrahim) not the created heavens and earth"].