The Glorified Allah commands: ____ “And the parable of those who disbelieve is as the parable of one who calls out to that which hears no more than a call and a cry; deaf, dumb (and) blind, so they do not understand.” (Al-Baqara/The Cow 2/171)

The term ___=na’q stands both for the crow’s sound and for the cry of the shepherd to the cattle to prevent its proceeding[1]. The commentary books have given the second meaning of the word putting the verse in an incomprehensible situation later forcing themselves to explanations not loyal to the original text. Let’s give some examples from the Turkish translations. 

 

The Translation of the Foundation of Religious Affairs

The situation of the kafirs is similar to the situation of the animals who hear the shepherd’s call, because they are deaf, blind and dumb. This is why they don’t think[2].  

In this translation the word ___ has been translated as the call of the shepherd to the cattle. In this case the infidelss are the shepherd not the animals or the translation opposes the grammatical rules of Arabic.

 

The Translation of Elmalili Muhammed Hamdi Yazir

Those infidels don’t hear anything else beside yelling or screaming like those who shout with their ears; they are deaf, blind, dumb furthermore don’t think[3].

No creature screams with its ears so this translation can’t possibly be correct.

 

The Translation of Omer Nasuhi Bilmen:

And the issue of the infidels is like the issue of those animals who have ears only for yelling and screaming and never stop shouting; they are deaf, blind and dumb. They don’t think[4].

This sentence ________ cannot possibly be translated as: “…who have ears only for yelling and screaming and never stop shouting; they are deaf, blind and dump.”

 

The Translation of Suat Yildirim

The situation of those who call the deniers to the right path is similar to the situation of that man who calls the animals that understand nothing beside the yelling and screaming. They are deaf, blind and dumb. This they can’t think to understand[5].

In this translation the previous mistakes have been corrected but a bigger one has been done; the expression________(ve mesl’ullezine keferu)has been given the total opposite meaning when translated as “the situation of those who call the deniers to the right path”.

 

Every translation has carried the previous mistakes to nowadays. The reason of these mistakes is that the relation between verses mostly is not noticed. With some attention the simile im the verse would have shown the whole verse’s meaning. The Glorified Allah commands; “And certainly We have created for hell many of the jinn and the men; they have hearts with which they do not understand, and they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear; they are as cattle, nay, they are in worse errors; these are the heedless ones[6]” (Al-A’raf/ Purgatory 7/ 179)

‘An’am’ means sheep, cows and camels[7]. There is not a single word corresponding to this in Turkish. In many translations it has been interpreted as “four legged”. This interpretation is not right as many kinds such as the dog, the cat and the wild animals are four legged but are not an’ams.

Sheep, cows and camels are animals of beneficial purpose. As the disbelievers are considered of less value, it should be seen for an animal of this category. In the 171^st verse of Al-Baqara the word ___ (yen’iqu) has been used to identify the crow’s sound, so that the animal looked for has been found.

In fact the crow is of less value than the ‘an’am’ as it fed with carrions,eggs, and with small and baby bids. It looks inside the garbage to be fed. It damages the plants of crop, the fruit trees, the vegetables and the vines. It has a developed capability and can be domesticated easily[8].  

In this verse that gives the definition of the disbeliever, you can notice plenty similarity with the crow. “And when he turns back, he runs along in the land that he may cause mischief in it and destroy the tilth and the stock, and Allah does not love mischief-making.” (Al-Baqara/The Cow 2/205)

Those who are not careful with the link between the verses had interpreted the previous verse- the 179^th verse of A’raf as “They are even more deviant than them.” or “They are even more twistedthan them.” As there is no motive to define the sheep, the cows and camels as such, this explanation ends to be mistaken as well.

The relation disbeliever-crow can be noticed in the issue of Cain and Abel. Cain changing his direction from the right one and killing his brother find himself of a worse position than the crow. The verses relating this event are like this: “And relate to them the story of the two sons of Adam with truth when they both offered an offering, but it was accepted from one of them and was not accepted from the other. He said: I I will most certainly slay you. (The other) said: Allah only accepts from those who guard (against evil).
[5.28] If you will stretch forth your hand towards me to slay me, I am not one to stretch forth my hand towards you to slay you surely I fear Allah, the Lord of the worlds:
[5.29] Surely I wish that you should bear the sin committed against me and your own sin, and so you would be of the inmates of the fire, and this is the recompense of the unjust.
[5.30] Then his mind facilitated to him the slaying of his brother so he slew him; then he became one of the losers
[5.31] Then Allah sent a crow digging up the earth so that he might show him how he should cover the dead body of his brother. He said: Woe me! do I lack the strength that I should be like this crow and cover the dead body of my brother? So he became of those who regret.” (Al-Ma’eda/The Feast 5/27-31)

---

15 → reads