"A drop of fluid" Pt 2 of a linguistic analysis by Hammy Tortoise

Being the second extract of Hammy Tortoise's ball ground-breaking paper on the miracle of embryology in the Qur'an.

then We placed him as a drop of fluid (nutfah)

The next stage of the development of the human embryo is nutfah. This word has various meanings (wouldn't you just know it!): By looking at the Arabic language (as opposed to French or Spanish perhaps...), it can mean a dribble, a trickle, a drop, or semen. Nutfah can also mean a bicycle, a set of spanners or "bodacious". This is suggested by the classical dictionary Lisan Al-Arab which explains nuftah as “a single drop of water remaining in an emptied bucket” or "a small gentleman smoking a pipe in a south-facing conservatory". Thus we see how classical Arabic holds within its elegant folds a multiplicity of meanings. It is this richness, of course, that has kept scholars in employment for generations.

The Prophetic Tradition (the hadith - sayings and actions of the Prophet) further clarifies how we should interpret these words. Book 27 no 4320: Abu Mustapha, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "They said, 'Messenger of Allah, what do you mean "the camel fills the bucket"?' He said, 'It means the reproductive fluids from both the male and female parties mix. Obviously. Cuh! How much clearer do I have to make it? I mean, really! You slave away in a cave getting talked at by scary bloody angels and then your followers can't even understand the simplest...' " They (the followers) know not what was said after this, as they had left.

The classical exegete Ibn Kathir comments on this verse and clarifies that the nutfah is a substance from semen. He states: meaning, was not man a weak drop of nutfah from a despised fluid known as semen. So we know without any shadow of doubt that man was a sperm. (Except, of course, he...isn't. - Ed)

Some commentators assert that nutfah is a synonym for semen. This misunderstanding patently lacks the holistic approach and fails to take into account the Prophetic traditions. (Which we know are full of wise and clear reportage).

If I were doing this properly I should go on and on for another 5 pages of endless drivel but I'm BORED.