rel="nofollow" href="#fb3_img_img_7d2c5950-070e-5614-9091-ad46c6eae6a0.jpg" alt=""/>ib, my companion? I can look at the sky and think that I know what the Qur’n means by star, but I cannot know this supposed ib. To my eyes, the verse reads almost as sarcasm, because this companion cannot be my companion. I have never met my ib, except in dreams and drug visions. The Qur’n rubs this in my face.
Something gets lost in the translated your, because English has only one your, regardless of number or gender. When the Qur’n refers to my ib, it expresses the second-person possessive with the plural masculine suffix, kum. The Qur’n here reminds me that I am not its only reader; I am one man among many men for whom he is a companion. In ibukum, a homosocial bond is assumed: ibukum could be translated as “the male companion of you men.” Because the masculine plural also serves as an inclusive, generic plural, kum would be used to address a mixed group of both men and women, but we don’t know who is there: This kum is not changed by the presence or absence of women.
I do not know the name that my companion was given at birth, but the Qur’n calls him both Muammad and Amad. Sra 47 is traditionally called Muammad, though sra titles are not part of the Qur’n proper. The text of the Qur’n mentions my companion by name five times: four for Muammad, one for Amad. The discrepancy of names has led some scholars to suggest that Muammad, signifying an object of praise, was an honorific title, not a birth name. At any rate, in these five appearances, Muammad’s role overwhelms the details of his person. The Qur’n tells us that Muammad is the messenger of Allh (48:29); that he is the messenger of Allh and seal of prophets, despite the fact that he is not the father of any men (33:40); that he is nothing but a messenger, and other messengers before him have died (3:144); that those who believe in what has been sent down to him will have their misdeeds erased (47:2); and that Jesus foretold to his people the coming of one who would be named Amad (61:6). Other than that, we don’t get much information. The Qur’n tells me almost nothing concrete about my companion.
In contrast, Musa/Moses is mentioned by name 136 times. Ibrahim/Abraham is mentioned 69 times, as is Jesus (who is called by three names: ‘
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