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estuary of the river that went as far as 'Ayn Shams, where the Pharoah
resided. Whoever stood at one bank of Nile could see the other across. Allah says to Moses (about the golden Calf): We will burn it and will scatter its dust over the yam. 85
This incident occurred in the desert of Till. It is not possible that there was an ocean or lake or river there. It must have been a small tank, where rain water had collected, and where these people had come or a reservoir which collected the water from the rocks of the mountain. In the Qur'an the words, yam and bahr both are used, and 'Ajjaj has distinguished between both of them: 'As if the sea has overcome a larger reservoir.'
We have quoted whatever the lexicographers have written about the
ocean. The lexicographer ought to know what he is writing about. But bahr, in fact, is that water towards which rivers flow and whose water does not fall into any river except when it turns towards the rivers during the tides, and that too temporarily. Such water becomes heavy through admixture with the ingredients of the soil. It is, in addition, so saline that it passes beyond saltiness to become very bitter. Some people say it is called bahr because it passes an absolute prognosis, e.g., in acute diseases. Bohran (the crisis of a disease) is so called because it gives an absolute prognosis about the sick person. Also, as in bohran, the causes of the tides are mysterious. A storm could persist for two days and sometimes for two months, Thus bahr and bohran both give verdict in their tidal movement. Shells and the Occurrences of Pearls
The bony structures with which marine animals guard themselves
against predators are also the genus of shells. These shells are called khazaf, e.g., the scales upon the crocodile's skin, the two leathery shields in the case of the tortoise, saucer-like structures of shelled animals, snailshells, etc. These structures can appear in all kinds of water and in such "places as are characterised by humidity and moisture in the air, e.g., Jurjan and Tabaristan. Animals having an outer shell and the snail are called kawhalah in
Jurjan. The fluid of the animal whose canal is filled with flesh, which has two fleshy horns which penetrate into it like a bifurcated bough and come outspread, discharging a fluid, has been called sacfid al-halzun (the pus of the snail) by Galen, as this creature wets the ground when it crawls along. When this liquid matter dries up, it becomes like shiny saliva. We were brought some snails from the wells of the Zaruban mines. They were discovered after digging to a depth of 150 cubits. The size of the walnut, they had very thick and stony shells. They had markings described upon themselves — as if the designs had been inscribed |
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