al-Dukhān 44:45-46

Ka'l-muhli yaghlī fi'l-buṭūn · Ka-ghalyi'l-ḥamīm

"Like molten metal it boils in the bellies — like the boiling of scalding water."

Two kāfs (particles of comparison) come one after another, and each likens something different. This deserves careful reading.

I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the structure of the two phrases: the term of comparison in the first is a noun (al-muhl), in the second a verbal noun (ghaly). The one says what it resembles, the other how it is.

And it has a consequence: the matter and the movement are likened separately. The text does not give a single image; it builds a two-layered image.

The root was treated at length in al-Maʿārij and this verse was already cited there. I do not repeat it. The summary of that record:

"مَهْل — to move slowly, not to hurry. Muhla (the granting of time), imhāl, tamahhul are of the same root. […] The link between the two senses: molten metal flows slowly. The flow of water is quick; the flow of molten metal is slow and heavy."

And in the closing record of al-Maʿārij this was entered:

"What ٱلْمُهْل is (molten metal / the dregs of oil) — the view of the majority of the lexicographers was transmitted; no firm ruling was issued."

I keep the same record here.

What is peculiar to al-Dukhān is the word's position, and this is worth recording:

The same substance, in three separate positions.

I present this as my own reading, and its ground is the wording of the three verses: in al-Maʿārij muhl is the spectacle of a scene of the Hour; in al-Dukhān it is inside a person. And in al-Maʿārij the root's sense of "flowing slowly" was recorded — a thing's flowing slowly is, seen from outside, a sight; when it is inside, it is a duration.

A difference of reading is transmitted concerning the subject of the verb:

I issue no ruling about the readings. The difference of meaning is small: what boils is either the tree itself or the food made from it.

It was recorded above and appears once more here: both sūras use the word buṭūn (bellies), but with two separate verbs.

The finding recorded in al-Wāqiʿa should be recalled: "to be satisfied is a contentment; to fill is a matter of volume."

al-Dukhān takes one step further — I give it as my own reading: in al-Wāqiʿa the food goes in; in al-Dukhān what happens after it has gone in is told. The two sūras hold two moments of the same scene.

The root was treated in al-Ḥāqqa and al-Maʿārij; it was recorded in al-Wāqiʿa as a chain within that sūra. I do not repeat it. The summary: the word means both "scalding water" and "a devoted friend"; both issue from the idea of heat in the root.

What is peculiar to al-Dukhān is the difference of work between its two occurrences:

The same word, two verses apart, once a measure and once a substance.

I record this as a verifiable repetition within the sūra.