"what is between one's hands" in the quran

what does this phrase mean in the quran? most of the time it's translated as "before", but I don't know if "before" here means "during the period of time preceding" or "in front of". a lot of times it's coupled with the phrase "what is behind it/him/them/us", which makes me assume that it's the spatial meaning ("in front of") that's right. there's also a verse that says that djinns were working "between the hands" of Solomon, which I thought was about djinns working "in front of" Solomon. but sometimes it would make sense that "during the period of time preceding" is more correct, ie about winds coming "between the hands" of His mercy, etc.

and strange enough, sometimes it could also mean "the present time"? this is what I understood from certain translations of 2:66: some translate "between it's hands" as "their time" (asad), "their own generations" (pickthall + hilali/khan) "at that time" (haleem), "who were present (sahih int). I thought it's quite strange that the same phrase could mean both "before" and "present", since the two meanings are contradictory?

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Topic: "what is between one's hands" in the quran

kephas

OP - January 22, 2015, 04:30 PM

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