So that blog spot of zeca post connects me to this
https://safaitic.blogspot.com/2021/05/imruu-l-qays-and-sabaic-inscription.html blog spot it says with this bronze plaque
Imruʾu l-Qays and the Sabaic inscription Haram 40
Thursday, May 6, 2021 In Ancient South Arabia, over two-thousand years ago, a man named Ḥaram son of Ṯawbān commissioned this bronze plaque as an act of penitence. His crime: he approached a woman during menstruation and engaged in intercourse with her. The inscription describes in detail the act that led to his ritual impurity. Here is the relevant section:
w-hn ms¹ ʾn*ṯ*<m> ḥyḍ<m> w-lm yġts¹l w-hn nḍḫ ʾks¹wt-<h>w hmr<m>
'because he touched a menstruating woman and did not wash and because semen defiled (lit. wet) his clothing'
For this, Ḥaram had to pay a fine of an unspecified amount and publicly repent. There are a good number of 'northern (Haramic)' Sabaic texts belonging to this genre, which detail a variety of sins and fines to be paid. While there is certainly a lot to say about the social and historical context of this inscription, what struck my eye when reading it was the collocation of the verbs yġtsl 'to wash' and nḍḫ 'to wet, moisten'. This pair occurs again in a line of Imru' al-Qays' muʿallaqah. Let us set up the scene:
The protagonist is on a hunt when there appears a flock of sheep wild sheep. The ewes are compared to beautiful virgins of Duwār (a shrine), with long robes. He overtakes them and slaughters them for eating.
فَعَنَّ لَنَا سِرْبٌ كَأَنَّ نِعَاجَهُ
عَذَارَى دَوَارٍ فِي مُلاءٍ مُذيَل
'Then there appeared before us a flock, the ewes of which like the virgins of Duwār in long robes'
...
فَعَادَى عِدَاءً بَيْنَ ثَوْرٍ ونَعْجَةٍ
دِرَاكًا، وَلَمْ يَنْضَحْ بِمَاءٍ فَيُغْسَلِ
'He, overtaking them, then killed them one by one, bull and cow alike, and did not break into a sweat that he should be washed'
The final phrase, in italics, uses collocated cognates of the Sabaic phrase mentioned earlier; compare wa lam yanḍaḥ bi-māʾin fa-yuġsal to Sabaic w-lm yġts¹l w-hn nḍḫ ʾks¹wt-<h>w hmr<m>. Arabic māʾ can also be used of semen, cf. Sabaic hmrm. Is this a coincidence? In light of comparing the sheep to maidens associated with a shrine, namely Duwār, it seems unlikely. Rather, the poem of Imru' al-Qays seems to be drawing on the same ritualistic language to describe this hunting scene. But unlike Ḥaram, our protagonist does not defile himself with "water" lam yanḍaḥ bi-māʾin and so he does not require purification, yuġsal. In other words, the Arabic poem is the mirror opposite of the Sabaic text. It speaks to the protagonist's maintaining of ritual purity during the hunt, which was a sacral activity after all.
The linguistic connection between these two texts, separated by many centuries, speaks to a common core of ritualistic language. It is impossible to know if in the 6th c., when this poem was supposedly compiled, poets understood the full signification of the metaphor or if it simply a stock phrase used in artistic compositions such as this. Nevertheless, the continuity between the pre-Islamic odes and earlier Arabian material is significant and, as I have shown in other studies, speaks to the layered character of the pre-Islamic Qasidah odes, parts of which certainly reflect later interpolation and others stretching far back into the pre-Islamic past.
A note on the language of the inscription:
The language of the penitence inscriptions was classified by Stein (2007) as the 'northern' dialect of Sabaic or Haramic (or Amiritic), from the region of Haram where they were produced. These texts betray the impact of a North Arabian variety, as seen in the use of lam as a negator. But their main grammatical character is Sabaic. If these texts were composed by North Arabians using Sabaic as a literary language, then this would further support the cultural and linguistic ties to the pre-Islamic Arabic Qasidahs. Imru' al-Qays was, after all, a Kindite, a northern group that in pre-Islamic times used Sabaic as a literary language but - at least by the 6th c. CE - used Arabic as a vernacular.
well That is what that blog spot says So I read
Quran verse 2:222 وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْمَحِيضِ ۖ قُلْ هُوَ أَذًى فَاعْتَزِلُوا النِّسَاءَ فِي الْمَحِيضِ ۖ وَلَا تَقْرَبُوهُنَّ حَتَّىٰ يَطْهُرْنَ ۖ فَإِذَا تَطَهَّرْنَ فَأْتُوهُنَّ مِنْ حَيْثُ أَمَرَكُمُ اللَّهُ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ التَّوَّابِينَ وَيُحِبُّ الْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ
Yusuf Ali: They ask thee concerning women's courses. Say: They are a hurt and a pollution: So keep away from women in their courses, and do not approach them until they are clean. But when they have purified themselves, ye may approach them in any manner, time, or place ordained for you by Allah. For Allah loves those who turn to Him constantly and He loves those who keep themselves pure and clean.
Mohsin Khan: They ask you concerning menstruation. Say: that is an Adha (a harmful thing for a husband to have a sexual intercourse with his wife while she is having her menses), therefore keep away from women during menses and go not unto them till they are purified (from menses and have taken a bath). And when they have purified themselves, then go in unto them as Allah has ordained for you (go in unto them in any manner as long as it is in their vagina). Truly, Allah loves those who turn unto Him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves (by taking a bath and cleaning and washing thoroughly their private parts, bodies, for their prayers).
Shakir: And they ask you about menstruation. Say: It is a discomfort; therefore keep aloof from the women during the menstrual discharge and do not go near them until they have become clean; then when they have cleansed themselves, go in to them as Allah has commanded you; surely Allah loves those who turn much (to Him), and He loves those who purify themselves.
Pickthall: They question thee (O Muhammad) concerning menstruation. Say: It is an illness, so let women alone at such times and go not in unto them till they are cleansed. And when they have purified themselves, then go in unto them as Allah hath enjoined upon you. Truly Allah loveth those who turn unto Him, and loveth those who have a care for cleanness.
Saheeh: And they ask you about menstruation. Say, "It is harm, so keep away from wives during menstruation. And do not approach them until they are pure. And when they have purified themselves, then come to them from where Allah has ordained for you. Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves.
Oh well..... what can I say....except Now I am more interested in those bronze plaques of Arabian peninsula
Topic: Qur'anic studies today