Area 51 Revisited

On Horticulture, Chemistry, Pharmacology, And Medicine

As mentioned in my previous post, this is the follow-up installment to Frieze Groups and Fish, about Vegetables or Plants in general:

Some say Luqman was a Prophet, others believe he was simply a Holy Man worthy of mention in the Quran (an entire Surah is named for him, so he deserves some consideration). He was known to be highly insightful, undertanding the inner workings (mystery) of things, especially plants and medicine (Ayurveda); he was thought to have lived far beyond a normal human lifespan and propounded thoughtful advice to his son.

An anonymous comment from a visitor to apageinthelife alludes to him/her being generally more than unhappy with the way things are around here, and expresses their displeasure with everything including war, politics, environment, just about all of it; and then concludes that if aliens do exist why haven't they taken him/her 'off this rock' already.

I take it they must feel rather alone/deserted/stranded and for those ETs stranded right along with him/her, the Quran can serve as a very handy Field Survival Guide. As to the reason why things appear to be moving at such a glacial pace, I reminded my visitor that if things move any faster than that, people have a habit of abusing/disusing valuable information, and that is what is at the heart of Revelation being just that, a gradual unfolding; to be understood at the proper time for the most appropriate purpose; and ultimately to 'earn your wings' and appreciate the Source that gave them to you; otherwise you'll just run amok all over the Universe(s).

18 Al-Kahf (The Cave, about Time Travel/Time Perception)

(18:54) وَلَقَدْ صَرَّفْنَا فِي هَذَا الْقُرْآنِ لِلنَّاسِ مِن كُلِّ مَثَلٍ وَكَانَ الْإِنسَانُ أَكْثَرَ شَيْءٍ جَدَلًا

18:54 We have given detailed explanations in this Quran, for the BENEFIT of humanity; every kind of similitude: but man is, in most things, contentious (bound to use it to their detriment).

51 Surah 51 Az-Zariyat (Those That Scatter/Disburse/Disperse)

(51:55) وَذَكِّرْ فَإِنَّ الذِّكْرَى تَنفَعُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ

(51:55) So teach (remind) (the Message) as TEACHING (the reminding) benefits the Believers.

31 Luqman (The Prophet Luqman)

(31:10) خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ بِغَيْرِ عَمَدٍ تَرَوْنَهَا وَأَلْقَى فِي الْأَرْضِ رَوَاسِيَ أَن تَمِيدَ بِكُمْ
وَبَثَّ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ دَابَّةٍ وَأَنزَلْنَا مِنَ السَّمَاء مَاء فَأَنبَتْنَا فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ زَوْجٍ كَرِيمٍ

31:10 He (God) created the heavens without any pillars that you can see; He set on the earth mountains standing firm, so it does not shake with you; and He scattered throughout it beasts (creatures) of all kinds. And We send down rain (water) from the sky, to produce in it (on the earth) every kind of pair ( زَوْجٍ conjunction/conjugate/complement), noble ( كَرِيمٍ precious, valuable).

Given Luqman and his affinity to Medicine and Pharmacology we can apply this Sign to what else we really could be doing with cigarettes or tobacco.

The Nightshade family gives us (among other things) The Humble Eggplant and The Mighty Tobacco Plant.

Some values in Eggplant are: 4-Desmethylsterols, 4-methylsterols and triterpene alcohols (from its seeds); and 14α-methyl-5α-cholest-9(11)-en-3β-ol (from its oil). Eggplant seeds also contain nicotine since it is related to Tobacco and this may be why it can be considered as its complement.

In a similar fashion, Tobacco properties include: (S)-3-(1-Methyl-2-pyrrolidinyl)pyridine (formula C10H14N2) ; alternate names 1-methyl-2-(3-pyridyl)pyrrolidine; ß-pyridyl-alpha-N-methylpyrrolidine.

I picked an example that is way out of my depth but the thinking is if one makes you sick, it stands to reason that the other one (or a close relative) was created to make you better.

Given how unique 14α-methyl-5α-cholest-9(11)-en-3β-ol is to eggplant's oil what would be its affect on other lipids? Anything special about lipids found in cancer cells?--maybe I can read about it some day to make up for all the bad news I read in a day.

Any chemist will tell you that there is a similarity between molecular structure and horticulture and that is why it's only fitting to talk about trees and branches when describing how to go about making a chemical substitution. The term 'word' here describes any substance that is being substituted onto the underlying structure (or tree).

14 Ibrahim (Abraham)

(14:24) أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ ضَرَبَ اللّهُ مَثَلاً كَلِمَةً طَيِّبَةً كَشَجَرةٍ طَيِّبَةٍ أَصْلُهَا ثَابِتٌ وَفَرْعُهَا فِي السَّمَاء

(14:24) Do you see (Can you see) how God strikes for you an example, that a good word is like a good tree with an excellent fixed origin (firmly rooted) and its subsidiaries (branches) reaching to the Sky (upward, as a plane of reference; yes! chirality--right hand rule and all that.)

There is a similar allegory about a 'bad word', and basically substituting it would make the tree structure unstable (torn up from its roots) and that's not the direction we want to go (unless the intention is to do away with such an unwanted growth).

14 Ibrahim (Abraham)
وَمَثلُ كَلِمَةٍ خَبِيثَةٍ كَشَجَرَةٍ خَبِيثَةٍ اجْتُثَّتْ مِن فَوْقِ الأَرْضِ مَا لَهَا مِن قَرَارٍ 14:26

(14:26) And the similitude of a malicious word is like a bad tree, it is uprooted from the surface of the Earth, lacking stability (unable to endure).

The word خبيث  khabith, means 'malignant', and associated connotations include: 'virulent,' 'pestilent,' 'poisonous,' 'toxic,' and bad as well as meaning 'catty', 'sly,' 'evil,' and 'malicious.' 

In Sign 14:26 the word is used to describe both the 'word' and the 'tree' itself as being malicious or malignant.  

The inference for our purposes here, let's say designing a way to 'winkle out', 'pry' or 'remove something that is difficult to extract', or 'force it out of  its rooted position', would be to substitute the like onto it.

The description of such an extrication is given by the word 'اجْتُثَّتْ' 'ajtaththe', meaning to be 'uprooted,'-- 'rip', 'eradicate', and in a similar wise 'wipe out.' 

The similitude is if a cell is genetically cancerous, to substitute the same type of 'malignant' fractal of it onto the structure or tree itself--metaphorically, a new take on 'like dissolves like'--leads to its own dissolution or destruction.

And Sign 14:26 also describes what the desired mechanism entails, that such a 'malicious tree' (see mal- malus) will no longer be 'stable'. Other connotations indicate that attaching such a 'word' onto such a 'tree' makes it 'indeterminate' or lack the ability to be 'decisive'--it will no longer have the ability to 'make the judgment or deliverance' on how to 'repeat' like in a 'chorus refrain' (by extension 'reproduce' or 'duplicate', 'double').

All of the above nuances are rooted in the phrase itself, 'ma laha min qrarin'  مَا لَهَا مِن قَرَارٍ.

--Oh, and I didn't forget: If you ever find yourself in the old neighborhood, remember to say hello to the eggplants for me.--