What's In A Name?

Oh, I don't know--mayhaps someone to blame.

Like Dhul Qurnain--I bet His Mother was not the one to call Him that!

وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَن ذِي الْقَرْنَيْنِ قُلْ سَأَتْلُو عَلَيْكُم مِّنْهُ ذِكْرًا18:83  --Quran Surah 18 The Cave (Al.Cahf)  

"The beginning of Wisdom is to call things by their right name."--Chinese Proverb


This sentiment, the link between naming names and wisdom, is echoed throughout sacred and profane world writings, and in several verses in the Quran.

Driven more by the need to increase and spread new knowledge and to facilitate learning, rather than to establish where to lay blame (although it does come in handy),  God Teaches humanity new concepts by revealing a way to articulate the nature of a new thing (object or concept)--a new name, label or designation of attributes that are not yet in a given vernacular.

Teaching at the level of Divine Inspiration can take place directly (God Speaks to His Creation while they are in a state of wahhy) and/or indirectly by using Messengers (Angels, Prophets, etc.).

In the case of wahhy, it is acceptable to be 'hearing voices,' valid sources of qualified information--this is the very nature of Isma3'eeliya, Abraham's Ishmaelite children, who are able to Hear God's Voice and/or that of Angels'.

There is an allusion to this being the very nature of the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh), one which He (pbuh) was maligned for (apparently hearing voices in never the fashion); and this Ishmealite characteristic in Him is not surprising since the Prophethood is via direct line of descent throughout the ages:

Surah 9 Taubeh (Repentance)
وَمِنْهُمُ الَّذِينَ يُؤْذُونَ النَّبِيَّ وَيِقُولُونَ هُوَ أُذُنٌ
 قُلْ أُذُنُ خَيْرٍ لَّكُمْ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللّهِ وَيُؤْمِنُ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ
وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّلَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ مِنكُمْ
وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْذُونَ رَسُولَ اللّهِ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ (9:61

9:61 And among them are those who malign (harass, belittle) the Prophet (Warner, Messenger) and say, "He is (All) Ears!"
Say, "He Listens for your benefit. He Believes (Trusts) In God, and has faith (trusts in) the Believers (His Followers); and is a Mercy to those amongst you who Believe.
And those who molest (harm, malign) God's Messenger, will suffer a grievous punishment."

There is an allegorical reference in Surah 2 about How God Taught Adam to Name Names.

Surah 2 Al.Baqara (The Calf)
وَعَلَّمَ آدَمَ الأَسْمَاء كُلَّهَا
 ثُمَّ عَرَضَهُمْ عَلَى الْمَلاَئِكَةِ
فَقَالَ أَنبِئُونِي بِأَسْمَاء هَـؤُلاء
إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ (2:31 
2:31 And (God) Taught Adam all the names (asma'==designation, meaning, rubric, nature, etc),
then He displayed (showcased) them to the Angels
and He Said, "Inform Me of the names (attributes, nature, designations) of these,
if  you are Real (Genuine, Honest, Genuine, True)."

قَالُواْ سُبْحَانَكَ
 لاَ عِلْمَ لَنَا إِلاَّ مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا
 إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ (2:32  
2:32 They (The Angels) Said, "We Praise You!"
"We do not have any knowledge except what You Teach Us."
"Indeed, You Are Omniscient, Wise."

قَالَ يَا آدَمُ أَنبِئْهُم بِأَسْمَآئِهِمْ 
فَلَمَّا أَنبَأَهُمْ بِأَسْمَآئِهِمْ قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُل لَّكُمْ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ غَيْبَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ
 وَأَعْلَمُ مَا تُبْدُونَ وَمَا كُنتُمْ تَكْتُمُونَ (2:33  
2:33 He (God) Said, "O, Adam! Inform them of their names."
And once He (Adam) informed them of their names (attributes, designations, labels, etc), He (God) Said, "Did I not tell you that I Know the Hidden (Occult) of Heavens (the Skies) and the Earth."
"And I Know whatever you reveal and all you suppress (keep within your selves, within your hearts)."

In addition to establishing Adam's, and by extension all of mankind's, special place in the whole of Creation, this ability to learn new concepts and objectivize is unique to humans since it can be inferred from Sign 2:32 that the Angels are not able to do this.

Angels, it would seem, only know what God Tells them and they are unable to form new 'object lessons.' That they only know or can repeat what God Teaches them, is a characteristic that makes them pass the Angel test set up in Sign 2:31 with the caveat '...tell Me about or name these if you are Genuine Angels.'

The Angels respond by saying, "We only know what You (God) Teach/Tell Us."

More than an indication of a lack of intelligence on the part of the Angels, this may be very telling of the ephemeral or transient nature of Angels. They may have no historic context or memory of new knowledge and rely solely on God's Words.

And, it would seem only Adam can understand what naming something ultimately means. He can understand not only the object, the concept and its name, but can deduce what such things are emblematic of or what they denote.

An example of this is that Angels are driving all around town doing God's Business because His Words are at hand--get to work on time, pick up the kids from soccer, balance your check book, debug a buggy program, set a broken arm, etc.

The humanity, on the other hand, is slowing down to assemble the information because they know or try to establish a 'name' or 'label' on or what it is going on around them. They are trying to be Reasonable (which explains the appeal, time and again, to reflect or to use one's Reason throughout the Quran).

Get Fuzzy
'Stung by a Metaphor'

So, if Angels are 'searching,' humans are 'googling' or 'bing-ing'--that's the quintessential difference in doing that kind of thing between an Angel and a Human Being. {Sorry to make it sound like Angels are simply Humans having a 'brain fart' but that's a good similitude}.

Here is a practical example:

While the collective is driving around all over town, the whole sum of Creation--Jinn, Angel and Mankind, to those in the collective slowing down to the human speed, the scene starts to read differently (think something like Jim Carey in The Truman Show).

On any given day getting to work, running an errand and then getting home to fix a meal is an average day in an average life--jinn, angel or man/woman.

But one day, someone slows down enough to read the signs--the street name, restaurant name, whatever, but it slows them down enough that they start to compile the information and understand it to be outside their experience of an ordinary day--let's just say that.

And if they are channelling Jim Carey in that Truman Show role, they get OCD about it and start tracking vehicle license plates as they go about their typical day. The idea being to include or exclude the possibility that their Reality has shifted or if they are just jumping from the coracle onto its ears (jumping to conclusions that contribute to their delusional paranoia).

And once they assemble the names, placards, vehicle makes and models, they conclude that wiki leaks is not quite the phenomena that everyone should be fussing about, because now their typical day translates into a madcap surrealism of Chaos vs. Control (You, presumably are Smart, and i am 99--get it? Just 1 short of 100%).

Case in Point:

Location: Work Parking Lot (Somewhere east of East LA)
Time: Last Week of Jun 2013 around 01:30 PM

Agent 99 notices certain vehicles at her place of business  parking lot. The alphanumeric license plates lend themselves to ascertainable ACRONYMS like: AYN, UAE, NUF, TOK, VGS and WTF!

Nothing of real interest, given 26 letters in the alphabet and picking 3 at a time, chances are good that these combos make sense in her 'out-to-lunch' state-of-mind (which she was--walking around on her lunch break).

By the end of the work day, Agent 99 mulls over the connections (qrn) some of these Acronyms have with her obscure blog--the one she posts to regularly and nothing but a random computer in Malaysia or Indonesia 'reads' it.

Oh, what a fun thought! Why not link (qrn  قرن) these somewhat random acronyms with ideas she delves deeply into in her blog? And she does (just follow the links قرنين).

While she takes public transportation of late, she splurges on a Friday that same late June and takes a taxi to her sports club. Only to have nothing better to do in the back seat of the cab but ---of course!-- read vehicle license plates as the cars whiz by on the I10!

Location: I10 Freeway Westbound from Union Station Downtown LA
Time: Last Friday of Jun 2013 at around 5 PM

And keys into a few more that lend themselves to quick middle-aged brain memory storage with acronyms like MOM (my oh my) and MOU (memo of understanding), TOK (what is this a toke?) and VGS (Veggies, anyone?).

Since she is sitting down and has both hands free she reaches into her bottomless purse and fishes out a pen and something to jot down the numeric portion of the license plates, too. Just for her own edification to facilitate her being able to rule conclusively that madness is the new fashion around here.

And files away the scrap of paper back into the bottomless purse from whence it came.

Over the next day or 2 she tries to avoid reading vehicle license plates, although there is really nothing else for her to do while waiting for the bus.

The last Saturday of that late June week, she gets to see a movie with her son. He picks a remote cinema, because it's Superman and it's gotta be IMAX 3-D, so they drive off to a theatre not in either of their usual stomping grounds, just to catch the 8 pm show.

Well, he's driving, and she's reading license plates again. And catches sight of a few, now familiar ones, getting into the parking structure just ahead of them--repeaters! NUF said.

The complete information is not posted to protect these drivers, because it occurs to her that the drivers themselves may not be aware that they have fallen down this rabbit hole right along with her and this would be a poor way to apprise them of it. {Otherwise, look what happens when the neighbors figure out the answer to the question "Just how many creamsicle orange Prius cars are running around the Greater Los Angeles area?"}

But, she does not rule out that this is one way SteveH, who insists he spent a fortune 'on her,' has pay rolled these ones and somehow she has to feel flattered or beholden to Him for the anxiety such pseudo randomness invokes in her already queazy stomach.

Really, shopping is the more therapeutic and personally saner way to spend such large sums of money--rather than prompting suicidal thoughts as a viable coping mechanism to having one's reality stripped away, it's actually good for business.

Summarily, this exercise in information gathering is also one way a Human Being learns to name names and gain a greater understanding of the implications that a collection of such labels (vehicle placards) under a designated set of conditions (various locations that are frequented at various times and random occasions) coinciding in such a fashion, however limited the data, may be indicative of a Convergence.

And while Convergence is not a new concept, in the context of end-of-time or Death and Death's dual, Resurrection, it does seem like a new way to announce one's presence at the Gate.

And while Resurrection implies a transfigured Body, if our reporter-on-the-scene still looks the same to herself, her family, friends and co-workers, then chances are she is comatose--however much she likes to think not.

Or, in keeping with the Convergence premise, she gilded the lily and simply re-emerged from her grave (percolated right up out of that thar ground there, which explains why for the first 5 years of this strange set of circumstances, she couldn't locate her own tombstone :-P. Must'o got buried with work at the office).

All the more reason why the Quran (Kareeem) makes a recurrent point of it being a Reminder, just in case anybody (or nobody) forgets during their percolation progress.

And of a certainty, no One here needs a chemistry lesson from me, yet, here goes:

Quran Surah 18 The Cave (Al.Cahf) 

وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَن ذِي الْقَرْنَيْنِ قُلْ سَأَتْلُو عَلَيْكُم مِّنْهُ ذِكْرً18:83  --Quran Surah 18 The Cave (Al.Cahf) 

18:83 And they shall ask You (Muhammed pbuh) about Tthu. al.Qrnayen (He of the Two Aegis/Aeons/Centuries  ذِي الْقَرْنَيْ). Say, "I shall Recount (root t.l.o--from a high positions, such as a hill or gather information from a height, see Surah 7 Al.A3raf ) for you an important (strong) Remembrance (Remind you why He is so Important). 

إِنَّا مَكَّنَّا لَهُ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَآتَيْنَاهُ مِن كُلِّ شَيْءٍ سَبَبًا (18:84

18:84 Indeed, We Secured Him (Dul al Quranain   ذِي الْقَرْنَيْ) on the Earth (established Him upon the Earth) and Proffered to Him the Means (Ways) for Everything (Doing all things correctly)

فَأَتْبَعَ سَبَبًا (18:85

18:85 Such that He Pursued A Course

حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغَ مَغْرِبَ الشَّمْسِ وَجَدَهَا تَغْرُبُ فِي عَيْنٍ حَمِئَةٍ
وَوَجَدَ عِندَهَا قَوْمًا
 قُلْنَا يَا ذَا الْقَرْنَيْنِ إِمَّا أَن تُعَذِّبَ
وَإِمَّا أَن تَتَّخِذَ فِيهِمْ حُسْنًا (18:86

18:86 Until He Reached the Sun's Occident and found it setting in 'a secluded/turbid/hot spring'
(literally, ar.  ' عَيْنٍ حَمِئَةٍ   '3  ayn hham'tin  'eye hami'tin', closest common simile to Spanish expression 'ojo cliente' (hot spring)--but may be a description of the Solar Apex. Given that it is Dhul Qurnayen is indicative that He had encountered this at least twice or on 2 Horizons or on 2 different occasions).
And He found there a People (Nation, Tribe, Community).
We Said, "O! Dhul Qurnain, You may either punish them or do well by them."

قَالَ أَمَّا مَن ظَلَمَ فَسَوْفَ نُعَذِّبُهُ ثُمَّ يُرَدُّ إِلَى رَبِّهِ فَيُعَذِّبُهُ عَذَابًا نُّكْرًا (18:87

18:87 He said, "Whomever does wrong, we shall punish; then return them to their Lord, who shall punish them with an awful punishment."

وَأَمَّا مَنْ آمَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلَهُ جَزَاء الْحُسْنَى وَسَنَقُولُ لَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِنَا يُسْرًا (18:88

18:88 "And whomever believes and makes amends, their's shall be a reward for good works and we shall ordain for them an easement from Ourselves."

ثُمَّ أَتْبَعَ سَبَبًا (18:89

18:89 Then, He followed another course (path, way).

حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغَ مَطْلِعَ الشَّمْسِ
وَجَدَهَا تَطْلُعُ عَلَى قَوْمٍ
 لَّمْ نَجْعَل لَّهُم مِّن دُونِهَا سِتْرًا (18:90

18:90 Until He found the Sun's Orient (the Sun's rising place), and found it rising upon a People (folk) that We provided them no covering (clothing, block) against.

كَذَلِكَ وَقَدْ أَحَطْنَا بِمَا لَدَيْهِ خُبْرًا (18:91

18:91 Thus (it was). And We Knew everything that He encountered (happened, had in mind).

ثُمَّ أَتْبَعَ سَبَبًا (18:92

18:92 Then He followed (yet) another course (path, way).

حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغَ بَيْنَ السَّدَّيْنِ
وَجَدَ مِن دُونِهِمَا
 قَوْمًا لَّا يَكَادُونَ يَفْقَهُونَ قَوْلًا (18:93

18:93 Until He reached a People (folk) between al.saddini السَّدَّيْنِ (phonetically, the Seddna),
and found there without it
a People (folk) that could almost not understand a word. 

قَالُوا يَا ذَا الْقَرْنَيْنِ
إِنَّ يَأْجُوجَ وَمَأْجُوجَ مُفْسِدُونَ فِي الْأَرْضِ
 فَهَلْ نَجْعَلُ لَكَ خَرْجًا عَلَى
أَن تَجْعَلَ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَهُمْ سَدًّا (18:94

18:94) They said, (called onto Dhul Qrnain, An Individual thought to have lived through 2 Epochs, literally '2-Horns', or 2-Eras (allusion to Taurus)  ذِي الْقَرْنَيْ), "O, Dhul Qrnain, indeed Ya'jooj (Gog) and Ma'jooj (Magog) cause enmity (conflict) throughout the Earth. Is it possible that we provide You with means that You can build (erect, realize, create) between us and them closure (phonetically, 'seddan'--a dam, seal, etc)?

18:95 قَالَ مَا مَكَّنِّي فِيهِ رَبِّي خَيْرٌ
 فَأَعِينُونِي بِقُوَّةٍ 
أَجْعَلْ بَيْنَكُمْ وَبَيْنَهُمْ رَدْمًا

18:95) He (Dhul Qranain  ذِي الْقَرْنَيْ) said, "That which God Secures (established) me with is far better, so simply give me a (work) force (power) that I can build between you and them an embankment (construct with fill, like a compacted embankment, levee, etc., usually earthen in nature...)

آتُونِي زُبَرَ الْحَدِيدِ
حَتَّى إِذَا سَاوَى بَيْنَ الصَّدَفَيْنِ
قَالَ انفُخُوا حَتَّى إِذَا جَعَلَهُ نَارًا
 قَالَ آتُونِي أُفْرِغْ عَلَيْهِ قِطْرًا (18:96

18:96) He said, "Give me pieces of Iron (may be Fe filings or ingots, but the word 'haddeed' is generic of metal, like steel or anything of that strength known at the time. Because by His very nature, time as we understand it does not apply to Dhu al.Qurnain, early interpretations know it to mean He chooses to build it with metal) until I even (equalize) between the hillsides (scallopping)...He said, "Blow (insufflate) until it glows (flames, fires--emits?--indicative of an electron transition event, insuffiliation may introduce Sulfur impurities)...He said, "Give me desiccant to pour over it (some way to quench the hot metal, so oxidation is taking place and needs to be controlled, and in order to stop the reaction and it is indicated He used sea water to do this).

Taking Signs 18:93 through18:96 as a Knowledge Object, the premise established earlier, and that the Quran as such is appropriate to any Time and Place, a modern interpretation would be to build such a rampart, a sedden (closure), with the best materials that follow these guidelines at the present time. This writing is as of August 2013.   

Let's assume no limitation of funds and best case scenarios for material availability, we could choose Titanium (Ti) for a specific metal for the following reasons: 

1. Titanium is strong as some steels but 45% lighter 
2. It is corrosion resistant (important if quenching with sea water)
3. Has the highest strength-to-weight ratio of any metal (God likes a challenge to take it down per 18:97-18:98)
4. And since He chooses to quench with sea water, let's guess that a ferroalloy is formed, in this case FerroTitanium (by the interaction of the trace heavy metals , such as Vanadium, found in sea water that facilitate cladding the Ti to the Fe metals. The iron either found in the sea water as well or appropriated as iron filings by the workforce per Dhul Qurnain's request in Ayeh 18:96).
5. It would look similar to something like the ferrotitanium image at right. 



Example ferrotitanium alloy.

1. Not an exotic substance by today's standards; it being used in steelmaking for deoxidation, grain-size control and C and N stabilization.
2. The Sign ratio 18:96 =18.75% which is within the range of common ferrotitanium alloys between 10-20% and 45-75% Ti, (wikipedia source, facts not checked). 
3. Assuming a binary alloy, this is one reasonable guess.

Irregular Truncated Solid
Crystal Packing

The process as sketched above is not a big deal, similar metallurgy is involved in manufacturing colorants for paint.

Ti and Fe crystals can either be regualr hexagonal, body-centered or face-centered   cubic. If this alloy is exotic, in any way, it perhaps may be a binary or ternary (Carbon, Oxygen or V additives) alloy and the crystal structure akin to an irregular truncated solid or that typical of quartz crystal shapes (prisms).

However, the application called for according to Sign 18:97 is to form a barrier that cannot be readily breached (climbed over, due to slipperiness, perhaps) and could not be pierced (solidly or EMF dense);  by inspection, we have to decipher what task Dhul Qurnain was exactly called upon to accomplish.

According to Sign 18:98 building such a closure could only be 'unbuilt by God' (understood to mean a force/power greater than the synergistic whole of it's parts, i.e., outside of the Creation).

That it has these special characteristics piques any material scientist's, or alchemist's, curiosity as to what Dhu al.Qurnain accomplished to debar Gog and Magog from invading the community.

While early studies, such as those found in the tables below, focused on Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, Pb, Cr, Cd and Hg to measure the level of trace heavy metals in sea water, Vanadium is also present and shares similar metallurgical properties as Cr.

Determination of Some Heavy Metals in Sea Water by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry,  by P.E. Paus 1972

Analysis and Estimation of Trace Metals in Sediment and Sea Water in South China Sea,
Area IV, Vietnamese Waters, by Trinh Xuan Gian, PhD. 1999

فَمَا اسْطَاعُوا أَن يَظْهَرُوهُ وَمَا اسْتَطَاعُوا لَهُ نَقْبًا (18:97

18:97) Thus, they (Gog and Magog) could not climb over it or pierce through it.


قَالَ هَذَا رَحْمَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّي
فَإِذَا جَاء وَعْدُ رَبِّي جَعَلَهُ دَكَّاء
وَكَانَ وَعْدُ رَبِّي حَقًّا (18:98

18:98) He said, "This is a Mercy from My Lord, once God's Appointed term is reached, He Will Demolish (Unbuild) it, and God's Promises Are True.

Note: Earlier post regarding this passage (The Cave 18:93-18:98) found on Page 'Sifting Through the Rubble'.