Академия Корана:Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān/Al-ʿArim

R.G. Khoury, "Al-ʿArim" in: Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, General Editor: J. D. McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington DC.

The most popular interpretation was that ʿarim (sing. ʿarima) were dam-like structures designed to hold back flood waters. The words occurs only once in the Qurʾān: «They turned away [from God], so we sent upon them the flood of the dams (sayl al-ʿarim) and gave them, instead of their two gardens, two which produced bitter fruit, and tamarisks and a few lote trees» (q 34:16). Citing other Muslim sources, al-Ṭabarī (d. 310/923) describes the construction of the dams and their destruction after the people of Sheba (Sabā, see sheba), who had enjoyed the easiest existence on earth, rejected the thirteen prophets sent to them. According to one account, the Queen of Sheba, identified in the Islamic tradition as Bilqīs (q.v.), originally built the dams to ensure the fair apportioning of water among her subjects, who had constantly feuded over water rights. Ironically, the mighty structures were brought down by a mouse (faʾra) or large rat (juradh). Soothsayers had predicted that the dams would be destroyed by a mouse, so the Shebans stationed cats all over them. When God decreed the destruction of this sinful people, he sent a ferocious mouse — or a large rat — which overpowered one of the cats and penetrated the dam, unbeknownst to the Shebans. When the floods came, the weakened dam was swept away along with the homes and property of the Shebans (Tafsīr, xxii, 78-83).

However, there were other interpretations (see, for example, Yāqūt, Buldān, iv, 110). According to some, sayl al-ʿarim means «a violent flood», while others held that al-ʿarim was the name of the valley containing the flood waters. Still others believed that it was the name of the great rat which gnawed through the dam. The famous ḥadīth-collector al-Bukhārī (d. 256/870) put forth an interesting theory. He argued that ʿarim was «red water» which was used on the gardens of the Shebans. To punish them, God caused this water to drain so far into the earth that the roots of the plants could no longer reach it. Consequently, the once fertile gardens withered and died. See also archaeology and the qurʾān; punishment stories.

Bibliography

• A. Th. Khoury, Der Koran. Arabisch-Deutsch Übersetzung und wissenschaftlicher Kommentar, Gütersloh 1991f.
• Ṭabarī, Tafsīr, ed. A.S. ʿAlī; Yāqūt, Buldān, 5 vols., Beirut 1374/1955-1376/1957