"God is not too shy to strike an example
even a (female-)mosquito
even what is above her..."
[2:26]
On the surface
This part of the verse talks about how God is able to give any example - even something as small as a mosquito or smaller.
The wording used in the verse allude to having a deeper meaning ("what is above her" is unusual. Many have simply written this off to mean "what is smaller than her" or "what is bigger than her").
A deeper meaning
The hidden meaning is actually only hidden due to our lack of knowledge of the world. The verse is exactly what it states: - there are smaller, living creatures (i.e. parasites and mites [1]) that live on top of ("above") mosquitos! (some of which lead to well known diseases - e.g. malaria)
The second subtlety to note is the Arabic word used for mosquito ('ba3udatan') is phrased in the feminine form. Interestingly the mosquito mites and parasites are only found on female mosquitos [2](since those are the ones which suck blood)!
Who better to know about His creation than the Creator Himself?
======================
[1] The water mite Thyas barbigera [...] parasitizing mosquitoes
[2] "Malaria is transmitted among humans by female mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles. Female mosquitoes take blood meals to carry out egg production, and such blood meals are the link between the human and the mosquito hosts in the parasite life cycle" - http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/about/biology/mosquitoes/
even a (female-)mosquito
even what is above her..."
[2:26]
On the surface
This part of the verse talks about how God is able to give any example - even something as small as a mosquito or smaller.
The wording used in the verse allude to having a deeper meaning ("what is above her" is unusual. Many have simply written this off to mean "what is smaller than her" or "what is bigger than her").
A deeper meaning
The hidden meaning is actually only hidden due to our lack of knowledge of the world. The verse is exactly what it states: - there are smaller, living creatures (i.e. parasites and mites [1]) that live on top of ("above") mosquitos! (some of which lead to well known diseases - e.g. malaria)
The second subtlety to note is the Arabic word used for mosquito ('ba3udatan') is phrased in the feminine form. Interestingly the mosquito mites and parasites are only found on female mosquitos [2](since those are the ones which suck blood)!
Who better to know about His creation than the Creator Himself?
======================
[1] The water mite Thyas barbigera [...] parasitizing mosquitoes
[2] "Malaria is transmitted among humans by female mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles. Female mosquitoes take blood meals to carry out egg production, and such blood meals are the link between the human and the mosquito hosts in the parasite life cycle" - http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/about/biology/mosquitoes/
Interesting - I didn't even know that female mosquitos would be the only carriers of parasites.
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