'-r-j-n

Description

The Arabic root ع-ر-ج-ن (ʿ-r-j-n) refers to the old, curved date palm stalk or rachis from which dates hang, specifically after the fruit has been harvested and it becomes dried, yellowed, and bent. In the Quran (36:39), it appears in describing the moon's phases, comparing the old crescent moon to an old, withered, and curved date stalk (ʿurjūn), emphasizing the cyclical nature of lunar phases and how the thin crescent resembles this dried, arched agricultural remnant. This imagery would have been immediately recognizable to the original Arabian audience as a vivid natural metaphor illustrating divine design in celestial patterns.