What they said about Arabic From the author's own Arabic
On the hermaphrodite, commenting on Q 42:49–50:
“Some of the leading men among the common people denied it, saying there is no such thing as a hermaphrodite, since God divided creation into male and female. We say: this is ignorance of the language, dullness to where eloquence draws its lines, and a failure to grasp the breadth of God's power … As for «He gives females to whom He wills and males to whom He wills», it tells of what is usual among created things, and is silent about the rare because it falls under the general statement before it.”
Abu Bakr ibn al-‘Arabi
d. 543 AH / 1148 CE
Andalusian Maliki jurist and hadith scholar, judge of Seville, author of «Ahkam al-Qur’an».
The Arabic original
أَنْكَرَهُ قَوْمٌ مِنْ رُءُوسِ الْعَوَامّ، فَقَالُوا: إنَّهُ لَا خُنْثَى؛ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى قَسَّمَ الْخَلْقَ إلَى ذَكَرٍ وَأُنْثَى. قُلْنَا: هَذَا جَهْلٌ بِاللُّغَةِ، وَغَبَاوَةٌ عَنْ مَقْطَعِ الْفَصَاحَةِ، وَقُصُورٌ عَنْ مَعْرِفَةِ سَعَةِ الْقُدْرَةِ… وَأَمَّا قَوْلُهُ: ﴿يَهَبُ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ إِنَاثًا وَيَهَبُ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ الذُّكُورَ﴾ فَهَذَا إخْبَارٌ عَنْ الْغَالِبِ فِي الْمَوْجُودَاتِ، وَسَكَتَ عَنْ ذِكْرِ النَّادِرِ لِدُخُولِهِ تَحْتَ عُمُومِ الْكَلَامِ الْأَوَّلِ.
Source
Ibn al-‘Arabi, Ahkam al-Qur’an, ed. M. ‘Abd al-Qadir ‘Ata, Beirut 2003, vol. 4, p. 99 (Q 42:49–50)
The English translation is Voice of Arabic's, made from the original.
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