Can we delink a language from its contemporary traditions,culture,lore and usage?
What if we interpret Shakespeare only in the light of modern English?
Is it possible that one can grasp a text or langauge only with the help of a dictionary without any consideration for the context, any grounding in the classics of the language?

What do you think and what is your opinion of the ongoing linguistic translation attempt of this surah and others at www.servantofthelight.com

I could not make sense of the translations at the site! One can conjures up such translation only when he/she disregards context, established rules of language
and usage!

I consider the following explanation by Imam Farahi(R.A), here presented by Mr. Shehzad Saleem,the editor of monthly Renaissance(www.monthly-renaissance.com) to be the most plausible one
". ??(Alif-lam_mim)

In religious parlance, these letters and others similar to them are called the Hurf-i-Muqatta?t (the separated letters). They are found at the beginning of some twenty-nine srahs of the Qur?n. Rz, in his exegesis on the Qur?n has enlisted some twenty one opinions about what these letters represent. He has pointed out that most scholars and researchers regard them to be the names of the respective srahs in which they occur. He says that grammarians like Khall and Sbwayh and most theologians are of this view. He quotes Qifl in the following words

, , , , . ,

The Arabs would name things after such letters. They called the father of Hrithah Ibn Lm Al-T? as ?? (lm). They called ?brass? as ??, ?money? as ?? and ?clouds? as ??. Similarly, they called a mountain ?? and ?fish? as ??.1

Ghmid is also of the opinion that these letters are the names of respective surhs (ref. 1). His words are

The way they are placed in the beginning of some twenty nine surahs of the Qur?n and the way they are referred to by the demonstrative pronouns ?? (dhlika) and ?? (tilka) show that they are names of the respective surhs.

Consequently, many of these srahs are generally referred to according to this pattern, for example Th, Ysn, Sud , Qf and Nn (all these letters are actually the Hurf-i-Muqatta?t of the respective srahs). However, there remains the question of why the srahs are named in this way. Many scholars have attempted to answer the question, but what they have proposed is far from being satisfactory. Farh (d 1930 AD), a scholar of the sub-continent, has presented an explanation which might hold the key to the problem.2 The following paragraphs briefly discuss his theory.3

Those who are aware of the history of the Arabic alphabet know that it has been derived from the Hebrew alphabet, which itself has its roots in the alphabet used in ancient Arabia. Farh is of the view that the letters of this parent alphabet, unlike English and Hindi, do not represent phonetic sounds only, but, like the Chinese alphabet, symbolize certain meanings and objects which usually assume the shape of the objects and meanings they convey. He goes on to assert that it was these letters which the early Egyptians adopted and after adapting them according to their own concepts created the Hieroglyphic script from them. The remnants of this script can be seen in the tables of the Egyptian Pyramids.

There are some letters whose meanings have persisted to this day, and the way they are written also somewhat resembles their ancient forms. For example, it is known about the Arabic letter ?? that it is used to mean a cow and was represented by a cow?s head. The letter ?? in Hebrew is called Bayt and means Bayt (house) as well. The Hebrew pronunciation of ?? is Jaymal which means Jamal (camel). ?? stands for a serpent and is written in a serpent?s shape. ?? represents a water wave and also has a related configuration.

Farh presents Srah Nn in support of his theory. The letter ?? even in today?s alphabet denotes its ancient meaning of fish. In this srah, the Prophet Jonah (sws) has been addressed as Shibu?l-Ht (Companion of the Fish). Farh opines that it is because of this reference that the srah is called ??. He goes on to say that if one keeps in consideration the examples given above, it is quite likely that the abbreviated letters by which other srahs commence are placed at the beginning of the srahs to symbolize a relation between the topics of a particular srah and their own ancient connotations.

Some other names of the Qur?nic Srahs reinforce Farh?s theory. Srah Th, for example, begins with the letter ?? which represents a serpent, as has been indicated before. After a brief introduction the tale of Moses (sws) and his rod, which is transformed into a snake, has been depicted in it. Other Srahs as ?? and ??, which begin with the letter ?? Tuay, also portray this miraculous anecdote.

Srah Baqarah, which begins with the letter ??, is another example which further strengthens Farh?s claims. It has been indicated before that the letter ?? had the meaning of a cow associated with it and was represented by a cow?s head. Srah Baqarah, as we all know, contains the anecdote of a cow and its sacrifice.

Another aspect of the srahs which begin with the same letter is a similarity in their topics and even in their style and construction. For example, all srahs which begin with ?? basically deal with Tawhd (monotheism). It would be appropriate here to point out that the letter ?? also stood for Allah, the One and Alone.

salaams,
I am willing Vakas and at your disposal. I have a lot of lexicons,including Lane,s.
I also teach Quranic Arabic. I will try to squeeze out maximum time for this noble task.

have a close look at the following link and then we will discuss
http//www.monthly-renaissance.com/issue/content.aspx?id=716

masajid is the plural of masjid(a plural on the pattern of "mafaaeel" like madaris as the plural of madrassa and manasik as plural of mansak). the pronoun"haa" in "fihaa" definetely refers to the mosques. Besides being used for singular feminine,it is also also used for "jamaa mukassar(broken plural-irregular plural).

salaams,
Let us discuss Surah Baqarah thoroughly. u can ask and discuss meanings,roots of the words. we can also discuss grammar.
Looking forward to a lively discussion!