Man, this mailing list seems to love my contaminative presence. If you
don't want me to post please don't challenge my previous postings.
Otherwise, I'll have to respond.
1. "As-Salam" is a noun, "Salam," with the definite article "Al." It means
"peace." It is also one of the many descriptive names of Allah.
2. The two classes of letters you refer to are called "Shamsii" and
"Qamarii" (with stressed "i"). Meaning "solar" and "lunar," respectively.
The "solar" consonants are the Arabic equivalents of "sh," "n," "l," "z"
(all four Arabic consonants that sound like /z/ to you, i.e. "ذ", "ض",
"ظ", and "ز"), "r," "d," "s," (the three /s/ sounding consonants, i.e.
"ث", "ص", and "س"), "t" (both /t/ sounding ones, i.e. "ت" and "ط").
The rest of consonants are "lunar."
3. "Salam-on alaikom," transliteration of "سلام علیکم," is a
greeting. It is not some sort of mantra directed at Allah. It means "peace
be upon you." And it isn't reserved for Muslims. In any sane
Arabic-speaking country--and some non-Arabic-speaking countries--you'll be
greeted by that same phrase. The phrase corresponds exactly to the famous
Hebrew "Shalom aleichem," which also means "peace be upon you."
4. That "-on" suffix is a "tanveen"--there are three tanveens, each
corresponding to one short vowel--on the ending of "Salam." It serves the
function of the copula "to be." As in "Ash-Shata Barid-on," transliteration
of "الشتا بارد", meaning "the winter is cold."
5. "Marhaba," transliteration of "مرحبا"--and not "Marhaban"--means
something between "well done" and "welcome." It is also part of the phrase
"اهلاً و سهلاً، مرحبا", "Ahl-an wa Sahl-an, Marhaba,"
which is just an underlining of the same notion: "welcome." See? Two
tanveens on the endings of "Ahl" and "Sahl" but none on the ending of
"Marhaba."
6. You're right. I'm not a Muslim.
--On Sunday, August 24, 2008 10:27 AM +0300 John Waters
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Small correction, it is actually " ال سلام " , or "As-Salaam" (the L
in AL elides with "shams" letters). It would also be inappropriate for
you to receive such a greeting, which is a du'a reserved for muslims
only. Since you are using the name "Eris, is the name of a "deity", it
is safe to assume you are not a muslim. :) It is also "As-salaamu",
there is a "damma" or "u" vowel atop then meem in "salaam".
"marhaban" is a more appropriate greeting in this case.
On Wed, Aug 20, 2008 at 2:51 AM, Eris Discordia
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Do me a favor. Fire up your beloved upas, use mail, and relay one email
through upas/smtpd to smtp.gmail.com:587 with the words "שָׁלוֹם
עֲלֵיכֶם" (Hebrew, Shalom aleichem) or "سلام علیکم"
(Arabic, Salam-on alaikom) to my address. Let's see if "the mail goes
through."
