Thread by @NaqadStudies

It is relatively well known that the Qur'an preserves many loan words from Aramaic.

But are there examples of loan words from other languages? Let's look.

Q 5:111-112 uses the word الۡحَـوَارِيّٖنَ (al-hawariuun) to describe the followers of Jesus. Though not an Arabic word, this is understood to mean "disciples" or sometimes "Apostles."

Al-Tabari says that this word means "ministers:" وَاذْكُرْ أَيْضًا يَا عِيسَى إِذْ أَلْقَيْت إِلَى الْحَوَارِيِّينَ , وَهُمْ وُزَرَاء عِيسَى عَلَى دِينه.

quran.ksu.edu.sa/tafseer/tabary…

Al-Suyuti tells us in his al-Itiqan that al-hawariuun comes from the Nabataen. However, if this were true, we would expect to see the Aramaic ܬܠܡܝܕܘܬ (tlmydwt) or Arabic المريد (almurid) employed in Q 5:111-1112 instead of الۡحَـوَارِيّٖنَ (al-hawariuun).

So whence does this word come?

Let's look at Leslau Wolf's Comparative Dictionary of Ge'ez (1987), generously provided by @PhDniX .

The Classical Ethiopic (Ge-ez) root <ḥwr> or <ḥora> (pronounced yahor or yhur) has a variety of interrelated meanings, including 'to go, go forth, proceed, depart, travel, settle, follow a way of life' and even 'to have sexual intercourse.'

hawär - collonade, platform, public place, courtyard, porch, chamber'

ḥawāri - traveler

ḥawārəyā - who walks

Let's look at one application of <ḥwr> - ḥawārəyā.

Remember the Qur'ānic word in question is al-hawariuun, meaning "disciple" in 5:111-112.

It's a match! This was pointed out by the noted linguist Ludolf, mentioned here. Additionally, in 1910 Nöldeke determined the Ge'ez origin of this Qur'ānic word and 20 others in his Neue Beiträge zur semitischen Sprachwissenschaft, p47-58. Ge'ez is not unknown to the Qur'ān.

Interestingly, according to CC Torrey in his 'Jewish Foundations of Islam' paper (1933), some of Nöldeke's Qur'ānic loan words from Ge'ez are religious in nature, and some are not.

Quoting CC Torrey:
"Siegmund Fraenkel ... in discussing the numerous Arabic words of Ethiopic origin dealing with ships and shipping, showed that these were a partial fruit of the long period during which the Arabs and Abyssinians [Ethipians] were associated ...

... in charge of the traffic through the Red Sea. It was through this long and close association that at least the principal gain of Ethiopic words, the many secular and the few religious terms, was made by the Arabs, before the rise of Islam.'

bible.ca/islam/library/…

How much was Classical Ethiopic, a language spoken in Late Antique South Arabia, an influential component of the culture that gave rise to the Qur'ān?

I can only suggest we continue to support the scholars who research this fascinating question.