S yiman-is ad yuɣal d aberkan mi ara teɣli tafukt, ad yuɣal d afaw mi ara d-tecreq, anda telliḍ, yal tikkelt tiliɣri-k neɣ aselkim-ik yella deg uskar aberkan.
Asebter yettwasneqden.Yal izirig yɛedda isenqaden n tmsiwant.Amek ›
Ur yettwasuqqel ara yakan · yettban s
The word اليم (al-yamm)
root y-m-m · 8 occurrences
S wawal awezlan
The Quran uses اليم eight times for a body of water and never beside a proper name; the only place-like word in the Moses river scene, السَّاحِل, occurs once in the whole text and is generic. No verified finding identifies the river. Grade A for the textual facts; no grade B or C finding has passed.
Al-yamm (اليم) is the word the Quran uses for the body of water in the story of Moses. It occurs eight times and is never given a name, a country or a region.1 The only place-like word in the river scene is the shore (السَّاحِل) in 20:39.2 For that reason the Moses timeline shows moment 1 without a map pin, and the map records the silence rather than filling it.3
In the text
A
The eight occurrences are 2:50, 7:136, 20:39 (twice), 20:78, 20:97, 28:7, 28:40 and 51:40.1 In each the word is definite and bare: the water, not a named water. Lexica gloss the root as sea or great river without settling which; that is a grade C observation about Arabic, not about this text.2 The identification with the Chelif was tested and did not pass: its only source is a 1930 travel account describing modern practice.
Aḍris n LeqranUdmawanArra s uzemzAḥezzebUr yettwasneqden
Tifesniwin glment ttbut, maci d afran. Tagnit tettawi tafesna n ttbut i tt-isbedden; asefhem dima d D.
Wali yal tafesnaFfer
AQuranic textAḍris, akken yettwaru✓▾
What the text itself says, quoted as written. amedya: 20:39 yettwabder · yal aseqdec n اليم yettwaḥseb
BMaterial evidenceIfeɣwalen, idrimen, imukan — s uɣbalu-nsen✓▾
Manuscripts, inscriptions, coins, artefacts and sites — and images of them whose provenance (holder, reference, date, photographer) was recorded and checked. amedya: Adrim n Juba II · tira n Tipasa
CDated documentAmaru d uzemz ttwassnen✓▾
Chronicles, lexica, treaties, maps, reports and studies with a known author and date. amedya: Ibn Xeldun, 1377 · takarḍa tafransist n 1830
DInterpretationAḥezzeb ɣef A–C~▾
Reasoning built on A–C. Always D, whatever it cites. amedya: “Ihi asif ilaq ad yili…”
EUnverifiedWar aɣbalu, war azemz✕▾
Images without provenance, undated or anonymous claims. Cannot support a finding. amedya: Tugna n ugdil war aɣbalu
✓ yezmer ad yesbedd tagnit~ yebna ɣef wiyaḍ✕ ur yezmir ara
اليم occurs eight times in the Quran (2:50, 7:136, 20:39 twice, 20:78, 20:97, 28:7, 28:40, 51:40). In each occurrence it is a body of water; a proper name never appears beside it.
Decision carried to the map and the timeline: Moses moment 1 has no map pin. The timeline card records that the text names no river; proposed identifications are listed below as tested ideas.
The river is the Chelif, Algeria, on the basis of a 1930 travel account mentioning reed baskets.
The source is dated 1930 and describes modern practice; it says nothing about the text and cannot reach grade B. Kept here so the idea and its test are on record. A dated source would reopen it.
Lane's Lexicon, root s-ḥ-l, p. 1317Ur tettwasneqed ara — ur tezmir ad tili d ttbut[3] · Yettwabder sɣur #2 · yessuli-t Karim D.Scholar · 1120+ Rnu tugna (s tegnit)
Tamselɣuyin
Yal tagnit nnig-a tebder yiwen seg-sen. Uṭṭunen n yisebtar ttwafkan ma llan deg uɣbalu.
A · Dukes, K. (ed.), The Quranic Arabic Corpus, 2009–, root y-m-m, corpus.quran.com · Yettwabder sɣur #1, #2