The Mahdi Times May 2014 Issue | Page 30

Awraq is the epithet given to ashes and wurqaa to charcoal because of their dark colour. Wurqah is the colour of dark wood s m o k e and awraq is the epithet for the (desert) wolf because of its dark colour. The person who is awraq is asmar or Adam (this makes sense because Adam is asmar shaded= dark brown). Sumrah is a Colour that is close to blackness (yadrib ilaa sawaad khafee) udmah is sumrah (i.e. wurqah) shadeedah, NOT just brown, but dark/blackish brown. So asmar is BROWN and Adam is VERY DARK BROWN. Asmar is blackness in earth Colour. Adam is very asmar (sumrah shadeedah) and As-ham (black like a crow) is very Adam shadeed. So what is the point of all this? There are different degrees of asmar. Very asmar means Adam and very Adam means jet black. My point is that the Arabs during the time of the Prophet Mohamed were, in general, a dark skinned people. If they were here with us today, they would be considered black people.