In his Channel 'Exploring the Quran and the Bible' Professor Reynolds published this video record of his lecture: Foreign Words in the Qur’an: Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, or Persian?
In it Professor Gabriel Said Reynolds uses incorrect translation of the Qur’anic word ‘mubin’ to prove that the “Quranic author”’s proclamation that the language of the Quran is ‘pure Arabic” is wrong.
The word ‘mubeen’ occurs 119 times in the Qur’an Ajim[1]. Its trilateral root is b-y-n[2], or bā yā nūn[3].
According to the Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage the Arabic word ‘Mubeen’ means:
“1 eloquent, expressing things clearly, perspicuous, (5:92), [aujubillahi minashaitanir rajim, bismillahir rahmanir rahim], “Wa atee'ul laaha wa atee'ur Rasoola wahzaroo; fa in tawal laitum fa'lamooo annamaa 'alaa Rasoolinal balaaghul mubeen”, if you pay no heed, know that the sole duty of our messenger Is clear communication of our message. 2 Clear, manifest (6:16) [bismillahir rahmanir rahim], “Man yusraf 'anhu yawma'izin faqad rahimah; wa zaalikal fawzul mubeen”, he from whom [such retribution] is diverted on that day, He [God], indeed, has had mercy on him, and that is the manifest triumph. 3 flagrant (7:60) [bismillahir rahmanir rahim], “Qaalal mala-u min qawmiheee innaa lanaraaka fee dalaalim mubeen”, we believe you are in flagrant error 4 plainly visible (7:107) [bismillahir rahmanir rahim], fa’alka ‘asahu fa’itha hiya thuba’num mubeenun”, so he threw his staff and - lo and behold! - it was snake, clear to all. 5 clearly decisive (48:1) [bismillahir rahmanir rahim], “inna fatahna laka fatham mubeenun”, indeed, we have opened up a decisive triumph for you”[4].
Hans Wehr gave the following meaning of the word ‘mubeen’: “clear, plain, evident, obvious, patent. Al-Kitab al-mubin, the Koran”[5].
Lane gave the following meaning: baiyyinun – [Distinct, as though separate from others; and thus,] apparent, manifest, evident, clear, plain or perspicuous; (T, S, Msb, K;) as also baiinun (T) and mubeenun. (T. S:) Hence Al-kitabu mubeenu [as applied to Kur, in q. v. in xii. 1, &c.,] The clear, plain, or perspicuous, book or writing or scripture: or, as some say, this means the book &c. that makes manifest all that is required [to be known]: (T:) or, of which the goodness and the blessing are made manifest: or, that makes manifest the truth as distinguished from falsity, and what is lawful as distinguished from what is unlawful, and that the prophetic office of Mohammad is true, and so are the Narratives relating to the prophets: (Zj, T:) or, that makes manifest the right paths as distinguished from the wrong[6].
Mubeenun – “Separating, severing, disuniting, or cutting off; ($, K;)”[7].
Nowhere in the dictionaries it is suggested that the phrase ‘Arabiyyim mubeen’ can mean “pure Arabic”.
[1] Badawi, E.M.; Haleem, M.A., Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, Brill, Leiden- Boston, 2008. ISBN: 978 90 04 14948 9. In cases, as in here, where the sources used Arabic words, phrases, or sentences, we transliterated them into English for our convenience. The English transliterations are ours.
[2] Ibid.
[3] The Quranic Arabic Corpus, available at website https://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=byn#(16:103:16), accessed last on 10.10.2026.
[4] Badawi, E.M.; Haleem, M.A., Ibid.
[5] Cowan, J.M. (Ed.), Hans Wehr, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, third edition, Spoken Language Services, Inc., 1976, ISBN 0-87950-001-8, at page 88.
[6] Lane, E.W., An Arabic - English Lexicon, Book 1, Part 1, Alif- Sa, William and Norgate, London, UK, 1863, at page 289.
[7] Ibid.
