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Camphor: Difference between revisions
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== Meaning == | == Meaning == | ||
Camphor is a white aromatic and crystalline substance with a bitter smell and taste which is obtained by boiling crumbled pieces of the stalks and stems of a special tree{{enote|camphor tree is large and evergreen. It is originally from China, Japan, and Taiwan and also grows in India.}} and letting it evaporate. Camphor does not only exist in the camphor tree, but it is a volatile oil which can be found in many plants and some lexicologists defined it as the blossom or the husk of the palm tree or the nodes of a grape tree. Its nature is cold and dry. | Camphor is a white aromatic and crystalline substance with a bitter smell and taste which is obtained by boiling crumbled pieces of the stalks and stems of a special tree{{enote|camphor tree is large and evergreen. It is originally from China, Japan, and Taiwan and also grows in India.}} and letting it evaporate.<ref>Mīr Ḥaydar, ''Maʿārif-i gīyāhī'', vol. 5, p. 86.</ref> Camphor does not only exist in the camphor tree, but it is a volatile oil which can be found in many plants and some lexicologists defined it as the blossom or the husk of the palm tree or the nodes of a grape tree.<ref>Bustānī, ''Farhang-i abjadī'', p. 716.</ref> Its nature is cold and dry.<ref>Mīr Ḥaydar, ''Maʿārif-i gīyāhī'', vol. 5, p. 86.</ref> | ||
The word "kafur" is also mentioned in the Qur'an, "Indeed the pious will drink from a cup seasoned with kafur" | The word "kafur" is also mentioned in the Qur'an, "Indeed the pious will drink from a cup seasoned with kafur"<ref>Qurʾān, 76:5.</ref> [[Shi'a]] exegetes have different views about the meaning of "kafur" here. Some considered it used in its lexical meaning referring to any cold and fragrant substance or anything with a good smell.<ref>Ṭabāṭabāyī, ''al-Mīzān'', vol. 20, p. 124.</ref> Some other exegetes mentioned its extraordinary whiteness and coldness because it is a perfect example of that.<ref>Qummī, ''Tafsīr al-Qummī'', vol. 2, p. 398; Makārim Shīrāzī, ''Tafsīr-i nimūna'', vol. 25, p. 349.</ref> Some others referred to its lexical root in "k f r" meaning "to cover" and said that because it is derived from the fruit which is covered in the husk, it has been called "kafur".<ref>Makārim Shīrāzī, ''Tafsīr-i nimūna'', vol. 25, p. 349.</ref> | ||
== Religious Use == | == Religious Use == | ||
Camphor is used in preparation of a dead body for [[burial]]. | Camphor is used in preparation of a dead body for [[burial]]. | ||
* '''[[Ghusl of the dead]]''': based on the [[fatwa]] of most Shi'a authorities, [[ghusl]] is performed to a dead person three times; the second time of which, water mixed with camphor is used and about its amount in water, it has been said that it should not be so much that the water becomes [[Mudaf Water|mudaf]], nor should it be too little that its mixture with water is not obvious. | * '''[[Ghusl of the dead]]''': based on the [[fatwa]] of most Shi'a authorities, [[ghusl]] is performed to a dead person three times; the second time of which, water mixed with camphor is used<ref>Kulaynī, ''al-Kāfī'', vol. 3, p. 139.</ref> and about its amount in water, it has been said that it should not be so much that the water becomes [[Mudaf Water|mudaf]], nor should it be too little that its mixture with water is not obvious.<ref>Ḥillī, ''Tadhkirat al-fuqahāʾ'', vol. 1, p. 352.</ref> | ||
*'''[[Hunut]] [embalmment]''': according to the fatwa of [[Shi'a]] scholars, applying camphor on seven parts of the body used in prostration which are the forehead, palms, the two knees and the tips of the two big toes of feet is [[obligatory]]. | *'''[[Hunut]] [embalmment]''': according to the fatwa of [[Shi'a]] scholars, applying camphor on seven parts of the body used in prostration which are the forehead, palms, the two knees and the tips of the two big toes of feet is [[obligatory]].<ref>Kulaynī, ''al-Kāfī'', vol. 3, p. 143.</ref> | ||
*'''[[Shroud]]''': It is quoted from [[Imam al-Sadiq (a)]] that upon shrouding a dead person, on every piece of the shroud, some camphor and cardamom should be poured. In [[hadith]]s, perfuming the shroud of a dead body has only been permitted using camphor; because a dead person is considered as a person who has worn [[ihram]] clothes. | *'''[[Shroud]]''': It is quoted from [[Imam al-Sadiq (a)]] that upon shrouding a dead person, on every piece of the shroud, some camphor and cardamom should be poured.<ref>Kulaynī, ''Guzīda-yi Kāfī'', vol. 2, p. 131.</ref> In [[hadith]]s, perfuming the shroud of a dead body has only been permitted using camphor;<ref>Ibn Shuʿba al-Ḥarrānī, ''Tuḥaf al-ʿuqūl'', p. 165.</ref> because a dead person is considered as a person who has worn [[ihram]] clothes.<ref>Ibn Shuʿba al-Ḥarrānī, ''Tuḥaf al-ʿuqūl'', p. 175.</ref> | ||
== Position in the Paradise == | == Position in the Paradise == | ||
In the interpretation of verse 5 of [[Sura al-Insan]], some exegetes consider "kafur", the name of a spring in the [[paradise]], or a spring mixed with the smell of camphor, because it is known as a fragrance beside other good smells such as musk and ginger and the righteous and servants of [[God]] drink from it, but it is different from the camphor in this world. | In the interpretation of verse 5 of [[Sura al-Insan]], some exegetes consider "kafur", the name of a spring in the [[paradise]],<ref>Ṭabrisī, ''Majmaʿ al-bayān'', vol. 10, p. 616.</ref> or a spring mixed with the smell of camphor,<ref>Qarashī, ''Qāmūs al-Qurʾān'', vol. 6, p. 124.</ref> because it is known as a fragrance beside other good smells such as musk and ginger<ref>Ṭabrisī, ''Majmaʿ al-bayān'', vol. 10, p. 616.</ref> and the righteous and servants of [[God]] drink from it,<ref>Qarashī, ''Qāmūs al-Qurʾān'', vol. 5, p. 40.</ref> but it is different from the camphor in this world.<ref>Sabziwārī, ''Irshād al-adhhān'', vol. 1, p. 584.</ref> | ||
In the interpretation of some topics mentioned in the [[Qur'an]] such as "do not approach this tree" | In the interpretation of some topics mentioned in the [[Qur'an]] such as "do not approach this tree",<ref>Qurʾān, 2:35</ref> it is transmitted from [[Imam al-Sadiq (a)]] that the tree in this verse refers to camphor tree.<ref>Qarashī, ''Qāmūs al-Qurʾān'', vol. 4, p. 7.</ref> Also, in the interpretation of the verses "and whose seasoning is from Tasnim, * a spring where those brought near [to Allah] drink.",<ref>Qurʾān, 83:28</ref> the spring refers to camphor or a spring with the taste of camphor, from which the righteous and the [[People of the Right Hand]] drink.<ref>Qarashī, ''Qāmūs al-Qurʾān'', vol. 1, p. 157.</ref> According to some hadiths, this spring flows from beneath a tree in the paradise the trunk of which is in the house of [[the Prophet (s)]] and its branches spread in all houses of the paradise.<ref>Jurjānī, ''Jalāʾ al-adhhān'', vol. 5, p. 788.</ref> | ||
The noble Prophet (s) considered his creation in this world beside perfume and ambergris and also introduced camphor as one of the levels or degrees of the paradise. In another [[hadith]] from the Prophet (s), it has been considered the soil of a tree in the paradise called [[Tuba]], or likening it to the shadow of that tree which is cool like camphor. It has also been described as the mortar for building a house in the paradise. Elsewhere, it has been mentioned as a fragrant smell in the houses of the paradise. In another hadith, in a description of the [[pool of Kawthar]], from which believers benefit, its nature has been likened to camphor regarding coolness. | The noble Prophet (s) considered his creation in this world beside perfume and ambergris and also introduced camphor as one of the levels or degrees of the paradise. In another [[hadith]] from the Prophet (s), it has been considered the soil of a tree in the paradise called [[Tuba]], or likening it to the shadow of that tree which is cool like camphor. It has also been described as the mortar for building a house in the paradise. Elsewhere, it has been mentioned as a fragrant smell in the houses of the paradise. In another hadith, in a description of the [[pool of Kawthar]], from which believers benefit, its nature has been likened to camphor regarding coolness. | ||
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