نمل

Core meaning

The ant; a distinct use of the same radical names the fingertips.

Uses

1. نَمْلَة, ٱلنَّمْل → "ant", "ants" : the insect, which speaks and warns its own.

   • «عَلَىٰ وَادِ ٱلنَّمْلِ» — "to the valley of the ants" (27:18)
   • «قَالَتْ نَمْلَةٌۭ» — "an ant said" (27:18)

2. ٱلْأَنَامِل → "fingertips" : a distinct use, with no established link of meaning to the insect.

   • «عَضُّوا۟ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْأَنَامِلَ مِنَ ٱلْغَيْظِ» — "they bite their fingertips, out of rage against you" (3:119)

Evidence from the text

The account of 27:18 uses the word three times: the valley of the ants, an ant, and the call "O ants". The ant speaks to its community and warns it of the passage of Sulayman and his armies: the word names the insect, without figure.

ٱلْأَنَامِل, the fingertips bitten in rage (3:119), belongs to the same radical without the text establishing a link of meaning.