Vocabulary

Table (māʾida): “Mayd” refers tp the agitation of something of great size, like the agitation of the earth. Māʾida is a table-spread on which there is food (cooked and prepared food). (224) Some scholars believe that māʾida is the active participle of mayd, originally meaning movement, and they called a table and table-spread on which there is food māʾida, because the table-spread and what is on it is transportable,(225) and it has been said that this phrase in fact means: “send down to us a table” - they requested knowledge. They called knowledge māʾida because it is the nourishment of hearts, just as food is the nourishment of the body. (226)