Page 333 - General Knowledge from the Qur'an

The Scientific Miracles of the Qur'an 331

Around seven years after the revelation of the first verses of Surat ar-
Rum, in December 627 AD, a decisive battle between Byzantium and
the Persian Empire was fought at Nineveh. And this time the Byzan-
tine army unexpectedly defeated the Persians. A few months later, the
Persians had to make an agreement with Byzantium, which obliged
them to return the territories they had taken from it. 12
At the end, "the victory of the Romans," Allah proclaimed in the
Qur'an, miraculously came true.
Another miracle revealed in these verses is the announcement of a
geographical fact that could not have been known by anyone at that
time.
In the third verse of Sura Rum, we are informed that the Romans
had been defeated in the lowest region of the Earth. This expression,
"Adna al Ard" in Arabic, is interpreted as "a nearby place" in many
translations. Yet this is not the literal meaning of the original state-
ment, but rather a figurative interpretation of it. The word "Adna" in
Arabic is derived from the word "deni", which means "low" and "ard",
which means "world". Therefore the expression "Adna al Ard" means
"the lowest place on the Earth".
Most interestingly, the crucial stages of the war fought between the
Byzantine Empire and the Persians, when the Byzantines were de-
feated and lost Jerusalem, had really taken place at the lowest point on
earth. This specified region is the Dead Sea basin, which is situated at
the intersection point of the lands belonging to Syria, Palestine, and
Jordan. The "Dead Sea", lying 395 meters below sea level, really is the
lowest region on Earth.
This means that the Byzantines were defeated at the lowest part of
the world, just as stated in the verse.
The most interesting point lies in the fact that the altitude of the
Dead Sea could only be measured with modern measurement tech-
niques. Before that, it was impossible for anyone to know that it was
the lowest region on the surface of the Earth. Yet, this region was
stated to be the lowest point on the Earth in the Qur'an. Hence, this
provides further evidence that the Qur'an is divine revelation.