A friend raised a question about the Arabic word “akala” – اکل ; and insisted that its meaning couldn’t be other than “EATING”! I feel sad over his narrow scope of knowledge and limited exposure to Arabic linguistics. Here is what “akala” means in greater and deeper sense in some of the most authentic Arabic lexicons:-
Lane’s Lexicon: اکل بین الناس: He busied himself among the people with propagating calumnies; or he created or excited, disagreement, dissension, or strife, among them; or made, or did, mischief among them, or he incited them, one against another.
اکل فلانا فلانا : I made thee, or he made such a one, to have dominion, or authority, or power, over such a one.
Stgeingass, page 69 (of 1241): اکل : eat, consume, scratch, gain, bring one in another’s power; shine brightly, get corroded, burst into a rage, fly into a passion; ruin, prudence, intelligence; solidity (of materials);
Dict. Of Quran by M.G. Farid, page 23 (of 847): اکل الربٰوا: He who TAKES (eats) interest. (6) intelligence; judgement; firmness of intellect.
Moreover, Akala (اکل) just can’t be construed as eating, even by mischief or conspiracy, in many instances in Quran like, for example :
لا تاکلو الربا اضعافا مضاعفۃ; Do not take/acquire/grab al-Riba in a multiplying way. (al-Riba is not a dish to eat – so “takulu” here means; “you take”).
4/10:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَأْكُلُونَ أَمْوَالَ الْيَتَامَىٰ ظُلْمًا إِنَّمَا يَأْكُلُونَ فِي بُطُونِهِمْ نَارًا ۖ وَسَيَصْلَوْنَ سَعِيرًا ﴿١٠﴾
(You never “eat” fire into your stomachs! Therefore, the metaphoric meaning of the sentence would be : they accumulate fire in their bellies.)
“Indeed, those who FORCEFULLY POSSESS orphans’ property, they actually accumulate fire in their bellies; and they will endure blazing fire.”
8/69:
فَكُلُوا مِمَّا غَنِمْتُمْ حَلَالًا طَيِّبًا ۚ
“Take, possess and Enjoy”, then, all that is lawful and good among the things which you have gained in war, (Assad).
Sharab – شرب is also the same case. It just can’t be taken literally for drinking on many occasions, for example:-
یشربون فی قلوبہم العجل: They “drink” the heifer in their hearts??? Could “Yashraboona” mean DRINK in this sentence? Never. Here it metaphorically means “they submit to, or they follow the heifer in their hearts!
I hope it is an eye opener. Metaphoric meanings, or use of symbolic, metaphoric, allegoric, and idiomatic words are the essential attributes of a classical literary writing like Quran.