A Bit of Etymology

My daughter asked me the meaning of zukhruf. Because she was asking in the context of a Qur'anic passage, I didn't want to answer off the top of my head, so I told her to look it up in Mufradat Al-Qur'an, where the author defined it as muzawwaq adornment (الزينة المزوقة). I then proceeded to look up muzawwaq in Lisan Al-Arab. Zawooq and zi'baq are both words for mercury, probably of Persian origin. In ancient times, metal workers would perform fire-gilding by mixing fine gold with mercury, decoratively applying the amalgam to the desired item, and then evaporating off the mercury by applying heat. Such items were then referred to as muzawwaq. Eventually, anything embellished would be referred to as muzawwaq. In fact, when a woman adorns herself, she is referred to as mutazawwiqah. This word is commonly used in colloquial Egyptian speech, but would be rendered mitzawwa'ah in standard Cairene pronunciation.

I've been wondering about the word for the jubbah (long overcoat) worn by the scholars and reciters of Egypt. It is pronounced kakoula, and Yusuf Al-Qaradhawi describes it as a "jubbah with a collar." It appears that this is a corruption of the French cagoule, or raincoat. While a google search for cagoule and the Wikipedia page for it present images that are a far cry from Egyptian sheikhwear, it is likely that the cagoule has changed greatly over time, and that at one point the Egyptian jubbah did in fact resemble it more closely.