Surah 27 is called in the app “The Ant” , even though it’s actual translation should be “The Ants” , since النمل is plural of النملة
Assalamo alykom!
This is actually correct most sources use “The Ant” as the translation. You can also check here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An-Naml
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Assalamu Alaikum @Ashraf_Adel
Building on brother Salah’s reply, you’ve made a great observation, and I would like to add a little more explanation.
You’re right that النملة (An-Namlah) means one ant, and النمل (An-Naml) refers to a group. However, in Arabic, النمل is what grammarians call an اسم جنس جمعي — a collective noun. This is a category of noun that refers to a species or kind as a whole or a mass, rather than counting individual members.
The way it works: النملة is actually the singular derived from the collective النمل. So النمل doesn’t mean “multiple ants” the way a regular plural does, it means “ants as a species, as a kind.” This same pattern appears in النحل (An-Nahl) in Surah 16, referring to the species of bees as a whole or a mass. In these cases, the title isn’t counting creatures, it’s naming the kind. Translating it as “The Ant” captures that meaning more faithfully than “The Ants,” which could imply a regular plural.
It is worth adding, however, that “The Ants” would not be entirely wrong either. Since النمل is a collective, it can legitimately be understood as “the ant collective” or “the ant kingdom,” and some translators may render it that way. So it is not an error.
Among respected translations there is no single fixed convention: Sahih International, for example, translates An-Nahl as “The Bee” and An-Naml as “The Ants.” This illustrates that both forms are legitimate translations of the Arabic collective, and the difference ultimately comes down to the translator’s interpretation of how the Arabic collective is best rendered in English.
Hope this helps!
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Yep, thanks for the in-depth reply!!