Dum Pendebat Filius

A post at Language Log discusses what seems to be an urban legend about “Al-Qaeda.” Former British foreign secretary Robin Cook writes:

Al-Qaida, literally “the database”, was originally the computer file of the thousands of mujahideen who were recruited and trained with help from the CIA to defeat the Russians.

This is simply false, even though it’s a good story.

I heard another such legend, a couple of years ago, that claimed Osama bin Laden had read a samizdat Arabic translation of Isaac Asimov’s novel Foundation, whose Arabic title was Al-Qa’ida. (”Foundation” is indeed one of the meanings of the word qaa’ida.) Supposedly, Osama’s “real” inspiration was to be found between the covers of that unreadable, overlauded scifi novel.