ايد
Attested forms : أَيَّدْنَٰهُ 2 · يُؤَيِّدُ 1 · أَيَّدتُّكَ 1 · أَيَّدَكُم 1 · أَيَّدَكَ 1 · أَيَّدَهُۥ 1 · ٱلْأَيْدِ 1 · بِأَيْي۟دٍۢ 1
Core meaning
The strength that supports: in the verb, to fortify someone, to give him what he needs to hold firm; in the noun, strength itself, the means to act.
Uses
أَيَّدَ, يُؤَيِّدُ + بِ → "to fortify" : God fortifies someone with a support He names: the Influx, His help, armies, the believers.
أَيَّدَ + عَلَىٰ → "to fortify against" : strength given against an adversary.
- «فَأَيَّدْنَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ عَلَىٰ عَدُوِّهِمْ فَأَصْبَحُوا۟ ظَٰهِرِينَ» — "So We fortified those who believed against their enemy, and they became dominant" (61:14)
ٱلْأَيْد, أَيْي۟د → "strength", "might" : the strength one possesses, in a man or in the act of God.
Evidence from the text
The verb is always followed by what fortifies, and it is never the strength of the one who receives: the sacred Influx for Issa (2:87, 2:253, 5:110), an Influx from God for the believers (58:22), His help (3:13, 8:26), "His help and with the believers" (8:62), "armies you did not see" (9:40). Strength comes from outside, and it is given to those who are few or weak: "when you were few, reduced to weakness on the earth" (8:26).
The noun states strength itself. Dawud is "endowed with strength" (38:17), and the next verse shows what it serves: the mountains glorify with him. The sky is built "with might" (51:47): the same strength, on the scale of creation.
Distinctions
- يدى — the hand and, by extension, the means to act; it is under this root that أَيْدِيَهُمَا (5:38) stands, rendered "their supports"
- مدد — to reinforce: to add a supply to forces already engaged, Agents sent down (3:124-125, 8:9); to fortify is to give someone the strength that makes him hold
- نصر — help, one of the supports by which God fortifies
See also
قوى (strength)