ب

Core meaning

Preposition of attachment: it binds the action to what carries it — the means by which it is done, what accompanies it, or what it bears upon, first of all the object of faith and of disowning; it also introduces the One by whom one swears.

Uses

1. ءَامَنَ بِهِۦ, كَفَرَ بِهِۦ → "to believe in", "believe in it"; "to disown" : the object of faith or of disowning; with disown, the preposition is not translated: one disowns the thing itself.

   • «وَمِنْهُم مَّن يُؤْمِنُ بِهِۦ وَمِنْهُم مَّن لَّا يُؤْمِنُ بِهِۦ» — "Among them are some who believe in it, and some who do not believe in it" (10:40)
   • «فَلَمَّا جَآءَهُم مَّا عَرَفُوا۟ كَفَرُوا۟ بِهِۦ» — "when, then, there came to them what they recognized, they disowned it" (2:89)

2. بِهِۦ (the means) → "by", "by which" : that through which the action passes.

   • «فَأَخْرَجَ بِهِۦ مِنَ ٱلثَّمَرَٰتِ رِزْقًۭا لَّكُمْ» — "by which He brought forth fruits as provision for you" (2:22)
   • «يُضِلُّ بِهِۦ كَثِيرًۭا وَيَهْدِى بِهِۦ كَثِيرًۭا» — "He leads astray by it many, and guides by it many" (2:26)

3. أُرْسِلَ بِهِۦ, يَمْشِى بِهِۦ → "with" : what one carries along: the message one is sent with, the light one walks with.

   • «إِنَّا بِمَآ أُرْسِلَ بِهِۦ مُؤْمِنُونَ» — "We indeed believe in what he was sent with" (7:75)
   • «نُورًۭا يَمْشِى بِهِۦ فِى ٱلنَّاسِ» — "a light with which he walks among men," (6:122)

4. أَعْلَمُ بِهِمْ, بِكُمْ رَحِيمًا, تُشْرِكُوا۟ بِهِۦ → "to know", "toward you", "to associate with Him" : what a knowledge, a disposition or an association bears upon; the translation merges it into the verb or renders it "toward".

   • «رَّبُّهُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِهِمْ» — "their Guardian knows them best" (18:21)
   • «إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ بِكُمْ رَحِيمًۭا» — "God is indeed, toward you, Benevolent" (4:29)
   • «وَلَا تُشْرِكُوا۟ بِهِۦ شَيْـًۭٔا» — "and associate nothing with Him" (4:36)

Evidence from the text

After the verb to believe, the construction does not vary: one believes "in" what is received (2:41, 10:40, 17:107). Disowning and association follow the same construction (2:89, 4:36, 4:48), and the two camps answer each other word for word: "We indeed believe in what he was sent with" (7:75), "We indeed disown what you have been sent with" (43:24).

Elsewhere it names that through which the action passes: the water by which the fruits come forth (2:22), the example by which God leads astray and guides (2:26), the Recitation by which the messenger warns (6:19). It also introduces the One with whom refuge is sought, God alone (3:36), and the One by whom one swears: "They take oaths by God" (9:56).

Distinctions

• ل — the recipient or beneficiary, to whom or for whom one acts, whereas بِ binds the action to its means or its object
• فى — containment, that in which one is, whereas بِ says by what or with what one acts

See also

امن (to believe) · عوذ (to seek refuge)