جسم

Core meaning

The body in its volume and stature, as the eye takes it in.

Uses

1. ٱلْجِسْم → "constitution" : stature, given together with knowledge to the one God has chosen.

   • «وَزَادَهُۥ بَسْطَةًۭ فِى ٱلْعِلْمِ وَٱلْجِسْمِ» — "and increased him in breadth of knowledge and constitution" (2:247)

2. أَجْسَام → "silhouettes" : bodies as one sees them, which dazzle without saying anything of what they hold.

   • «تُعْجِبُكَ أَجْسَامُهُمْ» — "their silhouettes dazzle you" (63:4)

Evidence from the text

The two uses judge the body in two opposite ways. In 2:247, constitution goes with knowledge: Talut is chosen, and God increased him "in breadth of knowledge and constitution". In 63:4, their bodies impress, but what follows compares them to lifeless wood: "they are like propped-up pieces of wood" (63:4). The visible body therefore proves nothing by itself; it is worth what goes with it.

Distinctions

• جسد — the body without life of its own, a form that is fashioned or laid down

See also

بسط (breadth)