حضر

Core meaning

To be there, on the spot, at the moment a thing takes place; in the form that makes come, to bring someone or something so that it is there.

Uses

1. حَضَرَ → "to present itself", "to be present" : presence that arrives: death presenting itself, relatives present at the division, the Occulted present at the Recitation.

   • «إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَكُمُ ٱلْمَوْتُ» — "when death presents itself to one of you" (2:180)
   • «فَلَمَّا حَضَرُوهُ» — "and when they were present at it" (46:29)
   • «وَإِذَا حَضَرَ ٱلْقِسْمَةَ أُو۟لُوا۟ ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ» — "And when the possessors of kinship ties, the orphans, and the destitute are present at the division" (4:8)

2. حَاضِر, حَاضِرَة → "present", "immediate", "near" : what is there: the deed found again, trade from hand to hand, the city by the sea.

   • «تِجَٰرَةً حَاضِرَةًۭ تُدِيرُونَهَا بَيْنَكُمْ» — "an immediate trade that you conduct among yourselves" (2:282)
   • «ٱلْقَرْيَةِ ٱلَّتِى كَانَتْ حَاضِرَةَ ٱلْبَحْرِ» — "the city that was near the sea" (7:163)

3. مُحْضَر, مُحْضَرُونَ, ٱلْمُحْضَرِينَ → "present", "brought" : what is made to come: deeds made present on the Day, humans brought before God or into the punishment.

   • «يَوْمَ تَجِدُ كُلُّ نَفْسٍۢ مَّا عَمِلَتْ مِنْ خَيْرٍۢ مُّحْضَرًۭا» — "The day when every Self will find present what it has done of good" (3:30)
   • «فَإِذَا هُمْ جَمِيعٌۭ لَّدَيْنَا مُحْضَرُونَ» — "and there they are, all together, brought before Us" (36:53)
   • «لَكُنتُ مِنَ ٱلْمُحْضَرِينَ» — "I would have been among those brought forth" (37:57)

4. أَحْضَرَ, أُحْضِرَ, مُّحْتَضَر → "to bring forward", "to be attended" : to bring what one has, or to present oneself in one's turn.

   • «عَلِمَتْ نَفْسٌۭ مَّآ أَحْضَرَتْ» — "a Self will know what it has brought forward" (81:14)
   • «كُلُّ شِرْبٍۢ مُّحْتَضَرٌۭ» — "each turn to drink is attended" (54:28)

Evidence from the text

Presence is always actual, in a place and at a moment. It may come of itself: death presents itself to Yaacoub (2:133) and to each one (2:180, 4:18, 5:106); relatives are present at the division (4:8); a group of the Occulted is present at the Recitation (46:29). It may be a state: the family present at the inviolable place of prostration (2:196), the immediate trade (2:282), the city near the sea (7:163).

The form that makes come carries the Day: every Self will find present what it has done (3:30, 18:49) and will know what it has brought forward (81:14); those who denied will be brought into the punishment (30:16, 34:38), all together brought before God (36:32, 36:53), among those brought forth (28:61, 37:57, 37:127, 37:158). The word alone does not say where one is brought; the context says it, and the refined obedient ones are excepted (37:128).

Distinctions

• شهد — to witness: to be present in order to attest, whereas حضر states presence alone
• حشر — to gather: to bring together in one place, whereas أَحْضَرَ makes come so that one is there

See also

قوم (the Appearance)