ردف

Core meaning

To come right behind, like the rider seated behind another: to follow without interval.

Uses

1. مُرْدِفِينَ → "following one another" : reinforcements arriving one behind the other.

   • «بِأَلْفٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ مُرْدِفِينَ» — "with a thousand Agents, following one another" (8:9)

2. رَدِفَ لَـ → "very close behind" : what arrives right behind someone, about to reach him.

   • «عَسَىٰٓ أَن يَكُونَ رَدِفَ لَكُم بَعْضُ ٱلَّذِى تَسْتَعْجِلُونَ» — "It may be that some of what you seek to hasten is very close behind you" (27:72)

3. ٱلرَّادِفَة → "the one that comes after" : the quaking that immediately follows the first.

   • «تَتْبَعُهَا ٱلرَّادِفَةُ» — "followed by the one that comes after" (79:7)

Evidence from the text

The three uses say the same contiguity. The Agents come "following one another" (8:9), with no gap between them; what the adversaries want to hasten is already behind them (27:72); and the second quaking follows the first without delay (79:6-7). ردف does not only say to follow, but to follow so closely that nothing separates.

Distinctions

• تبع — to follow: to go after, without the idea of immediate contact