قبل

Core meaning

To face: what stands before one; hence what came before, the point one turns toward, and the welcome given to what presents itself.

Uses

1. قَبْلَ, مِن قَبْلُ → "before" : the most frequent use: what came earlier, in time or in the course of an account.

   • «ٱلَّذِينَ ءَاتَيْنَٰهُمُ ٱلْكِتَٰبَ مِن قَبْلِهِۦ» — "Those to whom We gave the Scripture before it" (28:52)
   • «مَا قَدْ قِيلَ لِلرُّسُلِ مِن قَبْلِكَ» — "what was already said to the messengers before you" (41:43)

2. قِبْلَة → "rallying point" : the point toward which a community stands and gathers.

   • «وَمَا جَعَلْنَا ٱلْقِبْلَةَ ٱلَّتِى كُنتَ عَلَيْهَآ إِلَّا لِنَعْلَمَ» — "And We had placed the rallying point, the one you were upon, only to distinguish" (2:143)
   • «فَلَنُوَلِّيَنَّكَ قِبْلَةًۭ تَرْضَىٰهَا» — "We will then give you as your course a rallying point that satisfies you" (2:144)

3. أَقْبَلَ, مُتَقَٰبِلِين, قُبُل → "to come forward", "to turn to", "facing one another", "face to face" : to go to meet, to stand face to face.

   • «يَٰمُوسَىٰٓ أَقْبِلْ وَلَا تَخَفْ» — "O Moussa, come forward and do not fear" (28:31)
   • «وَأَقْبَلَ بَعْضُهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍۢ يَتَسَآءَلُونَ» — "And they turn to one another, questioning each other" (37:27)
   • «إِخْوَٰنًا عَلَىٰ سُرُرٍۢ مُّتَقَٰبِلِينَ» — "brothers, upon couches, facing one another" (15:47)
   • «فَأَقْبَلُوٓا۟ إِلَيْهِ يَزِفُّونَ» — "then they came forward rushing toward him" (37:94)
   • Written exception: in 12:82, أَقْبَلْنَا says the arrival: "the caravan with which we returned" (12:82).

4. تَقَبَّلَ, قَبِلَ, قَبُول → "to accept", "to receive", "a reception" : to receive face on what is presented: the offering, the repentance, the child devoted.

   • «فَتَقَبَّلَهَا رَبُّهَا بِقَبُولٍ حَسَنٍۢ» — "Her Guardian received her with a beautiful reception" (3:37)
   • «إِنَّمَا يَتَقَبَّلُ ٱللَّهُ مِنَ ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ» — "God accepts only from those who guard themselves" (5:27)

5. قَبِيل, قَبَآئِل → "his tribe", "tribes" : those who present themselves together, with one front.

   • «إِنَّهُۥ يَرَىٰكُمْ هُوَ وَقَبِيلُهُۥ» — "He indeed sees you, he and his tribe" (7:27)
   • «شُعُوبًۭا وَقَبَآئِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوٓا۟» — "nations and tribes, so that you may recognize one another" (49:13)

Evidence from the text

All the forms start from facing. What is before is what stood in front, on the road already travelled: the messengers "before you" (41:43), the Scripture given "before it" (28:52). The rallying point is what one stands toward, and it serves to distinguish "who follows the messenger from who turns back on his heels" (2:143): one faces it, or turns one's back on it.

To accept is to receive face on what is presented: the offering of one of the sons of Adam is accepted, that of the other is not (5:27), and Maryam is received "with a beautiful reception" (3:37). The same idea holds the other uses: the shirt torn "from the front" (12:26), the punishment that comes "face to face" (18:55), the Agents brought "before us" (17:92), the brothers "facing one another" on their couches (15:47), those whose idols Ibrahim struck, who "came forward rushing toward him" (37:94), as his wife "came forward crying out" (51:29), and the tribe that presents itself with one front (49:13).

The movement runs from facing to rallying. One turns toward what stands before one, "hastening toward you" (70:36); the rallying point is the course toward which the face finally turns, "We will then give you as your course a rallying point that satisfies you" (2:144), and it becomes the place where people gather in shelter when Moussa and his brother are commanded: "make your houses a rallying point" (10:87). The tribe is the other face of the same movement: those one turns toward and who stand as one front with you, among whom one is received and recognized, "so that you may recognize one another" (49:13). The rallying point is the place one turns toward to gather; the tribe, one's own people one turns toward to be received.

Distinctions

• دبر — the back: "from behind", whereas قُبُل says "from the front" (12:26)
• قدم — what one puts forward or what has been prepared, whereas قبل says what stood before

See also

وجه (the face, the direction)