كدح

Core meaning

To make one's laborious way toward an end: a continuous spending of oneself, with a direction.

Uses

1. كَادِحٌ · كَدْحًۭا → "You are indeed making your laborious way" : the verb followed by its own noun says continuity; the preposition gives the direction, "toward your Guardian".

   • «كَادِحٌ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ كَدْحًۭا فَمُلَٰقِيهِ» — "You are indeed making your laborious way toward your Guardian, and you will meet Him" (84:6)

Evidence from the text

The sole use, 84:6, doubles the root: the participle كَادِح, then its noun كَدْح. The doubling says continuity: the human being never stops making this laborious way. The sentence at once gives it an end, "toward your Guardian", and a certain outcome, "and you will meet Him", as in 53:42, where toward the Guardian is the utmost boundary. It does not distinguish good and bad undertakings: all lead to the same end, and what follows says only how each will receive his record.

Distinctions

• سعى — to strive toward a goal one pursues; كدح says the continuous spending of a whole life.
• كبد — the hard condition in which the human being is created (90:4); كدح is the movement that crosses it.