فرد

Core meaning

To be alone, without companion or support: the state of one who comes to God with nothing of what he relied on.

Uses

1. فَرْد → "alone" : the solitude of the Day, or that of one left without descendants.

   • «وَكُلُّهُمْ ءَاتِيهِ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَٰمَةِ فَرْدًا» — "And each of them will come to Him, on the Day of Appearance, alone" (19:95)
   • «رَبِّ لَا تَذَرْنِى فَرْدًۭا» — "My Guardian, do not forsake me, alone" (21:89)

2. فُرَادَىٰ → "alone", "one by one" : each for himself, outside the group.

   • «وَلَقَدْ جِئْتُمُونَا فُرَٰدَىٰ» — "Here you have come to Us alone" (6:94)
   • «مَثْنَىٰ وَفُرَٰدَىٰ» — "two by two or one by one" (34:46)

Evidence from the text

On the Day, the human being comes alone: without what he possessed, left "behind your backs" (6:94), without the wealth and children he spoke of (19:80), as on the day of his creation, "as We created you the first time" (6:94). Zakariya uses the same word for the solitude of having no descendants, and he addresses it to the One who is "the best of inheritors" (21:89).

In 34:46, solitude becomes a method: to stand up for God "two by two or one by one" (34:46), then to reflect, away from the pull of the group.

Distinctions

• وحد — unity, what is one; فرد states the isolation of one who has no support left
• فردوس — Firdaws, the name of a Garden: unrelated to isolation