قرض

Core meaning

Two uses: the loan made to God, which returns doubled to the one who makes it; and the sun passing along the cave with a graze, without entering it.

Uses

1. أَقْرَضَ, قَرْضًا حَسَنًا → "to make God a beautiful loan" : to give of one's goods as one lends, sure of being repaid.

   • «مَّن ذَا ٱلَّذِى يُقْرِضُ ٱللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًۭا فَيُضَٰعِفَهُۥ لَهُۥٓ أَضْعَافًۭا كَثِيرَةًۭ» — "Who, then, will make God a beautiful loan, which He will double for him many times over?" (2:245)
   • «وَأَقْرِضُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًۭا» — "and make God a beautiful loan" (73:20)

2. تَقْرِضُهُمْ → "to leave with a graze" : to pass beside a thing, brushing it, without reaching it.

   • «وَإِذَا غَرَبَت تَّقْرِضُهُمْ ذَاتَ ٱلشِّمَالِ» — "and at its setting, leave it with a graze on the left" (18:17)

Evidence from the text

The formula of the loan returns almost word for word in 2:245, 5:12, 57:11, 57:18, 64:17 and 73:20, always with the promise of the double: "He will double it for you and forgive you" (64:17). The gift is never presented as a loss: it is a loan, and the lender is repaid by God Himself. In 5:12 it counts among the conditions of the engagement, beside the Contact and pure liberality.

The use in 18:17 is of another order: the sun inclines away from the cave at its rising, and at its setting it passes "with a graze on the left", while the sleepers lie "in a recess set apart from it" (18:17). The light passes without touching them.

Distinctions

• ضعف — to double: what God does with the loan, the promised sequel of each use
• صدق — charity: the gift made to people, named beside the loan in 57:18

See also

حسن (beautiful, the good done)