قصد

Core meaning

To go straight to the goal by the right measure, without excess or detour: the way that goes straight, the moderate pace, the journey without length.

Uses

1. قَصْد ٱلسَّبِيل → "the marking out of the straight way" : the line that goes straight to its goal, opposed to the ways that veer off.

   • «وَعَلَى ٱللَّهِ قَصْدُ ٱلسَّبِيلِ وَمِنْهَا جَآئِرٌۭ» — "And to God belongs the marking out of the straight way; some of it veers off" (16:9)

2. ٱقْصِدْ → "be moderate" : the right measure in one's pace.

   • «وَٱقْصِدْ فِى مَشْيِكَ» — "And be moderate in your pace" (31:19)

3. مُقْتَصِد → "moderate", "following a moderate course" : the one, or the community, who keeps to the right measure.

   • «مِّنْهُمْ أُمَّةٌۭ مُّقْتَصِدَةٌۭ» — "Among them, there is a moderate community" (5:66)
   • «وَمِنْهُم مُّقْتَصِدٌۭ» — "one who follows a moderate course" (35:32)

4. قَاصِد → "moderate" : the journey of right length, which reaches its goal without hardship.

   • «وَسَفَرًۭا قَاصِدًۭا» — "and a moderate journey" (9:42)

Evidence from the text

The word stands between two deviations. In 16:9, the way that goes straight is opposed to those that veer off. In 35:32, the one who follows a moderate course is placed between those who "wrong themselves" and those who "race ahead in good deeds"; in 5:66, the moderate community stands apart from the many whose deeds are evil.

In 31:32, those whom God saves from the waves and who "remain moderate" stand apart from the one who stubbornly rejects the signs. In 9:42, the journey of right length is the one they would have made: "but the distance seemed long to them".

Distinctions

• وسط — the middle, the central place; قصد is the measured pace that goes to the goal

See also

سبل (the way)