بره

Core meaning

What establishes a thing so that it prevails: the demonstration one brings or receives.

Uses

1. هَاتُوا۟ بُرْهَٰنَكُمْ, لَا بُرْهَٰنَ لَهُۥ → "bring your demonstration" : the summons made to those who set up another deity, and the observation that they have none.

   • «هَاتُوا۟ بُرْهَٰنَكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ صَٰدِقِينَ» — "Bring your demonstration, if you are veracious." (2:111)
   • «لَا بُرْهَٰنَ لَهُۥ بِهِۦ» — "having no demonstration of it" (23:117)

2. بُرْهَٰن مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ, بُرْهَٰنَ رَبِّهِۦ → "demonstration from your Guardian" : the one God gives.

   • «قَدْ جَآءَكُم بُرْهَٰنٌۭ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ» — "A demonstration has indeed come to you from your Guardian" (4:174)
   • «لَوْلَآ أَن رَّءَا بُرْهَٰنَ رَبِّهِۦ» — "had he not seen the demonstration of his Guardian" (12:24)

Evidence from the text

Four times the demonstration is demanded of those who associate, and the formula does not vary (2:111, 21:24, 27:64, 28:75); 23:117 observes that they have none. Three times it is God who gives it: to mankind (4:174), to Youssof, who sees it at the very moment he would have yielded (12:24), to Moussa, whose staff and hand are "two demonstrations from your Guardian, for Fir'awn and his court" (28:32). Each time, what is brought closes the dispute: in 28:75, the demonstration demanded makes known "that the truth belongs to God".

Distinctions

• بين — the clear proof, what makes a thing evident, whereas the demonstration establishes it against dispute
• سلط — authority, the title that gives power, whereas the demonstration is the proof that prevails