حقق

Core meaning

The true: what is grounded in reality and asserts itself, as a fact that proves true or as a right that is due.

Uses

1. ٱلْحَقّ → "the truth" : the real opposed to falsehood; God Himself is so named.

   • «وَلَا تَلْبِسُوا۟ ٱلْحَقَّ بِٱلْبَٰطِلِ» — "And do not cloak the truth in falsehood" (2:42)
   • «جَآءَ ٱلْحَقُّ وَزَهَقَ ٱلْبَٰطِلُ» — "The truth has come, and falsehood has vanished" (17:81)
   • «ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلْحَقُّ» — "That is because God is the Truth" (22:6)

2. ٱلْحَقّ (attribute of a divine name) → "the Truth", "true" : after "God" or a name used on its own, "the Truth"; after a name of relation followed by a pronoun (Guardian, Guarantor), "true", placed before the name.

   • «فَتَعَٰلَى ٱللَّهُ ٱلْمَلِكُ ٱلْحَقُّ» — "So exalted be God, the Sovereign, the Truth!" (20:114)
   • «فَذَٰلِكُمُ ٱللَّهُ رَبُّكُمُ ٱلْحَقُّ» — "That is God, your true Guardian." (10:32)

3. بِٱلْحَقِّ → "in truth", "with truth" : the manner of an act: to send down, create, decide according to the real.

   • «ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ نَزَّلَ ٱلْكِتَٰبَ بِٱلْحَقِّ» — "That is because God sent down the Scripture in truth" (2:176)
   • «وَبِٱلْحَقِّ أَنزَلْنَٰهُ» — "With truth We sent it down" (17:105)

4. حَقّ (attribute), حَقًّا → "so", "true" : what conforms to the real.

   • «إِنَّهُۥ لَحَقٌّۭ» — "It is surely so" (10:53)
   • «أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ حَقًّۭا» — "those are the true believers" (8:4)

5. حَقّ (what is due), ٱلَّذِى عَلَيْهِ ٱلْحَقُّ, إِلَّا بِٱلْحَقِّ → "the due", "a right", "by right" : what belongs to someone because it is grounded, and what rests upon the one who owes it.

   • «وَءَاتِ ذَا ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ حَقَّهُۥ» — "And give to the close relative his due" (17:26)
   • «وَلْيُمْلِلِ ٱلَّذِى عَلَيْهِ ٱلْحَقُّ» — "and let him upon whom the due rests dictate" (2:282)
   • «وَفِىٓ أَمْوَٰلِهِمْ حَقٌّۭ لِّلسَّآئِلِ وَٱلْمَحْرُومِ» — "And in their goods there was a right for the one who asks and the one who is deprived" (51:19)
   • «إِلَّا بِٱلْحَقِّ» — "except by right" (6:151)

6. حَقًّا عَلَى → "a duty upon" : what is owed by the one bound to it; said of God, what He owes Himself toward the believers.

   • «حَقًّا عَلَى ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ» — "a duty upon those who guard themselves" (2:180)
   • «وَكَانَ حَقًّا عَلَيْنَا نَصْرُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ» — "and it was a duty upon Us to help the believers" (30:47)

7. أَحَقّ → "greater right", "more worthy" : the comparative: the one to whom the thing belongs more.

   • «وَبُعُولَتُهُنَّ أَحَقُّ بِرَدِّهِنَّ» — "And their husbands have greater right to bring them back" (2:228)
   • «فَٱللَّهُ أَحَقُّ أَن تَخْشَوْهُ» — "God is more worthy that you should dread Him" (9:13)

8. حَقَّ, أَحَقَّ → "to prove true", "to make prevail" : the true that comes about, or that God makes prevail.

   • «كَذَٰلِكَ حَقَّتْ كَلِمَتُ رَبِّكَ» — "Thus did the word of your Guardian prove true" (10:33)
   • «وَيُحِقُّ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْحَقَّ بِكَلِمَٰتِهِۦ» — "And God makes the truth prevail by His words" (10:82)

9. ٱلْحَاقَّة → "That which proves the real" : a name of the Hour, stating it by what it does.

   • «ٱلْحَآقَّةُ مَا ٱلْحَآقَّةُ» — "That which proves the real! What is that which proves the real?" (69:1-2)

10. حَقِيق, ٱسْتَحَقَّ → "bound to", "to be guilty of" : to be bound by what is due; to incur what one owes.

    • «عَلَىٰٓ أَن لَّآ أَقُولَ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ إِلَّا ٱلْحَقَّ» — "bound to say about God nothing but the truth" (7:105)
    • «فَإِنْ عُثِرَ عَلَىٰٓ أَنَّهُمَا ٱسْتَحَقَّآ إِثْمًۭا» — "But if it is discovered that both have been guilty of a transgression" (5:107)

Evidence from the text

The true and the due are one: what is grounded in reality asserts itself as fact and as right. A fact proves true: "Thus did the word of your Guardian prove true" (10:33). A right is rendered: the close relative receives "his due" (17:26), and in the goods of those who guard themselves there is "a known right" (70:24). Killing is permitted only "by right" (6:151). The due rests upon someone: 2:282 distinguishes the debt contracted (دَيْن) from what rests upon the debtor, "him upon whom the due rests". God makes it a duty for Himself: "it is a duty upon Us to save the believers" (10:103); "it was a duty upon Us to help the believers" (30:47): the two verses say the same thing of the same object.

The noun faces falsehood in a constant pair: one is not to cover the one with the other (2:42); truth comes and falsehood vanishes (17:81); God blots out falsehood and makes truth prevail by His words (42:24). God Himself is "the Truth" (22:6), "the Sovereign, the Truth" (20:114, 23:116); after a name of relation, the word becomes "true": "their true nearest Guarantor" (10:30), and, two verses on, "your true Guardian" (10:32). The Hour receives its name from the same root, That which proves the real (69:1-3): the sura that bears this name closes on "the truth of certainty" (69:51).

Distinctions

• دين — the debt contracted, whereas ٱلْحَقّ is what rests upon the debtor (2:282)
• صدق — truthfulness: speech that conforms to what is, whereas ٱلْحَقّ is the real itself

See also

بطل (falsehood)