غنى

Core meaning

To be self-sufficient: to need nothing else. Said of God, it is His quality; said of what a person possesses, it is what, at the moment one would need it, avails nothing.

Uses

1. غَنِىّ, ٱلْغَنِىّ (God) → "Self-Sufficient" : the quality of God, often joined to "Praiseworthy", and stated when people disown.

   • «وَٱعْلَمُوٓا۟ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَنِىٌّ حَمِيدٌ» — "And know that God is Self-Sufficient, Praiseworthy" (2:267)
   • «فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَنِىٌّ عَنِ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ» — "God is indeed Self-Sufficient, independent of all beings" (3:97)

2. ٱسْتَغْنَىٰ → "to see oneself self-sufficient", "to show Himself Self-Sufficient" : the person who thinks himself without need, or God who shows He needs no one.

   • «أَن رَّءَاهُ ٱسْتَغْنَىٰٓ» — "as soon as he sees himself self-sufficient" (96:7)
   • «وَّٱسْتَغْنَى ٱللَّهُ» — "and God showed Himself Self-Sufficient" (64:6)

3. غَنِىّ, أَغْنِيَاء (people) → "rich", "the rich" : one who has enough to suffice himself, set against the poor.

   • «إِن يَكُنْ غَنِيًّا أَوْ فَقِيرًۭا» — "Whether he be rich or poor" (4:135)
   • «إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ فَقِيرٌۭ وَنَحْنُ أَغْنِيَآءُ» — "God is poor, and we are rich" (3:181)

4. أَغْنَىٰ, يُغْنِى (God) → "to enrich" : God gives enough to suffice, from His favor.

   • «فَسَوْفَ يُغْنِيكُمُ ٱللَّهُ مِن فَضْلِهِۦٓ» — "God will enrich you from His favor" (9:28)
   • «وَوَجَدَكَ عَآئِلًۭا فَأَغْنَىٰ» — "Did He not find you indigent and enrich you?" (93:8)

5. أَغْنَىٰ عَن, مُغْنُون عَن → "to avail", "to be of use against" : what stands as protection against an ill, and most often fails to.

   • «لَن تُغْنِىَ عَنْهُمْ أَمْوَٰلُهُمْ وَلَآ أَوْلَٰدُهُم مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ شَيْـًۭٔا» — "neither their goods nor their children will avail them at all against God" (3:10)
   • «مَآ أَغْنَىٰ عَنْهُ مَالُهُۥ وَمَا كَسَبَ» — "His goods and what he acquired have availed him nothing" (111:2)
   • «وَلَا يُغْنِى عَنكَ شَيْـًۭٔا» — "and avails you nothing" (19:42)
   • «إِنَّ ٱلظَّنَّ لَا يُغْنِى مِنَ ٱلْحَقِّ شَيْـًٔا» — "and presumption does not avail at all against the truth" (10:36)

6. غَنِىَ فِى → "to dwell", "to flourish" : to have lived in a place, provided with everything; for the earth, to flourish (10:24).

   • «كَأَن لَّمْ يَغْنَوْا۟ فِيهَآ» — "as if they had never dwelt there" (11:68)

Evidence from the text

The word separates two kinds of sufficiency. God's is a state: He is Self-Sufficient, most often "Praiseworthy" (2:267, 14:8, 31:12, 64:6), and people's disowning takes nothing from Him (3:97, 14:8, 39:7). In 64:6, the text distinguishes the act and the state: at the moment they turn their backs, God showed Himself Self-Sufficient; then comes the quality that remains, "God is Self-Sufficient, Praiseworthy".

The sufficiency a person claims for himself is a fault: he sees himself self-sufficient, and exceeds all measure (96:6-7, 80:5, 92:8). What he possesses fails where he relied on it: his goods and his children will not avail him against God (3:10, 58:17), the deities invoked avail nothing (11:101), Ibrahim asks his father why he obeys what avails him nothing (19:42), presumption "does not avail at all against the truth" (10:36, 53:28), and the weak ask in vain of those they followed to be of use to them against the punishment (14:21, 40:47). It is God who enriches, from His favor (9:28, 24:32, 93:8).

Distinctions

• فقر — poverty: need, which the text sets against غنى (35:15, 47:38)
• كفى — to suffice: what is enough for someone, as God suffices as a witness, whereas غنى says to need nothing
• نصر — to help: aid that intervenes, whereas أَغْنَىٰ عَن says what avails, or avails nothing
• نفع — to benefit: the profit a thing brings, whereas أَغْنَىٰ عَن says what protects, or fails to protect, against an ill

See also

حمد (praise)