حرض

Core meaning

To push to the extreme: to incite others to full commitment, or to be oneself worn down to the limit.

Uses

1. حَرَّضَ → "to incite" : to push others to full effort, here that of combat.

   • «وَحَرِّضِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ» — "And incite the believers" (4:84)

2. حَرَض → "worn out" : the wearing down of the body by grief, at the edge of death.

   • «حَتَّىٰ تَكُونَ حَرَضًا أَوْ تَكُونَ مِنَ ٱلْهَٰلِكِينَ» — "until you are worn out or until you are annihilated" (12:85)

Evidence from the text

Both uses state a limit reached. The command given to the one the text addresses (4:84), then to the Informant (8:65), pushes the believers to the commitment of combat. In 12:85, the sons fear for their father, whose grief for Youssof will go on, as they tell him, "until you are worn out or until you are annihilated": the wearing down is placed just before death.

See also

هلك (to annihilate)