حصى

Core meaning

To enumerate to the end: an exact and complete count, which lets nothing escape.

Uses

1. أَحْصَىٰ (God) → "to enumerate" : the count God keeps of beings, deeds and every thing.

   • «لَّقَدْ أَحْصَىٰهُمْ وَعَدَّهُمْ عَدًّۭا» — "He has surely enumerated them and numbered them, one by one" (19:94)
   • «وَكُلَّ شَىْءٍ أَحْصَيْنَٰهُ كِتَٰبًۭا» — "But everything We have enumerated in a record" (78:29)

2. لَا تُحْصُوهَا, أَحْصُوا۟ (man) → "to enumerate" : the complete count man cannot finish, or is commanded to keep.

   • «وَإِن تَعُدُّوا۟ نِعْمَتَ ٱللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَآ» — "and if you numbered God's blessing, you could not enumerate it" (14:34)

Evidence from the text

The text sets two counts against each other. Man counts, but cannot enumerate: "if you numbered God's blessing, you could not enumerate it" (14:34), and the same sentence returns in 16:18; in 73:20, God knows that the believers will not be able to enumerate the time of the night. God, for His part, enumerates: "He has surely enumerated them and numbered them, one by one" (19:94), every thing in a record (78:29, 36:12), and the register of deeds omits nothing, small or great, without enumerating it (18:49).

When the command is addressed to man, it bears on a count that must be complete: the waiting period of repudiated women (65:1); and the people of the Cave are awakened to know which of the two parties best enumerated the span for which they had remained (18:12). What God has enumerated, those who oppose Him have forgotten (58:6).

Distinctions

• عدد — to count: to make the count, which may remain unfinished, whereas حصى completes it (14:34, 19:94)
• حسب — to reckon: to assess a quantity or a measure, without the idea of a count that omits nothing