دنر

Core meaning

The dinar: a coin, taken as the measure of a small sum.

Uses

1. دِينَار → "a dinar" : the small sum entrusted, set against the large sum.

   • «وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ إِن تَأْمَنْهُ بِدِينَارٍۢ لَّا يُؤَدِّهِۦٓ إِلَيْكَ إِلَّا مَا دُمْتَ عَلَيْهِ قَآئِمًۭا» — "and there are some who, if you entrust them with a dinar, do not return it to you unless you keep pressing them for it" (3:75)

Evidence from the text

The single use is built as a balance. Among the people of the Scripture, there are some who return a large sum entrusted to them; and there are some who, for a single dinar, do not return it "unless you keep pressing them for it" (3:75). The dinar is the small end of a scale whose large end is the quintal: faithfulness is not measured by the sum. The verse gives the reason of those who withhold: "We have, toward the people without a prior Scripture, no obligation" (3:75).

Distinctions

• قنطر — the quintal: the large sum, at the other end of the scale