The Qur’anic Root Q ʿ D
Sitting, remaining in place, positions, and foundations
In its clear bodily use, ق ع د denotes sitting as opposed to standing. Other uses express remaining somewhere, sitting with someone, staying behind from movement or an undertaking, and taking a position in wait. مَقْعَد and مَقَاعِد concern places and positions. قَوَاعِد occurs both for a building’s foundations and, separately, for a group of elderly women. These semantic connections do not by themselves establish the historical order in which every branch developed.
These uses cannot all be reduced to “immobility” or “ceasing to act.” Someone may sit to rest, remain in a gathering to listen, decline to participate in an undertaking, or take a position on a road to obstruct others. The family occurs in all these situations, but their precise meanings differ.
Qur’anic forms include verbs from قَعَدَ, as well as قُعُود, قَاعِد, قَعِيد, مَقْعَد, مَقَاعِد, and قَوَاعِد. الْقَاعِدُونَ and الْقَاعِدِينَ are two case forms of the plural of the same active participle; maqāʿid is the plural of maqʿad. Identical spelling does not always mean identical function: quʿūd can be a verbal noun or a plural, and qawāʿid has different singulars in its two Qur’anic uses.
This family occurs 31 times in the Qur’an: 12 verbs from qaʿada, seven forms of qāʿid, four occurrences of quʿūd, four of maqʿad/maqāʿid, one of qaʿīd, and three of qawāʿid. This count groups the visible forms; the grammatical role and meaning of each occurrence must be examined in its sentence.
Qur’anic forms
Core meaning and early Arabic usage
Sitting as opposed to rising
In its ordinary sense, qaʿada means to sit, and quʿūd is its verbal noun. Its contrast with قَامَ and قِيَام is familiar in Arabic: one expresses sitting, the other standing or rising.
In this bodily sense, a person moves from standing to sitting or remains seated. The root itself does not determine the duration, the person’s calmness, the reason for sitting, or their intention. Sitting briefly and remaining somewhere for a long time are distinguished through syntax and context.
Quʿūd contrasts with qiyām, but the family extends beyond that bodily opposition. قَعَدَ بِالْمَكَانِ can express remaining somewhere, قَعَدَ عَنِ الْأَمْرِ staying aside from or leaving an undertaking, and قَعَدَ لَهُ waiting or lying in wait for someone in an appropriate context.
These differences should not be attributed to the prepositions alone. The verb, its accompanying construction, and the situation jointly determine the meaning.
Sitting does not always imply passivity
In Arabic usage, sitting can accompany expectation and readiness. Someone waiting for another on a road may be fully prepared to act. Someone who stays behind from a journey or a group, by contrast, may be withdrawing from movement undertaken by others.
Neither activity nor passivity is therefore an invariant component of this root. Those conditions are understood from the action and its circumstances.
The same applies to qāʿid. It can describe a seated person, while a phrase such as قاعد عن الغزو describes someone who does not join a military expedition. Here, participation in a particular undertaking matters more than bodily posture.
Evidence from pre-Islamic poetry
The pre-Qur’anic poet ʿUbayd ibn al-Abraṣ says in the poem beginning أنبئت أن بني جديلة أوعبوا:
وَلَقَدْ جَرَى لَهُمُ فَلَمْ يَتَعَيَّفُوا
تَيْسٌ قَعِيدٌ كَالْوَلِيَّةِ أَعْضَبُ
ʿUbayd ibn al-Abraṣ, the poem beginning “Unbiʾtu anna Banī Jadīlata awʿabū.”
“A horn-broken male animal, resembling a saddlecloth, passed behind them; yet they took no omen from it.”
The verse belongs to a confrontation with Banū Jadīlah. فلم يتعيفوا shows that the poet is referring to taking omens from passing animals. In the explanation of this example, qaʿīd is understood as an animal approaching from behind. That is a reading of the word in this particular setting; the verse does not independently specify the direction with a word such as “behind.”
The dīwān transmission has كالولية; other transmissions have كالوشيجة and كالهراوة. The translation above follows كالولية. Variation in the simile does not alter the presence of qaʿīd or the context of omen-taking.
The example uses qaʿīd for an animal passing by, so it is not simply a picture of bodily sitting. Its special meaning in this poem, however, cannot be transferred to Qāf 50:17.
Both uses of qawāʿid—for foundations and elderly women—are directly attested in the Qur’an. Their singular forms and individual contexts need to be examined separately.
Bodily sitting and presence in a situation
Qiyām and quʿūd contrasted
Āl ʿImrān says:
الَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُونَ اللَّهَ قِيَامًا وَقُعُودًا وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِهِمْ
“Those who remember TheGod standing, sitting, and on their sides.”
Āl ʿImrān 3:191
The same combination appears in Al-Nisāʾ 4:103. In both verses, quʿūd occurs alongside qiyām and lying on one’s side, describing bodily states.
Standing, sitting, and lying on one’s side are distinct bodily positions. Together they indicate that remembering TheGod is not restricted to one posture. Quʿūd itself, however, does not mean remembrance, inward attentiveness, or inner peace. Those ideas belong to the wider construction.
In Yūnus 10:12, a person in distress calls upon TheGod in different postures:
وَإِذَا مَسَّ الْإِنسَانَ الضُّرُّ دَعَانَا لِجَنبِهِ أَوْ قَاعِدًا أَوْ قَائِمًا
“When harm touches a person, he calls upon Us while on his side, sitting, or standing.”
Yūnus 10:12
Qāʿidan is a singular active participle here. Quʿūdan in the preceding two verses conveys being seated; grammatically, it can be analyzed as the plural of qāʿid or a verbal noun used adverbially to describe a state. Under either analysis, the sentence clearly distinguishes bodily positions.
Quʿūd in the scene of the trench
Al-Burūj says:
إِذْ هُمْ عَلَيْهَا قُعُودٌ
“When they were sitting beside it.”
Al-Burūj 85:6
The preceding verse speaks of a fuel-fed fire, and the following verse explains that they were witnesses to what they were doing to the believers.
Quʿūdun describes the group seated at the event and is understood here as a plural of qāʿid. Its shape is identical to the verbal noun quʿūd, but هُمْ and the sentence’s predicative construction clarify its role here.
Their presence is connected with their conduct in the surrounding verses. Quʿūd itself does not mean torture, approving observation, or oppression; those features come from the event and the other words in the passage.
Sitting with others
Al-Nisāʾ says:
فَلَا تَقْعُدُوا مَعَهُمْ حَتَّىٰ يَخُوضُوا فِي حَدِيثٍ غَيْرِهِ
“Then do not sit with them until they engage in another discussion.”
Al-Nisāʾ 4:140
The phrase follows a description of a gathering in which the signs of TheGod are denied and mocked. Al-Anʿām 6:68 gives a similar instruction to withdraw from such company.
Quʿūd here is more than physically sitting on the ground. Sitting “with” someone can express remaining in their company. “Do not sit with them” is therefore natural, while its contextual force concerns staying in that gathering and continuing that company under specified circumstances.
“Until they engage in another discussion” matters. The instruction concerns a particular situation and conduct; the root does not itself mean a general prohibition on sitting with anyone who disagrees.
Waiting, watching, and taking a position
Sitting in others’ path
An important example occurs in Al-Aʿrāf, in the tempter’s speech:
قَالَ فَبِمَا أَغْوَيْتَنِي لَأَقْعُدَنَّ لَهُمْ صِرَاطَكَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ
“He said: Because You have caused me to stray, I shall surely sit in wait for them on Your straight path.”
Al-Aʿrāf 7:16
لَأَقْعُدَنَّ is an emphatic imperfect verb from Q ʿ D. Here, sitting is neither resting nor withdrawing from action. The speaker intends to position himself in others’ way and act to obstruct or divert them.
لَهُمْ صِرَاطَكَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ clarifies the situation: لِـ relates the action to the people concerned, and ṣirāṭ identifies the path. “I shall lie in wait for them on Your straight path” is also defensible in this context.
The verse clearly shows that quʿūd need not mean inactivity. A person can sit while intending to act. Malice and misguidance nevertheless come from the speaker and the continuation of his speech, rather than the verb qaʿada alone.
Sitting on roads to obstruct others
Shuʿayb says to his people:
وَلَا تَقْعُدُوا بِكُلِّ صِرَاطٍ تُوعِدُونَ وَتَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ مَنْ آمَنَ بِهِ وَتَبْغُونَهَا عِوَجًا
“Do not sit on every road, threatening and turning those who believe in Him away from the way of TheGod, seeking crookedness for it.”
Al-Aʿrāf 7:86
Sitting again accompanies other conduct: threatening, obstructing others, and seeking crookedness for the way of TheGod.
Isolating taqʿudū might suggest that simply sitting beside a road is condemned. The full construction shows that the issue is taking a position on a road to threaten and obstruct others’ movement.
Al-Tawbah 9:5 likewise has وَاقْعُدُوا لَهُمْ كُلَّ مَرْصَدٍ: “Wait for them at every lookout.” This belongs to a context of conflict and related commands. Marṣad belongs to another root and denotes a place for watching or ambush.
In an appropriate situation, qaʿada lahu can therefore express waiting or lying in wait. Not every sitting is an ambush, nor is every use of this root threatening. The situation and accompanying words determine the sense.
Staying behind from movement or action
إِنَّا هَاهُنَا قَاعِدُونَ: remaining as opposed to going
The story of Moses and his people says:
قَالُوا يَا مُوسَىٰ إِنَّا لَن نَّدْخُلَهَا أَبَدًا مَّا دَامُوا فِيهَا فَاذْهَبْ أَنتَ وَرَبُّكَ فَقَاتِلَا إِنَّا هَاهُنَا قَاعِدُونَ
“They said: Moses, we shall never enter it as long as they remain there. Go, you and your Lord, and fight; we shall remain sitting here.”
Al-Māʾidah 5:24
Qāʿidūn contrasts with فَاذْهَبْ and the instruction to enter. The speakers announce that they will not go with Moses and will remain where they are.
The word therefore conveys more than bodily posture: it also expresses refusing to move and participate in a specified undertaking. That meaning emerges from the contrast between “go” and “we shall remain here.”
This is the characters’ statement in the narrative, not a universal rule that everyone who remains somewhere is disobedient or cowardly. The evaluation of their conduct comes from the story, not an invariant meaning of qāʿid.
Those who stay behind and those who strive: circumstances and ability
Al-Nisāʾ says:
لَّا يَسْتَوِي الْقَاعِدُونَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ غَيْرُ أُولِي الضَّرَرِ وَالْمُجَاهِدُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ بِأَمْوَالِهِمْ وَأَنفُسِهِمْ
“Those believers who stay behind—except those with impairment—are not equal to those who strive in the way of TheGod with their wealth and their lives.”
Al-Nisāʾ 4:95
Al-qāʿidūn refers to those who have not participated in the undertaking being discussed, in contrast with al-mujāhidūn.
غَيْرُ أُولِي الضَّرَرِ is an important part of that construction. The verse distinguishes those with impairment or an impediment from those staying behind without such a limitation. Omitting the qualification can make the statement misleadingly broad.
The root itself does not mean incapacity, fear, laziness, or unbelief. Someone may be unable to join an undertaking because of a real limitation, illness, or another obstacle; someone else may decline despite being able. These differences come from circumstances and qualifications in the verse.
Al-qāʿidīn occurs twice more in the same verse. This repetition introduces no new derivative; it names the group in the verse’s subsequent comparisons.
Quʿūd in Al-Tawbah
The family occurs several times in Al-Tawbah in connection with those who stayed behind from a collective undertaking.
Al-Tawbah 9:46 says:
وَقِيلَ اقْعُدُوا مَعَ الْقَاعِدِينَ
“And it was said: Sit with those who stay behind.”
Al-Tawbah 9:46
Al-Tawbah 9:83 also says:
إِنَّكُمْ رَضِيتُم بِالْقُعُودِ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ فَاقْعُدُوا مَعَ الْخَالِفِينَ
“You were content to stay behind the first time; so remain with those left behind.”
Al-Tawbah 9:83
Quʿūd here means staying behind rather than accompanying others. In the second verse, رَضِيتُم specifies being content with that decision. Contentment comes from that separate verb; quʿūd itself need not entail a conscious choice or satisfaction with withdrawal.
Al-Tawbah 9:81 uses مَقْعَدِهِمْ in فَرِحَ الْمُخَلَّفُونَ بِمَقْعَدِهِمْ خِلَافَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ. Here, maqʿad can be understood as a mīm-prefixed verbal noun meaning “staying behind”: they rejoiced at remaining behind and not accompanying the Messenger of TheGod. The same form denotes a place elsewhere, so each occurrence requires analysis in its own sentence.
In Al-Tawbah 9:86, a group says ذَرْنَا نَكُن مَّعَ الْقَاعِدِينَ, “Leave us to be with those who stay behind.” Al-Tawbah 9:90 also uses وَقَعَدَ for those who stayed behind.
Āl ʿImrān 3:168 uses وَقَعَدُوا alongside the words of people who did not participate themselves but commented on those who were killed.
These examples show how quʿūd can extend from bodily sitting to remaining behind while others move. They do not make it invariably blameworthy in the Qur’an: other verses use sitting in very different circumstances.
فَتَقْعُدَ: remaining in an adverse condition
Two further occurrences in Al-Isrāʾ are important:
لَا تَجْعَلْ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَٰهًا آخَرَ فَتَقْعُدَ مَذْمُومًا مَّخْذُولًا
“Do not set another deity alongside TheGod, lest you remain condemned and forsaken.”
Al-Isrāʾ 17:22
Another verse says:
وَلَا تَبْسُطْهَا كُلَّ الْبَسْطِ فَتَقْعُدَ مَلُومًا مَّحْسُورًا
“Nor extend your hand to its utmost extent, lest you remain blamed and depleted.”
Al-Isrāʾ 17:29
In both verses, فَتَقْعُدَ expresses the result of the preceding conduct. The first concerns setting another deity alongside TheGod; the second, unrestricted spending.
A literal “then sit down” would not communicate the sentence well. “Remain” or “end up in a condition” is more natural.
The adjectives مَذْمُومًا, مَخْذُولًا, مَلُومًا, and مَحْسُورًا should not be absorbed into the meaning of Q ʿ D. They specify the resulting condition; taqʿud, together with them, expresses remaining in it.
Both verses provide important evidence for the extension from bodily sitting to remaining in a state.
Maqʿad, maqāʿid, and qaʿīd: positions and attendance
مَقَاعِدَ لِلْقِتَالِ: taking positions for action
Āl ʿImrān says:
وَإِذْ غَدَوْتَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ تُبَوِّئُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ مَقَاعِدَ لِلْقِتَالِ وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
“When you set out early from your household, positioning the believers in stations for battle; and TheGod is hearing and knowing.”
Āl ʿImrān 3:121
Maqāʿid is the plural of maqʿad, a place for sitting or taking a position. Here, لِلْقِتَالِ relates the positions to preparation for battle.
“Chairs” or “resting places” would therefore be inappropriate. These are positions in which people are placed to carry out an undertaking.
The verse clearly demonstrates that this root does not inherently express withdrawal from action. Al-Nisāʾ 4:95 contrasts those staying behind with participants; Āl ʿImrān 3:121 uses maqāʿid for the positions of those preparing for battle. Syntax and context account for the difference.
Positions for listening
Al-Jinn says:
وَأَنَّا كُنَّا نَقْعُدُ مِنْهَا مَقَاعِدَ لِلسَّمْعِ فَمَن يَسْتَمِعِ الْآنَ يَجِدْ لَهُ شِهَابًا رَّصَدًا
“We used to sit in positions there for listening; but whoever listens now finds a flame lying in wait for him.”
Al-Jinn 72:9
The verb naqʿudu and noun maqāʿid appear in one sentence. The first expresses sitting or taking a position, while the second names the places chosen for listening.
لِلسَّمْعِ specifies the purpose. These are not merely generic seats, but positions used for listening in the quoted account.
The lexical meaning of maqāʿid does not establish a definite theory about their physical shape, their distance from the earth, or the means of reaching the sky. The word itself supplies none of those details.
مَقْعَدِ صِدْقٍ: a true place
Al-Qamar says:
فِي مَقْعَدِ صِدْقٍ عِندَ مَلِيكٍ مُّقْتَدِرٍ
“In a true place, with a sovereign mighty in power.”
Al-Qamar 54:55
Maqʿad denotes a place, while the full expression maqʿadi ṣidqin conveys more than an ordinary location for sitting.
Ṣidq gives the place an evaluative qualification in this nominal construction; عِندَ مَلِيكٍ مُّقْتَدِرٍ relates it to the sovereign mighty in power. “A true place” or “a worthy, true place” can therefore be suitable renderings.
Maqʿad does not require imagining a chair or throne with familiar bodily properties. Nor does ʿinda in this context establish spatial closeness to TheGod modeled on physical human relationships.
The word retains its sense of a place, but the reality and character of a place in the Hereafter cannot be determined solely from earthly experience.
Qaʿīd: one seated and present
Qāf says:
إِذْ يَتَلَقَّى الْمُتَلَقِّيَانِ عَنِ الْيَمِينِ وَعَنِ الشِّمَالِ قَعِيدٌ
“When the two receivers receive, one seated on the right and one on the left.”
Qāf 50:17
Qaʿīd follows the faʿīl pattern. Here, two receivers occupy the right and left, and the word expresses their being seated and present. Their watching role becomes clearer through the next verse.
Although الْمُتَلَقِّيَانِ is dual, qaʿīd is singular. One syntactic analysis supplies the description for each side, with its repetition omitted: one seated on the right and one on the left. This reads the singular description consistently with the dual expression at the sentence’s beginning.
The singular qaʿīd therefore does not by itself prove that only one being occupies both sides. The complete construction, including al-mutalaqqiyān, must be considered.
The next verse says مَا يَلْفِظُ مِنْ قَوْلٍ إِلَّا لَدَيْهِ رَقِيبٌ عَتِيدٌ: no word is uttered without a ready observer present. This expresses observation and presence; verse 18 itself contains no verb meaning “write” or “record.” “A recorder of deeds” is therefore not a direct translation of qaʿīd.
Nor should qaʿīd here be equated with its special omen-taking use in the early poem. Shared wording does not make the referent and function identical in every context.
Qawāʿid: foundations and elderly women
The foundations of a building
Al-Baqarah says:
وَإِذْ يَرْفَعُ إِبْرَاهِيمُ الْقَوَاعِدَ مِنَ الْبَيْتِ وَإِسْمَاعِيلُ رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّا إِنَّكَ أَنتَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ
“When Abraham and Ishmael were raising the foundations of the House: Our Lord, accept from us; You are the Hearing, the Knowing.”
Al-Baqarah 2:127
Al-qawāʿid denotes the building’s foundations. Its singular in this use is qāʿidah.
A foundation is what the structure rests on and relies upon. This image relates to being placed and established, but an illustrative connection alone cannot establish the history of the word’s derivation.
يَرْفَعُ الْقَوَاعِدَ belongs to the building context: Abraham and Ishmael are raising the House’s foundations. The construction alone does not establish how much of the structure already existed or the details of every building stage.
Al-Naḥl supplies another example:
قَدْ مَكَرَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ فَأَتَى اللَّهُ بُنْيَانَهُم مِّنَ الْقَوَاعِدِ فَخَرَّ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّقْفُ مِن فَوْقِهِمْ وَأَتَاهُمُ الْعَذَابُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ
“Those before them plotted; then TheGod struck their building at its foundations, and the roof fell upon them from above, and punishment came upon them from where they did not perceive.”
Al-Naḥl 16:26
Al-qawāʿid stands alongside bunyān, a building, and saqf, a roof. The relationship is clear: foundations are the lower supporting parts, and their destruction can bring the building down.
Since the verse concerns earlier people’s plotting, the ruined building can also serve to express the collapse of their schemes and power. Such contextual reflection does not make qawāʿid itself mean political plans, intellectual beliefs, or doctrinal principles. Its direct meaning within the image remains the building’s foundations.
In building usage, qawāʿid need not be restricted to parts wholly hidden underground. It names the parts on which the structure stands.
الْقَوَاعِدُ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ: a different use
Al-Nūr says:
وَالْقَوَاعِدُ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ اللَّاتِي لَا يَرْجُونَ نِكَاحًا فَلَيْسَ عَلَيْهِنَّ جُنَاحٌ أَن يَضَعْنَ ثِيَابَهُنَّ غَيْرَ مُتَبَرِّجَاتٍ بِزِينَةٍ وَأَن يَسْتَعْفِفْنَ خَيْرٌ لَّهُنَّ وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
“As for elderly women who no longer expect marriage, there is no blame upon them for putting aside their garments without displaying adornment; and exercising restraint is better for them. TheGod is hearing and knowing.”
Al-Nūr 24:60
Al-qawāʿid refers here to a group of women, rather than foundations.
In this use, qawāʿid is the plural of the description qāʿid for elderly women. The verse identifies the group through اللَّاتِي لَا يَرْجُونَ نِكَاحًا: women who no longer hope for or expect marriage.
There is an important morphological distinction. A woman sitting in the ordinary bodily sense can be called qāʿidah, while qāʿid without the final tāʾ also occurs in the established use concerning women’s old age.
Thus, the building term qawāʿid is the plural of qāʿidah, whereas the term for elderly women is the plural of qāʿid. The identical plural form should not blur the two meanings.
The group concerned must be identified with the verse’s own qualification. Expressions such as “cessation of menstruation” or “the end of childbearing” do not occur in this sentence and should not silently replace its wording.
The word qawāʿid alone therefore supplies neither a numerical age nor a definite medical criterion or a general ruling for all women after menopause. The root states none of these.
The rest of the verse qualifies putting garments aside with غَيْرَ مُتَبَرِّجَاتٍ بِزِينَةٍ and describes restraint as better. Identifying which covering is intended requires consideration of the whole phrase and its context; Q ʿ D itself does not define the limits of clothing.
Nor should women called qawāʿid be etymologically equated with a building’s foundations, as though they received the name because they are the foundations of a household or resemble a firmly established structure. Such imagery may be literary, but without linguistic evidence it is not etymology.
Translation proposals
For bodily qaʿada, “sat” or “sits” is suitable. For remaining somewhere, “stayed” or “remained in place” may be more natural. Where participation is at issue, context determines whether “stayed behind,” “remained apart,” or “declined to join” is appropriate.
Quʿūd in bodily contrast with qiyām means sitting or being seated. In Al-Tawbah, “staying behind” or “remaining in place” may convey the sentence better.
Qāʿid is “seated” in bodily uses. In Al-Nisāʾ 4:95 and similar passages, “one who stays behind” or “a nonparticipant” is more precise. “Cowardly,” “lazy,” and “disobedient” should not enter the translation without contextual evidence.
Maqʿad and maqāʿid can be “a place,” “a seat,” or “positions”; in a particular verbal-noun use, maqʿad can mean “staying behind.” “Positions for battle” suits Āl ʿImrān 3:121, and “a true place” Al-Qamar 54:55.
For qaʿīd in Qāf 50:17, “seated” or “a companion present” stays closer to the word itself. “An observer present” is a contextual explanation in light of verse 18; observation should not be treated as the form’s only invariant meaning.
Qawāʿid in Al-Baqarah 2:127 and Al-Naḥl 16:26 means foundations or building supports. In Al-Nūr 24:60, it denotes elderly women, with the following qualification specifying the group more precisely.
Conclusion
The root Q ʿ D has the basic sense of sitting as opposed to standing. Its uses extend to remaining somewhere, staying behind, accompanying others, waiting, and taking a position. Maqʿad concerns a place or station; building-related qawāʿid denotes the supporting foundations. The established use of qawāʿid for elderly women must remain distinct from the building term.
Qur’anic usage shows that sitting is neither inherently a sign of incapacity or withdrawal nor invariably a favorable state of calm and stability. Someone remembers TheGod while seated; another stays behind; someone waits in ambush; a group occupies designated battle positions; and elsewhere qawāʿid names a building’s foundations.
The family’s semantic core is sitting and taking a position, extending in different uses to remaining, waiting, staying aside, or being stationed. Building foundations and the special use for elderly women are established branches that should be understood on their own terms, rather than forced into one bodily image.
In translating the Qur’an, bodily sitting, nonparticipation, watching and waiting, positions, and building foundations should remain distinguishable. A derivative’s precise meaning comes from its form, sentence structure, and context.