The Qur’anic Root Q D M

The foot, a place to stand, and forward movement

The clearest physical form of this root is قَدَم, qadam, meaning “foot”:

رَبَّنَا أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبْرًا وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَنَا وَانْصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ

Rabbanā afrigh ʿalaynā ṣabran wa-thabbit aqdāmanā wa-nṣurnā ʿalā l-qawmi l-kāfirīn.

“Our Lord, pour patience upon us, make our feet firm, and help us against the disbelieving people.”

Al-Baqarah 2:250

In a confrontation, firm footing offers a very concrete image: a person holds their ground without slipping or retreating. This bodily member is naturally connected with standing, movement, and the direction of advance. Thus, when a foot is described as firm or slipping, more than an anatomical name is involved; the image also includes a place to stand and the possibility of movement.

This becomes clearer in another verse:

وَلَا تَتَّخِذُوا أَيْمَانَكُمْ دَخَلًا بَيْنَكُمْ فَتَزِلَّ قَدَمٌ بَعْدَ ثُبُوتِهَا وَتَذُوقُوا السُّوءَ بِمَا صَدَدْتُمْ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَلَكُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ

Wa-lā tattakhidhū aymānakum dakhalan baynakum fa-tazilla qadamun baʿda thubūtihā wa-tadhūqū s-sūʾa bi-mā ṣadadtum ʿan sabīli llāhi wa-lakum ʿadhābun ʿaẓīm.

“Do not make your oaths a means of deception among yourselves, lest a foot slip after being firm and you taste harm because you barred others from the path of The God; and a great punishment awaits you.”

Al-Naḥl 16:94

In فَتَزِلَّ قَدَمٌ بَعْدَ ثُبُوتِهَا, the image rests on the loss of firm footing. The verse is not describing a physical slip; it uses a familiar bodily experience to convey a loss of stability. The foot was firm, then lost its footing.

Elsewhere, aqdām refers to the bodily members themselves:

أَرِنَا الَّذَيْنِ أَضَلَّانَا مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَالْإِنْسِ نَجْعَلْهُمَا تَحْتَ أَقْدَامِنَا لِيَكُونَا مِنَ الْأَسْفَلِينَ

Arinā lladhayni aḍallānā mina l-jinni wa-l-insi najʿalhumā taḥta aqdāminā li-yakūnā mina l-asfalīn.

“Show us the two who led us astray, from among jinn and humans, so that we may place them beneath our feet, that they may be among the lowest.”

Fuṣṣilat 41:29

And:

يُعْرَفُ الْمُجْرِمُونَ بِسِيمَاهُمْ فَيُؤْخَذُ بِالنَّوَاصِي وَالْأَقْدَامِ

Yuʿrafu l-mujrimūna bi-sīmāhum fa-yuʾkhadhu bi-n-nawāṣī wa-l-aqdām.

“The offenders will be recognized by their marks, and they will be seized by their forelocks and feet.”

Al-Raḥmān 55:41

Qadam can therefore refer to the actual bodily member in the Qur’an, while in another construction, such as the slipping of a foot, it provides an image of stability and its loss. The natural connection between the foot, footing, standing, and moving forward helps us understand other branches of the root, but does not by itself establish their derivational history.

Early usage: the vanguard and the front portion

In early Arabic, this family was also used for what stood at the front. Muqaddimat al-jaysh was the army’s vanguard, the group that moved ahead of its main body.

A poem attributed to al-Aʿshā concerning the battle of Dhū Qār contains these lines:

هُمْ ضَرَبُوا بِالْحِنْوِ حِنْوِ قَرَاقِرٍ
مُقَدِّمَةَ الْهَامَرْزِ حَتَّى تَوَلَّتِ

Hum ḍarabū bi-l-ḥinwi ḥinwi Qarāqirin / muqaddimata l-Hāmarzi ḥattā tawallati.

“At Ḥinw Qarāqir they struck Hāmarz’s vanguard until it turned away.”

Here, muqaddimah is the forward part of the army. The verse provides a clear example of this family’s connection with being at the front. Since the poem concerns Dhū Qār and al-Aʿshā lived across the transition from the pre-Islamic period to early Islam, it is best treated as early evidence from that transitional period, rather than confidently dated to before the revelation of the Qur’an.

Being ahead and going in front

The verb قَدَمَ يَقْدُمُ, qadama yaqdumu, meaning to go ahead, provides a particularly clear example in the verse about Pharaoh:

يَقْدُمُ قَوْمَهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فَأَوْرَدَهُمُ النَّارَ ۖ وَبِئْسَ الْوِرْدُ الْمَوْرُودُ

Yaqdumu qawmahu yawma l-qiyāmati fa-awradahumu n-nāra wa-biʾsa l-wirdu l-mawrūd.

“He will go ahead of his people on the Day of Resurrection and lead them into the Fire. What an evil place of arrival!”

Hūd 11:98

يَقْدُمُ قَوْمَهُ means that Pharaoh takes the position in front of his people and brings them along behind him. His worldly role as their leader is represented in the Hereafter through the same image of being ahead.

The rest of the verse strengthens the image. Wurūd in Arabic is connected with coming to water or a watering place. Someone leading a group to water takes them where they expect their thirst to be quenched. The verse reverses this expectation: Pharaoh leads his people, but the destination he brings them to is fire, not water:

فَأَوْرَدَهُمُ النَّارَ

Fa-awradahumu n-nār.

It immediately adds:

وَبِئْسَ الْوِرْدُ الْمَوْرُودُ

Wa-biʾsa l-wirdu l-mawrūd.

Yaqdumu thus does more here than announce spatial precedence. Within the verse, Pharaoh’s going ahead is joined to the consequence of his leadership: the one who led his people brings them to the worst destination. This conclusion comes from the verse’s whole image, rather than from the root ق د م alone.

Another verse uses قَدِمَ يَقْدَمُ, qadima yaqdamu, meaning to come or arrive, in a different construction:

وَقَدِمْنَا إِلَىٰ مَا عَمِلُوا مِنْ عَمَلٍ فَجَعَلْنَاهُ هَبَاءً مَنْثُورًا

Wa-qadimnā ilā mā ʿamilū min ʿamalin fa-jaʿalnāhu habāʾan manthūrā.

“We turned to whatever deeds they had done and made them scattered dust.”

Al-Furqān 25:23

In Arabic, qadima ilā can express turning or coming to something. Since the verb is attributed here to The God, it should not be turned into a description of His bodily movement from one place to another. The sentence concerns turning to and dealing with their deeds.

Taqaddum and taʾakhkhur: the two sides of a relationship

The root’s meaning becomes clearer where the Qur’an places it directly opposite taʾakhkhur, being behind or later:

لِيَغْفِرَ لَكَ اللَّهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِكَ وَمَا تَأَخَّرَ

Li-yaghfira laka llāhu mā taqaddama min dhanbika wa-mā taʾakhkhar.

“So that The God may forgive you what has preceded of your sin and what comes later.”

Al-Fatḥ 48:2

Here, precedence and coming later are temporal: one part belongs earlier and the other later.

Al-Muddaththir also says:

لِمَنْ شَاءَ مِنْكُمْ أَنْ يَتَقَدَّمَ أَوْ يَتَأَخَّرَ

Li-man shāʾa minkum an yataqaddama aw yataʾakhkhar.

“For whoever among you wishes to advance or fall behind.”

Al-Muddaththir 74:37

Here too, the basic relationship is between ahead and behind. The value attached to advancing must be understood from the verse and its surroundings; taqaddum by itself is not a word for moral goodness.

The same opposition appears in the construction concerning an appointed term:

وَلِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ أَجَلٌ ۖ فَإِذَا جَاءَ أَجَلُهُمْ لَا يَسْتَأْخِرُونَ سَاعَةً وَلَا يَسْتَقْدِمُونَ

Wa-li-kulli ummatin ajalun fa-idhā jāʾa ajaluhum lā yastaʾkhirūna sāʿatan wa-lā yastaqdimūn.

“Every community has an appointed term. When their term comes, they neither fall behind their appointed time for a moment nor go ahead of it.”

Al-Aʿrāf 7:34

The form X pattern alone should not force us to translate yastaqdimūna as “asking to go ahead.” Its direct opposition to yastaʾkhirūna shows that the statement concerns going ahead of or remaining beyond the appointed time; the verb here does not mean moving that appointment to another time.

We also read in Al-Ḥijr:

وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْنَا الْمُسْتَقْدِمِينَ مِنْكُمْ وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْنَا الْمُسْتَأْخِرِينَ

Wa-la-qad ʿalimnā l-mustaqdimīna minkum wa-la-qad ʿalimnā l-mustaʾkhirīn.

“We certainly know those of you who have gone ahead, and We certainly know those who remain behind.”

Al-Ḥijr 15:24

The two words themselves establish only the relationship of precedence and coming later. Lexically, this relationship can be realized in time, as with earlier and later generations, or in space and order, as with people positioned farther forward or behind.

This range does not mean that the verse necessarily intends all these instances simultaneously. Identifying the particular referent requires context and other evidence. The lexical point is that al-mustaqdimīn and al-mustaʾkhirīn place people on opposite sides of the ahead–behind relationship. A particular referent supplied by a transmitted account should not enter the translation as though it were the word’s own meaning.

Qaddama: placing something forward or sending it ahead

One of the root’s most extensive Qur’anic branches is قَدَّمَ, qaddama. In this construction, the focus moves from being ahead to placing something ahead.

Its use is not necessarily moral or concerned with the Hereafter:

ثُمَّ يَأْتِي مِنْ بَعْدِ ذَٰلِكَ سَبْعٌ شِدَادٌ يَأْكُلْنَ مَا قَدَّمْتُمْ لَهُنَّ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا مِمَّا تُحْصِنُونَ

Thumma yaʾtī min baʿdi dhālika sabʿun shidādun yaʾkulna mā qaddamtum lahunna illā qalīlan mimmā tuḥṣinūn.

“Then, after that, seven hard years will come, consuming what you have prepared ahead for them, except a little of what you preserve.”

Yūsuf 12:48

Qaddamtum here means that something has been prepared in advance for the future. This use itself shows that taqdīm does not inherently mean a righteous deed or an act directed toward the Hereafter.

The Qur’an applies the same image to human deeds:

وَمَا تُقَدِّمُوا لِأَنْفُسِكُمْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ تَجِدُوهُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ

Wa-mā tuqaddimū li-anfusikum min khayrin tajidūhu ʿinda llāhi inna llāha bi-mā taʿmalūna baṣīr.

“Whatever good you send ahead for yourselves, you will find it with The God. The God sees what you do.”

Al-Baqarah 2:110

The deed is performed now, but the verse presents it as something a person sends ahead of themselves and encounters later.

The same image is especially clear in Al-Ḥashr:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَلْتَنْظُرْ نَفْسٌ مَا قَدَّمَتْ لِغَدٍ ۖ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ

Yā ayyuhā lladhīna āmanū ttaqū llāha wa-ltanẓur nafsun mā qaddamat li-ghadin wa-ttaqū llāha inna llāha khabīrun bi-mā taʿmalūn.

“You who have believed, be mindful of The God, and let each soul consider what it has sent ahead for tomorrow. Be mindful of The God; The God is fully aware of what you do.”

Al-Ḥashr 59:18

مَا قَدَّمَتْ لِغَدٍ makes the relationship between today and tomorrow clear through the verb itself: what has been done today has been sent ahead for the future.

In Al-Fajr, a person says:

يَقُولُ يَا لَيْتَنِي قَدَّمْتُ لِحَيَاتِي

Yaqūlu yā laytanī qaddamtu li-ḥayātī.

“He will say: If only I had sent ahead for my life!”

Al-Fajr 89:24

But qaddama does not always send something good ahead:

ذَٰلِكَ بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ لَيْسَ بِظَلَّامٍ لِلْعَبِيدِ

Dhālika bi-mā qaddamat aydīkum wa-anna llāha laysa bi-ẓallāmin li-l-ʿabīd.

“That is because of what your own hands have sent ahead, and The God is not unjust to His servants.”

Āl ʿImrān 3:182

Moral value therefore does not come from ق د م. A person can send good ahead, or may have sent ahead a deed whose harmful consequence later returns to them.

This neutrality also appears in another expression:

يُنَبَّأُ الْإِنْسَانُ يَوْمَئِذٍ بِمَا قَدَّمَ وَأَخَّرَ

Yunabbaʾu l-insānu yawmaʾidhin bi-mā qaddama wa-akhkhar.

“On that day, the human being will be informed of what he sent ahead and what he left behind.”

Al-Qiyāmah 75:13

Once again, qaddama stands opposite akhkhara. Ahead and behind form the core of the opposition. Precisely which categories of deeds mā qaddama and mā akhkhara include is a separate question from the meanings of the two verbs themselves.

Lā tuqaddimū: an object left unspecified

The opening of Al-Ḥujurāt says:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُقَدِّمُوا بَيْنَ يَدَيِ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ

Yā ayyuhā lladhīna āmanū lā tuqaddimū bayna yaday llāhi wa-rasūlihi wa-ttaqū llāha inna llāha samīʿun ʿalīm.

“You who have believed, do not put anything ahead of The God and His Messenger. Be mindful of The God; The God hears and knows.”

Al-Ḥujurāt 49:1

In this reading, tuqaddimū comes from taqdīm, but the verse names no particular object for it. The construction has received two closely related grammatical analyses: the object may be understood as omitted so that the verb is not restricted to any one thing; alternatively, the focus may be on the act of putting forward itself, rather than on the particular thing being put forward.

Both analyses lead to the same important point: the prohibition should not be confined to one particular object. The verse does not say to refrain only from putting a particular statement, action, or decision first. The prohibition concerns putting ahead in relation to The God and the Messenger.

Moreover, بَيْنَ يَدَي, bayna yaday, is a familiar Arabic expression for “before” or “in front of.” The sentence thus presents the idea of not placing something ahead of The God and the Messenger, or not going ahead oneself.

This meaning also fits the continuation of the surah, but details from later verses should not be inserted as the lexical meaning of tuqaddimū. The root itself establishes only the relationship of precedence.

In Al-Mujādilah, the same verb has an explicit object:

إِذَا نَاجَيْتُمُ الرَّسُولَ فَقَدِّمُوا بَيْنَ يَدَيْ نَجْوَاكُمْ صَدَقَةً

Idhā nājaytumu r-rasūla fa-qaddimū bayna yaday najwākum ṣadaqah.

“When you consult the Messenger privately, send ahead a charitable offering before your private consultation.”

Al-Mujādilah 58:12

Here, ṣadaqah is what is put first, and bayna yaday najwākum specifies its position in the sequence: before the private consultation.

This difference itself shows why a particular object should not be supplied without justification for lā tuqaddimū in Al-Ḥujurāt.

Qadama ṣidq: prior standing and precedence, rather than a foot

A distinctive use of qadam occurs in Yūnus 2:

أَكَانَ لِلنَّاسِ عَجَبًا أَنْ أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَىٰ رَجُلٍ مِنْهُمْ أَنْ أَنْذِرِ النَّاسَ وَبَشِّرِ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنَّ لَهُمْ قَدَمَ صِدْقٍ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ ۗ قَالَ الْكَافِرُونَ إِنَّ هَٰذَا لَسَاحِرٌ مُبِينٌ

A-kāna li-n-nāsi ʿajaban an awḥaynā ilā rajulin minhum an andhiri n-nāsa wa-bashshiri lladhīna āmanū anna lahum qadama ṣidqin ʿinda rabbihim qāla l-kāfirūna inna hādhā la-sāḥirun mubīn.

“Was it astonishing to people that We revealed to a man from among them: Warn the people, and give those who believe the good news that they have a qadama ṣidq with their Lord? The disbelievers said: This is clearly a sorcerer.”

Yūnus 10:2

Clearly, قَدَمَ صِدْقٍ does not mean a “truthful foot.” Arabic qadam can extend beyond the bodily member to prior standing, a record, precedence, or something a person has prepared ahead for themselves.

This use fits the root’s broader network of meanings. Just as qaddama sends something ahead, qadam can refer to something already established for a person or to a prior standing they already possess.

The addition of ṣidq determines the character of this qadam. It is not just any record or precedence, but qadama ṣidq.

Renderings such as “a true prior standing,” “a good record,” or “a precedence in truth” preserve part of the meaning, but none captures the expression’s full range on its own. “A good standing” can also convey a possible result of the expression, while weakening its element of prior standing and precedence.

For Forqan, “a true prior standing with their Lord” can serve as a basic rendering, with an explanation that qadam here concerns a standing and precedence already established to their credit.

A particular exegetical referent, such as a specific deed, person, or reward, should not replace the meaning of qadam itself.

Qadīm: having a prior history, rather than being without beginning

One of the root’s most important branches is قَدِيم, qadīm. Its three Qur’anic occurrences illustrate the word’s semantic boundaries well.

In the story of Joseph:

قَالُوا تَاللَّهِ إِنَّكَ لَفِي ضَلَالِكَ الْقَدِيمِ

Qālū ta-llāhi innaka la-fī ḍalālika l-qadīm.

“They said: By The God, you are still in your old error.”

Yūsuf 12:95

Concerning the moon:

وَالْقَمَرَ قَدَّرْنَاهُ مَنَازِلَ حَتَّىٰ عَادَ كَالْعُرْجُونِ الْقَدِيمِ

Wa-l-qamara qaddarnāhu manāzila ḥattā ʿāda ka-l-ʿurjūni l-qadīm.

“For the moon We determined phases, until it returns like the old stalk of a date cluster.”

Yā Sīn 36:39

And concerning the deniers’ words:

وَإِذْ لَمْ يَهْتَدُوا بِهِ فَسَيَقُولُونَ هَٰذَا إِفْكٌ قَدِيمٌ

Wa-idh lam yahtadū bihi fa-sa-yaqūlūna hādhā ifkun qadīm.

“Since they have not been guided by it, they will say: This is an old falsehood.”

Al-Aḥqāf 46:11

The shared core in these three instances is having a prior history and existing from an earlier time. Qadīm describes something that already existed relative to the present, or whose history reaches back into the past.

These three instances should not lead us to conclude that qadīm inherently means worn out, obsolete, or discredited.

In al-ʿurjūn al-qadīm, the physical object, an old date-cluster stalk, may be dry, changed in shape, and weathered. Those features belong to the object itself. In ḍalālika l-qadīm, the negative value comes from ḍalāl, not qadīm. Likewise, in ifkun qadīm, the falsehood is expressed by ifk. Qadīm says only that this error or falsehood has a prior history, according to the speakers.

This distinction matters because the value conveyed by an adjective should not be confused with that conveyed by the noun it qualifies.

Qadīm and its later theological meaning

In later theological writing, qadīm became a technical term that could be used opposite ḥādith, something that has come into being, to describe what has no beginning. This technical sense should not be read back into the three Qur’anic uses.

Al-ʿurjūn al-qadīm offers a particularly clear example. A date-cluster stalk certainly had a beginning, yet the Qur’an calls it qadīm. The word itself in Qur’anic language therefore does not equal “beginningless.”

Another point deserves attention: the Qur’an does not use qadīm as an attribute of The God. Where it speaks of His precedence in relation to all things, it uses a different expression:

هُوَ الْأَوَّلُ وَالْآخِرُ وَالظَّاهِرُ وَالْبَاطِنُ ۖ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ

Huwa l-awwalu wa-l-ākhiru wa-ẓ-ẓāhiru wa-l-bāṭinu wa-huwa bi-kulli shayʾin ʿalīm.

“He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden; and He knows all things.”

Al-Ḥadīd 57:3

This difference should not be made into a theory that the Qur’an deliberately avoided qadīm to reject the theological terminology of later centuries. Such a historical intention cannot be established from the text. The supported claim is narrower and clearer: qadīm is not a Qur’anic name or attribute of The God, and its three occurrences do not establish the technical meaning “beginningless.”

Al-aqdamūn: those who came before

In Abraham’s words:

أَنْتُمْ وَآبَاؤُكُمُ الْأَقْدَمُونَ

Antum wa-ābāʾukumu l-aqdamūn.

“You and your forefathers.”

Al-Shuʿarāʾ 26:76

Al-aqdamūn are those who lived before the generation being addressed. Here too, the root establishes a temporal relationship: they precede this generation.

Aqdam in such a construction does not necessarily mean better, more authentic, or more authoritative. Temporal precedence produces no value by itself. The context concerns people who lived earlier; the judgment on their beliefs comes from other parts of the statement.

This use also helps keep qadīm clear: what is qadīm has a history reaching back, just as the aqdamūn precede the present generation.

Q D M in comparison with ʾ KH R

One of this root’s clearest Qur’anic semantic relationships is its opposition to أ خ ر:

مَا تَقَدَّمَ ... وَمَا تَأَخَّرَ

Mā taqaddama … wa-mā taʾakhkhar.

أَنْ يَتَقَدَّمَ أَوْ يَتَأَخَّرَ

An yataqaddama aw yataʾakhkhar.

لَا يَسْتَأْخِرُونَ ... وَلَا يَسْتَقْدِمُونَ

Lā yastaʾkhirūna … wa-lā yastaqdimūn.

بِمَا قَدَّمَ وَأَخَّرَ

Bi-mā qaddama wa-akhkhar.

This opposition shows that ق د م can be understood around the idea of “ahead,” while أ خ ر supplies the corresponding “behind.”

The kind of ahead and behind is not fixed, however. It may be temporal, as with something that happened earlier; sequential, as with something done before another action; spatial, as with a group positioned at the front; or, in descriptions of human deeds, something sent ahead for the future.

Translation must therefore draw the kind of relationship from the verse itself, without restricting “ahead” to a single sense.

Translation proposals for Forqan

No single fixed English equivalent suits the entire family ق د م.

قَدَمَ / يَقْدُمُ, qadama / yaqdumu, can mean “to go ahead of” or “to be in front of” when used in relation to people:

Yaqdumu qawmahu.

With قَدِمَ إِلَى, qadima ilā, the rendering must follow the context. “Turn to,” “come to,” or “attend to” may read more naturally than a mechanically literal translation.

قَدَّمَ, qaddama, can mean “send ahead,” “prepare in advance,” “put forward,” or “give precedence to,” depending on the sentence.

تَقَدَّمَ, taqaddama, usually means “advance” or “be earlier,” and is better understood alongside its opposite, taʾakhkhara.

اِسْتَقْدَمَ, istaqdama, in the verses about an appointed term means “go ahead of” the appointment, rather than “bring it forward.” The form X pattern alone should not introduce “asking” into the translation.

قَدَم / أَقْدَام, qadam / aqdām, in bodily usage means “foot / feet.” A literal rendering is unsuitable for قَدَمَ صِدْقٍ; “a true prior standing” can better preserve its semantic core.

قَدِيم, qadīm, in the Qur’an means “old,” “ancient,” or “having a prior history”; it does not by itself mean eternal, beginningless, worn out, or discredited.

الْأَقْدَمُونَ, al-aqdamūn, likewise means “forebears” or “those who came before.”

Conclusion

The root ق د م rests on the relationship of being ahead and placing ahead. Depending on the sentence, this may concern space, time, sequence, or a person’s relationship to the future of their deeds.

Yaqdumu qawmahu describes someone moving ahead of others. In Hūd 98, this leading position joins fa-awradahumu n-nār and reverses the expectation raised by the image of leadership: the leader brings his people to fire rather than a watering place.

Qaddama places something ahead or sends it ahead for the future. The Qur’an can therefore use it both for food prepared for coming years and for good that a person sends ahead for themselves. Goodness or evil does not come from the root itself.

Taqaddama, istaqdama, and al-mustaqdimīn likewise follow this relationship of being ahead, which their opposition to taʾakhkhur makes clear. Whether the precedence in a given verse is temporal, spatial, or sequential must be determined from that context.

Qadam, the bodily foot, also belongs to this family. The Qur’an uses its firmness and slipping to portray stability and its loss. The connection between the foot, a place to stand, and forward movement can make this branch’s closeness to precedence tangible, but should not be presented as the proven historical origin of all the derivatives.

In قَدَمَ صِدْقٍ, qadam is not the physical foot. It concerns a prior standing, record, or precedence that believers have with their Lord. Ṣidq determines the character of that precedence.

Qadīm describes something that existed before and has a history relative to the present. Its use for an old error, an old date-cluster stalk, and an old falsehood shows that Qur’anic qadīm does not equal “beginningless.” The negative value of ḍalāl and ifk should not be transferred to qadīm itself. The Qur’an does not use the word as an attribute of The God, and its later theological sense should not determine its Qur’anic meaning.

A concise definition of the root can be stated as follows:

Q D M: being ahead, or placing something ahead, relative to a point of reference. This relationship encompasses going in front, sending ahead, taking precedence, having a prior history, and being old. Qadam, the bodily foot, also belongs to this semantic network through standing and movement, without requiring every branch to be reduced to a single, definitively established physical image.