The Qur’anic Root Q D R

Method Note

The root Q D R loses much of its meaning if it is translated only as “power.” In English, power often suggests force or ability to act. In the Qur’an, Q D R includes ability, but also measure, limit, proportion, determination, value, rank, restriction, and expansion.

Several layers must therefore be distinguished: ability to do, measuring and setting limit, recognizing value and station, and restricting or narrowing. This distinction shows that power in Qur’anic logic is not wild force. Divine power is joined to knowledge, measure, order, and wisdom.

Central Meaning

The central meaning of Q D R is power with measure. One who has qudrah over an act has it within his capacity. Something that has qadr has measure, capacity, or station. Taqdīr means determining measure and placing something within a specific limit, time, amount, and structure.

In the Qur’an, The God is عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِير (ʿalā kulli shayʾin qadīr): nothing is outside His field of ability. But the same God also خَلَقَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ فَقَدَّرَهُ تَقْدِيرًا (khalaqa kulla shayʾin faqaddarahu taqdīrā): He did not leave the world measureless and unrelated. Q D R is therefore the language of power and the language of order.

Material Image

The material image is someone measuring something: the length of cloth, the amount of water, the weight of goods, the capacity of a vessel, or the ability of a tool. Measuring means knowing the limit. If the measure is not known correctly, something will be too little or overflow. Qadr is this knowledge of limit, capacity, and ability.

Another image is a vessel with a specific capacity. If something fits the measure of the vessel, it can contain it. If it exceeds the measure, it overflows. From here, qadr connects with capacity and ability. The human being also has qadr: limits, abilities, and capacities that shape his structure.

Classical Arabic Note

In classical Arabic, Q D R is used both for ability and for measuring. قَدَرْتُ عَلَى الشَّيْءِ (qadartu ʿalā al-shayʾ) means I had power over the thing. قَدَرْتُ الشَّيْءَ (qadartu al-shayʾ) can mean I measured it or determined its measure. قَدَرَ عَلَيْهِ رِزْقَهُ (qadara ʿalayhi rizqahu) means his provision was restricted or placed within a limited measure.

This range shows that the root moves between force and measure from the start. Power is not measureless, and measure does not become realized without ability. In the logic of this root, true ability is tied to knowing the limit, capacity, and possibility of a thing.

Qur’anic Usage

The God Is Qadīr Over Every Thing

The expression إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ (inna allāha ʿalā kulli shayʾin qadīr) appears repeatedly in the Qur’an. It does not merely mean that The God is strong. Qadīr means that no possible thing lies outside His field of ability, and no power outside Him can limit His ability.

Yet this power is not rulelessness. The God has power over every thing, but His act is not vain, unjust, or without wisdom. Divine power is joined to knowledge, truth, and justice. In relation to The God, Q D R shows both comprehensive ability and wise order.

Measuring in Creation

In وَخَلَقَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ فَقَدَّرَهُ تَقْدِيرًا (wakhalaqa kulla shayʾin faqaddarahu taqdīrā), The God created every thing and measured it with precise determination 25:2. This is one of the clearest verses for the root. Creation is not only bringing into being; after creation there is taqdīr: every thing has measure, limit, function, path, and relation.

Taqdīr here does not mean blind fatalism. It means creation is not without structure. Every thing is placed with measure: time, amount, capacity, form, ability, and relation. The world in the Qur’an is not abandoned to measurelessness.

The Moon and Its Measured Stations

In وَالْقَمَرَ قَدَّرْنَاهُ مَنَازِلَ (wal-qamara qaddarnāhu manāzil), the Qur’an says that the moon has been measured into stations 36:39. This use is physical and observable. The moon does not move randomly in the sky. It has stations, stages, and known measures.

Here Q D R belongs to cosmic and temporal order. Through the moon, human beings recognize time, count months, and follow changes. Taqdīr in this verse means placing a phenomenon within measurable order.

Restriction and Expansion of Provision

In اللَّهُ يَبْسُطُ الرِّزْقَ لِمَن يَشَاءُ وَيَقْدِرُ (allāhu yabsuṭu al-rizqa liman yashāʾu wayaqdir), يَقْدِرُ (yaqdir) comes opposite يَبْسُطُ (yabsuṭ) 13:26. Yabsuṭ means He expands, while yaqdir here means He places within a limited measure or restricts.

This use is important. Q D R can point to restriction, because when something is placed within a limited measure, its expansion is closed. This must be distinguished from the meaning “to have power,” though both come from the same core of measure. The verse also relates to SH Y A, because expansion and restriction of provision are expressed in relation to The God’s will.

Laylat al-Qadr

Surat al-Qadr says: إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ (innā anzalnāhu fī laylati al-qadr) 97:1. Qadr here can connect with value, station, measure, and the ordering of affairs. The surah itself says: لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ (laylatu al-qadri khayrun min alfi shahr) 97:3, showing that this night has immense station.

So qadr here is not merely power. The Night of Qadr is a night of great value and rank, and, with the continuation of the surah, a night connected to the descent of the angels and the Spirit with every affair. Forqan should preserve this layered meaning without forcing only one narrow reading.

Measuring The God’s Station Correctly

In وَمَا قَدَرُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِ (wamā qadarū allāha ḥaqqa qadrihi), the Qur’an says that they did not measure The God with His true measure 39:67. This does not merely mean that they failed to respect Him. It means they failed to recognize His true station, greatness, measure, and reality.

Here Q D R belongs to knowledge and recognition. When a person makes The God small in his thought, he has failed to recognize His qadr. Association, attributing partners, and wrong assumptions about divine power all arise from failing to measure The God’s station rightly.

Measure of Time and Account

In فِي يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ خَمْسِينَ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ (fī yawmin kāna miqdāruhu khamsīna alfa sanah), the measure of a day is described as fifty thousand years 70:4. Miqdār here is temporal measure. This shows that Q D R also belongs to measuring time.

In the Qur’an, amount is not only volume or weight. Time, provision, ability, rank, the path of the moon, and the value of a night can all have qadr and miqdār. Q D R is a root of measuring across many fields.

The Restricting Measure in the Story of Jonah

In وَذَا النُّونِ إِذ ذَّهَبَ مُغَاضِبًا فَظَنَّ أَن لَّن نَّقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ (wadhā al-nūni idh dhahaba mughāḍiban faẓanna an lan naqdira ʿalayhi), the Qur’an speaks of Jonah 21:87. If naqdira ʿalayhi is read as The God lacking power over him, it does not fit the context or Jonah’s prophetic station. A more precise meaning is that he thought We would not restrict him or place him in a constricting measure.

This use shows that Q D R is not only ability. It can also mean restriction, constriction, and placing within pressure. Jonah’s departure from his people and then being enclosed in the belly of the fish becomes clearer through this meaning of constricted measure.

Difference from Nearby Words

Quwwah is force or strength, but it does not necessarily contain measure and determination. Sulṭān is authority, proof, or superior power. Mulk is ownership and dominion. Qahr is overpowering and subduing. Qadr differs from all of these because it contains both power and measure.

Mīzān is a scale or system of measurement, but qadr is the measure or determining of limit itself. K Y L and W Z N are closer to measuring by volume and weight in trade or goods. Q D R is broader and can include time, provision, rank, ability, and creation.

Translation Method

The context must decide how Q D R is translated. If the verse concerns The God’s ability, “able” or “powerful” is appropriate. If it concerns creation or the moon, “measured,” “proportioned,” or “determined measure” is more accurate. If it concerns provision, “restricted,” “measured narrowly,” or “placed within a limited measure” may be necessary. If it concerns The God’s qadr, the meaning of recognizing station, greatness, and true measure must be preserved.

One fixed translation will not work for all uses. قَدِير (qadīr) may be “powerful,” but قَدَّرْنَاهُ مَنَازِلَ (qaddarnāhu manāzil) cannot mean “We empowered it into stations”; it means “We measured it into stations.” Likewise, وَمَا قَدَرُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِ (wamā qadarū allāha ḥaqqa qadrihi) is not merely “they did not respect The God.” It means they did not know, measure, or recognize His station as they should.

Forqan Translation Suggestions

إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ (inna allāha ʿalā kulli shayʾin qadīr): The God is able over every thing; nothing is outside The God’s field of ability.

فَقَدَّرَهُ تَقْدِيرًا (faqaddarahu taqdīrā): He precisely measured and ordered it; He determined its measure, limit, and structure.

وَالْقَمَرَ قَدَّرْنَاهُ مَنَازِلَ (wal-qamara qaddarnāhu manāzil): We measured the moon into stations.

يَبْسُطُ الرِّزْقَ لِمَن يَشَاءُ وَيَقْدِرُ (yabsuṭu al-rizqa liman yashāʾu wayaqdir): He expands provision for whom He wills and places it within a limited measure; He expands and restricts.

لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ (laylati al-qadr): the Night of Qadr; the night of measure, rank, and great value.

وَمَا قَدَرُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِ (wamā qadarū allāha ḥaqqa qadrihi): they did not recognize The God with His true measure; they did not measure His greatness and station as they should.

مِقْدَارُهُ خَمْسِينَ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ (miqdāruhu khamsīna alfa sanah): its measure is fifty thousand years; its temporal measure is fifty thousand years.

أَن لَّن نَّقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ (an lan naqdira ʿalayhi): he thought We would not restrict him; he thought We would not place him within constricting measure.

Summary

The root Q D R in the Qur’an is not only power. It speaks of ability, measure, capacity, limit, value, and rank. The God is qadīr: nothing is outside His ability. The God is also the One who determines measure: the world has not been left measureless or without order. Provision, time, the moon, the Night of Qadr, human station, and recognizing The God all belong to the field of Q D R.

In Forqan’s reading, Q D R is power with measure. True power in the Qur’an is not unlimited chaos or disorderly force. It knows, measures, limits, expands, restricts, and places every thing in its proper capacity and station.