The Qur’anic Root Q Ḍ Y

Pre-Qur’anic Arabic: fulfilling a desire and bringing something to an end

Poetry transmitted under the names of pre-Islamic poets provides evidence for this semantic field. Its use requires a distinction between the transmitted wording, its attribution, and the semantic conclusions drawn from it.

A verse attributed to al-Nābighah al-Dhubyānī reads:

فَإِنْ يَكُنْ قَدْ قَضَى مِنْ خِلِّهِ وَطَرًا
فَإِنَّنِي مِنْكَ لَمَّا أَقْضِ أَوْطَارِي

“If he has fulfilled his desire with his beloved, I have not yet fulfilled my desires with you.”

Here قضى وطرا concerns the fulfilment of a desire. In contrast, لمّا أقض أوطاري says that the speaker’s desires have not yet been fulfilled.

The same expression appears concerning Zayd in Al-Ahzab 33:37:

فَلَمَّا قَضَىٰ زَيْدٌ مِنْهَا وَطَرًا

Another verse, ending in معذور, is attributed to Aws ibn Ḥajar:

أَمْ هَلْ كَبِيرٌ بَكَى لَمْ يَقْضِ عَبْرَتَهُ
إِثْرَ الْأَحِبَّةِ يَوْمَ الْبَيْنِ مَعْذُورُ

“Is an old man who has wept after his loved ones on the day of separation, and has not yet finished shedding his tears, to be excused?”

لم يقض عبرته means that he has not finished weeping or found relief through his tears. A very similar verse appears in the Dīwān of ʿAlqamah al-Faḥl, in the poem beginning هل ما علمت وما استودعت مكتوم, with the ending مشكوم. The two versions and attributions should therefore not be conflated without explanation. The evidence relevant here is their shared expression لم يقض عبرته.

These examples are consistent with fulfilling a desire and bringing something to completion. The Qur’an itself speaks of حَاجَةً فِي نَفْسِ يَعْقُوبَ قَضَاهَا, a need within Jacob that he fulfilled, in Yusuf 12:68. Such evidence helps explain usage, but does not by itself prove that every meaning of the root developed historically from one original use.

Completion: rites, Salat, a term, a need, and a life

One of the clearest Qur’anic uses is the straightforward sense of completing an action:

فَإِذَا قَضَيْتُمْ مَنَاسِكَكُمْ فَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ كَذِكْرِكُمْ آبَاءَكُمْ أَوْ أَشَدَّ ذِكْرًا ۗ فَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَقُولُ رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَمَا لَهُ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِنْ خَلَاقٍ

“When you have completed your rites, remember The God as you remember your fathers, or with greater remembrance. Among people is one who says, ‘Our Lord, give us in this world,’ and has no share in the Hereafter.”

Al-Baqarah 2:200

An-Nisa also says:

فَإِذَا قَضَيْتُمُ الصَّلَاةَ فَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ قِيَامًا وَقُعُودًا وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِكُمْ ۚ فَإِذَا اطْمَأْنَنْتُمْ فَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ ۚ إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ كَانَتْ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ كِتَابًا مَوْقُوتًا

“When you have completed Salat, remember The God standing, sitting, and lying on your sides. When you are secure, establish Salat. Salat is prescribed for the believers at appointed times.”

An-Nisa 4:103

And in Al-Jumu‘ah:

فَإِذَا قُضِيَتِ الصَّلَاةُ فَانْتَشِرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَابْتَغُوا مِنْ فَضْلِ اللَّهِ وَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ

“When Salat has ended, disperse through the land, seek from the bounty of The God, and remember Him often, so that you may prosper.”

Al-Jumu‘ah 62:10

In these verses, Salat or the rites have been performed and brought to an end. قضيتم and قضيت therefore express completion in these particular sentences. Their meaning must be understood from this context.

The same orientation appears concerning a period of time:

قَالَ ذَٰلِكَ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَكَ ۖ أَيَّمَا الْأَجَلَيْنِ قَضَيْتُ فَلَا عُدْوَانَ عَلَيَّ ۖ وَاللَّهُ عَلَىٰ مَا نَقُولُ وَكِيلٌ

“He said, ‘That is between me and you. Whichever of the two terms I complete, there shall be no infringement against me. The God is guardian over what we say.’”

Al-Qasas 28:28

Then:

فَلَمَّا قَضَىٰ مُوسَى الْأَجَلَ وَسَارَ بِأَهْلِهِ آنَسَ مِنْ جَانِبِ الطُّورِ نَارًا قَالَ لِأَهْلِهِ امْكُثُوا إِنِّي آنَسْتُ نَارًا لَعَلِّي آتِيكُمْ مِنْهَا بِخَبَرٍ أَوْ جَذْوَةٍ مِنَ النَّارِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَصْطَلُونَ

“When Moses had completed the term and set out with his family, he perceived a fire on the side of the Mount. He said to his family, ‘Stay here. I have perceived a fire; perhaps I can bring you news from it, or a burning ember, so that you may warm yourselves.’”

Al-Qasas 28:29

In Al-Ahzab 33:37, قضى زيد منها وطرا likewise concerns the fulfilment of a desire or need. The ending of the marriage is understood from the verse’s context; ‘relationship’ is not an independent meaning of either قضى or وطر.

Even death falls within this field:

وَدَخَلَ الْمَدِينَةَ عَلَىٰ حِينِ غَفْلَةٍ مِنْ أَهْلِهَا فَوَجَدَ فِيهَا رَجُلَيْنِ يَقْتَتِلَانِ هَٰذَا مِنْ شِيعَتِهِ وَهَٰذَا مِنْ عَدُوِّهِ فَاسْتَغَاثَهُ الَّذِي مِنْ شِيعَتِهِ عَلَى الَّذِي مِنْ عَدُوِّهِ فَوَكَزَهُ مُوسَىٰ فَقَضَىٰ عَلَيْهِ قَالَ هَٰذَا مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ إِنَّهُ عَدُوٌّ مُضِلٌّ مُبِينٌ

“He entered the city at a time when its people were unobservant and found two men fighting there, one from his own group and the other from his enemies. The man from his group called for his help against his enemy. Moses struck him and finished him off [killed him]. He said, ‘This is from Satan’s work; he is clearly an enemy who leads astray.’”

Al-Qasas 28:15

‘Killing’ here is not an unrelated meaning: the person’s life is brought to an end.

In Az-Zukhruf 43:77, the inhabitants of the Fire also say:

لِيَقْضِ عَلَيْنَا رَبُّكَ

That is, ‘Let your Lord put an end to us.’ They receive the answer:

إِنَّكُمْ مَاكِثُونَ

‘You will remain.’

In Al-Haqqah 69:27, القاضية likewise refers to that which brings an end. This form is examined in the section on participles.

Settlement: resolving a dispute

When the subject is a dispute or judgment, the orientation toward completion becomes settling the dispute.

An-Nisa says:

فَلَا وَرَبِّكَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ حَتَّىٰ يُحَكِّمُوكَ فِيمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ لَا يَجِدُوا فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ حَرَجًا مِمَّا قَضَيْتَ وَيُسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا

“No, by your Lord, they do not believe until they make you judge concerning what has arisen between them, then find no discomfort within themselves about what you have decided, and submit completely.”

An-Nisa 4:65

The verse first says يحكموك, then مما قضيت. They appoint the Prophet to judge, and he brings the dispute to a settlement through his decision.

An-Naml places the two expressions together even more directly:

إِنَّ رَبَّكَ يَقْضِي بَيْنَهُمْ بِحُكْمِهِ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْعَلِيمُ

“Your Lord will settle between them by His judgment, and He is the Mighty, the Knowing.”

An-Naml 27:78

In يقضي بينهم بحكمه, بحكمه expresses the basis or means of judgment, while يقضي بينهم expresses the settling of the matter between them. Their different roles in the sentence are clear. Their co-occurrence alone, however, does not establish a fixed boundary between every use of the two roots.

Nor should this verse be turned into a rigid three-stage system in which حكم always means only identifying the judgment, فصل only separating, and قضا only executing the ruling. Language does not maintain such absolute divisions.

A contextual comparison can be made:

ح ك م highlights judgment in these verses, while ق ض ي emphasizes settling the matter. ف ص ل also relates to judgment in يوم الفصل, as in Al-Mursalat 77:13. This comparison concerns these uses; it does not establish an absolute boundary covering every form of the three roots.

Just judgment and the meaning of the root

Yunus says:

وَلِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَسُولٌ ۖ فَإِذَا جَاءَ رَسُولُهُمْ قُضِيَ بَيْنَهُمْ بِالْقِسْطِ وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُونَ

“For every community there is a messenger. When their messenger comes, judgment is passed between them with equity, and they are not wronged.”

Yunus 10:47

The verse brings together a messenger, judgment, equity, and the absence of injustice. In this context, judgment is inseparable from the setting of messengership and justice.

It does not follow that the lexical meaning of qaḍā is always ‘judgment after the proof has been fully established.’

Many uses of قضى are neither judicial nor punitive: Salat ends, Moses completes his term, Zayd fulfils his desire, and a person is killed.

Justice and the presence of the messenger are therefore part of the setting of judgment in this verse. Not every element of that setting belongs in the lexical definition of qaḍā.

Qudiya al-amr: the matter has been settled

One of the clearest constructions is قضي الأمر.

In the account of Noah:

وَقِيلَ يَا أَرْضُ ابْلَعِي مَاءَكِ وَيَا سَمَاءُ أَقْلِعِي وَغِيضَ الْمَاءُ وَقُضِيَ الْأَمْرُ وَاسْتَوَتْ عَلَى الْجُودِيِّ وَقِيلَ بُعْدًا لِلْقَوْمِ الظَّالِمِينَ

“It was said, ‘Earth, swallow your water; sky, cease!’ The water subsided, the matter was brought to an end, and the ship came to rest on al-Jūdī. It was said, ‘Away with the wrongdoing people!’”

Hud 11:44

Here a natural rendering of قضي الأمر is ‘the matter was brought to an end.’

Maryam uses the same construction in a setting that gives its finality greater force:

وَأَنْذِرْهُمْ يَوْمَ الْحَسْرَةِ إِذْ قُضِيَ الْأَمْرُ وَهُمْ فِي غَفْلَةٍ وَهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ

“Warn them of the Day of Regret, when the matter has been settled, while they are heedless and do not believe.”

Maryam 19:39

The combination of يوم الحسرة with إذ قضي الأمر presents a clear scene: regret arises when the opportunity for decision and action has passed and the matter has reached its conclusion.

In this context, the matter is no longer open to being put right.

This irreversibility is understood from the whole scene of the Day of Regret. The verb قضى does not mean ‘irreversible’ in every use. Completion of Salat or of a contractual term is also expressed with this root, without philosophical irreversibility being the subject of the sentence.

The shared orientation remains: a matter has ceased to be unfinished and has reached its conclusion.

Command and determination: wa-qaḍā rabbuka and idhā qaḍā amran

In some verses, completion and settlement extend to a binding command or an effective determination.

Al-Isra says:

وَقَضَىٰ رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا ۚ إِمَّا يَبْلُغَنَّ عِنْدَكَ الْكِبَرَ أَحَدُهُمَا أَوْ كِلَاهُمَا فَلَا تَقُلْ لَهُمَا أُفٍّ وَلَا تَنْهَرْهُمَا وَقُلْ لَهُمَا قَوْلًا كَرِيمًا

“Your Lord has commanded that you worship none but Him and show kindness to your parents. If one or both of them reach old age with you, do not say ‘uff’ to them, do not rebuke them, and address them with respectful words.”

Al-Isra 17:23

Here قضى expresses the command to worship and to treat parents well. The prohibitions and commands that follow show that the hearer is being called to act. The sentence does not report that everyone has already acted in this way.

The subject is therefore a settled, binding command.

Another familiar construction says:

بَدِيعُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۖ وَإِذَا قَضَىٰ أَمْرًا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ

“The Originator of the heavens and the earth. When He determines a matter, He only says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is.”

Al-Baqarah 2:117

In إذا قضى أمرا, the determination of a matter is followed by كن فيكون. This expression should not be taken to imply prior hesitation or uncertainty on the part of The God.

The same construction appears in Aal Imran 3:47, Maryam 19:35, and Ghafir 40:68.

The verb قضى alone does not determine whether fulfilment is instantaneous or gradual in human experience. That question requires attention to the sentence and its context, rather than adding a sequence of temporal stages to the root’s meaning.

Creation, a term, and communication: different constructions

Fussilat says of the heavens:

فَقَضَاهُنَّ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ فِي يَوْمَيْنِ وَأَوْحَىٰ فِي كُلِّ سَمَاءٍ أَمْرَهَا ۚ وَزَيَّنَّا السَّمَاءَ الدُّنْيَا بِمَصَابِيحَ وَحِفْظًا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ الْعَزِيزِ الْعَلِيمِ

“He completed and ordered them as seven heavens in two days, and revealed to each heaven its command. We adorned the nearest heaven with lamps and provided protection. That is the determination of the Mighty, the Knowing.”

Fussilat 41:12

In the context of Fussilat 41:11, 41:12, the heaven already mentioned is ordered as seven heavens. ‘Completed and ordered’ expresses this aspect. The verb alone cannot establish a theory of creation from nothing, or its denial.

The same verse ends:

ذَٰلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ الْعَزِيزِ الْعَلِيمِ

قضى and تقدير do not have identical roles here: the former is the verb of the clause, while the latter names and characterizes what has been described. Their co-occurrence is insufficient to establish either complete synonymy or complete separation between the roots.

Al-An‘am says:

هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ مِنْ طِينٍ ثُمَّ قَضَىٰ أَجَلًا ۖ وَأَجَلٌ مُسَمًّى عِنْدَهُ ۖ ثُمَّ أَنْتُمْ تَمْتَرُونَ

“He is the One who created you from clay, then appointed a term; and a specified term is with Him. Yet you doubt.”

Al-An‘am 6:2

In Al-An‘am 6:2, قضى أجلا concerns appointing a term. In Al-Qasas 28:29, قضى موسى الأجل concerns Moses completing that term. The same verb and a similar object do not eliminate the difference in context.

Context determines whether a term is appointed or brought to its end.

With إلى, qaḍā can also concern conveying news or a command:

وَقَضَيْنَا إِلَيْهِ ذَٰلِكَ الْأَمْرَ أَنَّ دَابِرَ هَٰؤُلَاءِ مَقْطُوعٌ مُصْبِحِينَ

“We conveyed to him this settled matter: that these people would be cut off to the last at morning.”

Al-Hijr 15:66

In this construction, settled news is conveyed to its recipient. A translation should not needlessly turn one verb into two independent events, one of informing and another of determining. Nor does إلى alone guarantee this meaning; the context and the verb’s object also matter.

Qaḍā and taqdīr in Qur’anic usage

The Qur’an does not contain the expression القضاء والقدر, nor does it use the verbal noun القضاء itself. Understanding this family requires examining the forms actually used.

In the Qur’an, قضى is used of both The God and human beings: Moses completes his term, Zayd fulfils his desire, the Prophet settles a dispute, and even Pharaoh exercises decision within his worldly power.

In these examples, ق ض ي concerns carrying out, completing, or settling. ق د ر must likewise be examined through its own uses: Al-Qamar 54:49, for example, speaks of creating everything بِقَدَرٍ, with measure. Their shared occurrence in discussions of creation does not make the two families interchangeable in every sentence.

Participles: qāḍin, qāḍiyah, and maqḍiyy

The Qur’an’s sole قاضٍ occurs in Ta-Ha. The magicians say to Pharaoh:

قَالُوا لَنْ نُؤْثِرَكَ عَلَىٰ مَا جَاءَنَا مِنَ الْبَيِّنَاتِ وَالَّذِي فَطَرَنَا ۖ فَاقْضِ مَا أَنْتَ قَاضٍ ۖ إِنَّمَا تَقْضِي هَٰذِهِ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا

“They said, ‘We will never prefer you over the clear signs that have come to us, nor over the One who originated us. So decree whatever you decree. You can exercise your rule only in this worldly life.’”

Ta-Ha 20:72

قاضٍ is the active participle of قضى and is morphologically a noun with a weak final yā. Here it is not a professional title for a court judge. It refers to Pharaoh as someone who commands and enforces his commands within the limits of his worldly power.

القاضية in Al-Haqqah is that which brings an end:

يَا لَيْتَهَا كَانَتِ الْقَاضِيَةَ

“If only it [death] had been the final end.”

Al-Haqqah 69:27

مقضي describes a matter that has been determined:

قَالَ كَذَٰلِكِ قَالَ رَبُّكِ هُوَ عَلَيَّ هَيِّنٌ ۖ وَلِنَجْعَلَهُ آيَةً لِلنَّاسِ وَرَحْمَةً مِنَّا ۚ وَكَانَ أَمْرًا مَقْضِيًّا

“He said, ‘So it is. Your Lord says, “It is easy for Me.” And that We may make him a sign for people and a mercy from Us. It is a matter already determined.’”

Maryam 19:21

The other passive participle occurs in Maryam 19:71: كَانَ عَلَىٰ رَبِّكَ حَتْمًا مَقْضِيًّا, ‘It is, with your Lord, an inevitable determination.’ In both instances, مقضي emphasizes being determined, not that the event must already have happened. In Al-Haqqah 69:25, 69:26, 69:27, القاضية occurs in the speech of someone wishing that death had been the end of his affair.

Translation proposals for Forqan

Qaḍā has no single English equivalent. The translation should reflect what is completed, determined, or settled.

In فإذا قضيتم مناسككم and فإذا قضيتم الصلاة, ‘when you have completed’ is appropriate.

In قضى موسى الأجل, ‘Moses completed the term’ is clear.

For قضى زيد منها وطرا, ‘fulfilled his desire or need with her’ stays close to the expression’s construction. The ending of the marriage is contextual explanation, not an independent meaning to be inserted into the root itself.

For يقضي بينهم, ‘He settles between them’ or ‘He judges between them’ is natural.

For وقضى ربك, ‘your Lord has commanded’ or ‘your Lord has ordained’ is appropriate.

For إذا قضى أمرا, ‘when He determines a matter’ or ‘when He decrees a matter’ preserves the semantic field.

For فقضاهن سبع سماوات, ‘He completed and ordered them as seven heavens’ brings out completion. This rendering does not by itself decide the manner of creation.

For فقضى عليه, natural English is ‘he killed him,’ while the root study makes visible the underlying sense of finishing him off.

For قضي الأمر, context may favour ‘the matter was completed,’ ‘the matter was settled,’ or ‘the case was closed.’ In Maryam 19:39, the Day of Regret associates this conclusion with the loss of an opportunity to make amends. That feature should not be generalized to every use of qaḍā.

For أمرا مقضيا, ‘a matter determined’ or ‘a settled matter’ is appropriate.

Conclusion

Poetry attributed to al-Nābighah al-Dhubyānī uses قضى ... وطرا for fulfilling a desire. لم يقض عبرته, with the versions and attributions discussed above, describes weeping that has not ended. These pre-Qur’anic examples illuminate completion and fulfilment without, on their own, establishing the history of every meaning of the root.

The Qur’an preserves this field in many different uses. Rites, Salat, a term of service, and a need can be completed or fulfilled; a dispute can be settled; a command can be determined; creation can be brought to its completed order; and a life can end.

In judgment, قضى concerns settling the matter. يحكموك ... مما قضيت and يقضي بينهم بحكمه closely connect judgment and settlement. The different roles of the words in these sentences should not be turned into an inflexible system for حكم, فصل, and قضى.

Yunus 10:47 brings together a messenger, judgment, equity, and the absence of injustice. This does not make ‘establishing the proof’ part of the lexical meaning of qaḍā. Many uses of the root have no connection with such a process.

Maryam 19:39, by contrast, shows a context that intensifies the sense of conclusion: the Day of Regret, when the matter has been settled. The opportunity for action and making amends has passed. Irreversibility belongs to this scene, not to the definition of every use of the root.

In divine command, وقضى ربك expresses a binding instruction, while إذا قضى أمرا expresses determining a matter. A settled command is not the same as its fulfilment by the person addressed. Nor does the verb alone decide whether fulfilment is instantaneous or gradual.

In Fussilat 41:12, فقضاهن سبع سماوات and ذلك تقدير العزيز العليم have distinct roles in describing creation. Their co-occurrence does not suffice to identify all the meanings of qaḍā with those of qadara.

Q Ḍ Y: a family of uses involving carrying through, completing, and settling. Completing an action or term, judging, commanding, determining, ordering, and ending a life belong to this field. Context clarifies each sentence: not every qaḍā is judgment, not every matter described as maqḍiyy has already happened, and irreversibility is not a constant feature of every use.