Core sense — sufficiency, enough; and the particle "already, just now"generated
1
It is both a noun and a particle; and as a noun it is used in two ways.
1.1what is sufficient for Zeyd is a dirhem—قَدْ زَيْدٍ دِرْهَمٌ
As a noun it means the same as حَسْبُ, and is generally used indeclinably — so the Basrees say — with the د sākin, because it resembles the particle قَدْ in the letters composing it, and many other particles in its form, such as عَنْ and بَلْ.
With the د sākin.
Also قَدِى and قَدْنِى, both meaning حَسْبِى, what is sufficient for me. The ن in قَدْنِى is inserted to preserve the sākin state of the final letter of the noun, since that is the original character of what they make indeclinable.
The insertion of the ن here is irregular, for by rule it is added only in verbs, as a precaution to keep the pronominal affix of the verb distinct from that of the noun, as in ضَرَبَنِى. [See, however, an explanation of قَدْنِى by which the ن is inserted regularly.]
you have nothing due from me but this, and it is enough—مَا لَكَ عِنْدِى إِلَّا هٰذَا فَقَدْ
According to Yaakoob, using قَدْ in the sense of حَسْبُ, that is, فَقَطْ: there is nothing due to you from me except this, and it is a thing sufficient. فَقَطْ is held to mean properly فَحَسْبُ, but is commonly used as meaning "and no more". He asserts قَدْ to be a substitute for قَطْ.
what is sufficient for Zeyd is a dirhem—قَدُ زَيْدٍ
It is also used declinably — so the Koofees say — but this is rare. Here it is made marfūʿ, like حَسْبُهُ; and قَدِى without ن, like حَسْبِى.
1.2a dirhem suffices, or will suffice, Zeyd—قَدْ زَيْدًا دِرْهَمٌ
It is also a verbal noun, meaning the same as يَكْفِى.
a dirhem suffices, or will suffice, me—قَدْنِى دِرْهَمٌ
Like يَكْفِى زَيْدًا دِرْهَمٌ and يَكْفِيْنِى دِرْهَمٌ.
2
As a particle it is used only with a verb: it is not put before anything but a verb, either a past tense or a muḍāriʿ, and nothing separates it from that verb except an oath.
The verb must be one that is perfectly inflected, a khabar, not an imperative, affirmative, and free from anything that would make it majzūm or manṣūb, and free from what is termed حَرْف تَنْفِيس [i.e. سَوْفُ and its variants].
It has six meanings.
2.1it is expected that the absent one will come—قَدْ يَقْدَمُ الغَائِبُ
It denotes expectation; with a muḍāriʿ this is clear.
Most hold that it is used in this way with a past tense as well.
he has already done the thing—قَدْفَعَلَ
Some say it is used in reply to the saying لَمَّا يَفْعَلْ, "he has not yet done" such a thing, which implies expectation that he would do it.
such a one has already died—قَدْ مَاتَ فَلَانٌ
Kh says it is used in reply to people who are expecting information; but if one informs someone who is not expecting it, he does not say this, but says only مَاتَ فُلَانٌ.
the commander has already mounted his horse—قَدْ رَكِبَ الأَمِيرُ
Said to one who is expecting the mounting.
Some, however, deny that قَدْ denotes expectation with a past tense, since the past tense denotes what is already past; so it seems that those who say it does mean that the past tense denotes what was expected before the information was given. The author of the Mughnee holds that it does not denote expectation even with a muḍāriʿ, because the saying يَقْدَمُ الغَئِبُ denotes expectation without قَدْ.
on this sense MF says: what we were taught orally by the sheykhs in El-Andalus is that it is a particle affirming truth, or certainty, when it comes before a past tense, and a particle denoting expectation when it comes before a future.
2.2Zeyd has just, or just now, stood—قَدْ قَامَ زَيْدٌ
It denotes the nearness of the past to the present.
Without قد the phrase might mean either the near past or the remote past; often nothing more than "has stood" is intended.
the time of rising to prayer has just come—قَدْ قَامَتِ الصَّلَاةُ
Said by the muëdhdhin.
he had just, or simply had, gone away—كَانَ قَدْ ذَهَبَ
When used in this way it is often immediately preceded by the past tense or the muḍāriʿ of the verb كَانَ.
he will, or shall, have just gone away—يَكُونُ قَدْ ذَهَبَ
and what reason have we that we should not fight in the cause of God, when we have been expelled from our homes and our children?—وَمَا لَنَا أَلَّا نُقَاتِلُ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللّٰهِ وَقَدْ أُخْرِجْنَا مِنْ دِيَارِنَا وَأَبْنَائِنَا
or who come to you, their bosoms shrinking from fighting you—أَوْ جَاؤُوكُمْ حَصِرَتْ صُدُورُهُمْ أنْ يُقَاتِلُوكَمْ
According to the Basrees, except Akh, it must be either expressed or understood immediately before a past tense used as a denotative of state.
Kur 2:247.
Kur 4:92; that is, their bosoms being contracted so that they are incapable of fighting you.
The Koofees and Akh say this is not required, because the past tense often occurs as a denotative of state without قَدْ, and the primary rule is that nothing should be understood, especially in what is in frequent use.
Sb does not allow the past tense as a denotative of state without قَدْ, and makes حصرت صدورهم an imprecation, meaning: may their bosoms become contracted. See more on this in the article حصر.
indeed Zeyd has just stood—إِنَّ زَيْدًا لَقَدْ قَامَ
The inceptive لَ is prefixed to it, because the primary rule is that it should be prefixed to the noun; it is prefixed to the muḍāriʿ because that resembles the noun, and when the past tense denotes a time near the present it resembles the muḍāriʿ, so it may be prefixed to that too.
Qur’ān 2:246 matched to Lane’s own quotation of it Lane cites “Kur ii. 247”
Qur’ān 4:90 matched to Lane’s own quotation of it Lane cites “Kur iv. 92”
Qur’ān 2:246 Lane quotes this verse
أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى ٱلْمَلَإِ مِنۢ بَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ مِنۢ بَعْدِ مُوسَىٰٓ إِذْ قَالُوا۟ لِنَبِىٍّ لَّهُمُ ٱبْعَثْ لَنَا مَلِكًا نُّقَـٰتِلْ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ قَالَ هَلْ عَسَيْتُمْ إِن كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْقِتَالُ أَلَّا تُقَـٰتِلُوا۟ ۖ قَالُوا۟ وَمَا لَنَآ أَلَّا نُقَـٰتِلَ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَقَدْ أُخْرِجْنَا مِن دِيَـٰرِنَا وَأَبْنَآئِنَا ۖ فَلَمَّا كُتِبَ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْقِتَالُ تَوَلَّوْا۟ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا مِّنْهُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَلِيمٌۢ بِٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَHast thou not Turned thy vision to the Chiefs of the Children of Israel after (the time of) Moses? they said to a prophet (That was) among them: "Appoint for us a king, that we May fight in the cause of Allah." He said: "Is it not possible, if ye were commanded to fight, that that ye will not fight?" They said: "How could we refuse to fight in the cause of Allah, seeing that we were turned out of our homes and our families?" but when they were commanded to fight, they turned back, except a small band among them. But Allah Has full knowledge of those who do wrong.Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’ān (1934)
2.3in some few instances the habitual liar speaks truth—قَدْ يَصْدُقُ الكَذُوبُ
at least He knows the state of conduct and mind you are conforming yourselves to—قَدْ يَعْلَمُ مَا أَنْتُمْ عَلَيْهِ
It denotes rareness, or fewness — either of the act the verb signifies, or of what depends on that act.
Kur 24, last verse; as though meaning أَنَّ مَا هُمْ عَلَيْهِ هُوَ أَقَلُّ مَعْلُومَاتِهِ.
Some, however, hold that in these examples and the like it affirms truth, or certainty, and that the sense of rareness in the first example comes not from قَدْ but from the saying الكَذُوبُ يَصْدُقٌ.
2.4
It denotes frequency: sometimes it is used with the same meaning as رُبَّمَا, as well as with رُبَّمَا in the opposite sense.
The Hudhalee, or 'Abeed Ibn-El-Abras, says: [Often I leave the antagonist with his finger-ends turned yellow]
shāhidقَدْ أَتْرُكُ القِرْنَ مُصْفَرًّا أَنَامِلُهُ
2.5indeed he prospers, or will prosper, who purifies it—قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَنْ زَكَّاهَا
Kur 91:9; "it" means his soul. Each past tense here stands in the place of a majzūm muḍāriʿ.
indeed He knows the state of conduct and mind you are conforming yourselves to—قَدْ يَعْلَمُ مَا أَنْتُمْ عَلَيْهِ
So some explain the passage in Kur 24, last verse, of which another explanation has been given above.
on this sense It affirms truth, or certainty.
Qur’ān 91:9 matched to Lane’s own quotation of it Lane cites “Kur xci. 9”
Qur’ān 91:9 Lane quotes this verse
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّىٰهَاTruly he succeeds that purifies it,Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’ān (1934)
2.6you were not in prosperity, that you should know it—قَدْ كُنْتَ فِى خَيْرٍ فَتَعْرِفَهُ
It denotes negation, according to ISd, standing in the place of مَا.
With تعرف manṣūb; heard from one of chaste speech, but this is strange.
2.7you have, by God, done well—قَدْ وَٱللّٰهِ أَحْسَنْتَ
When it denotes the nearness of the past to the present, as the context in the O seems to indicate, قَدْ may be separated from its verb by an oath.
I have, by my life, or by my religion, passed the night sleepless—قَدْ لَعَمْرِى بِتُّ سَاهِرًا
The verb may also be suppressed after it, when its meaning is understood, or because of something that indicates it. En-Nábighah Edh-Dhubyánee says: [The time of departure has drawn near, though the camels we ride have not left with our utensils and travelling gear, but it is as though they had]
shāhidأَفِدَ التَّرَحُّلُ غَيْرَ أَنَّ رِكَابَنَالَمَّا تَزُلْ بِرِحَالِنَا وَكَأَنْ قَدِ
— meaning كَأَنْ قَدْ زَالَتْ.
2.8I wrote a beautiful قد—كَتَبْتُ قَدًّا حَسَنَةً
If you make قَدْ an اِسْم — a noun or a proper name — you mark it with teshdeed.
You do the same with كَىْ and هُوَ and لَوْ, because these words give no indication of what is missing from them, supposing them to be originally of three radical letters; so a letter of the same kind as the last must be added, and it is incorporated into it.
But not with ا: here you add ء. So if you name a man لَا or مَا and then add ا at the end, you make it ء, for you make the second ا movent, and ا when movent becomes ء.
So says J, and Sgh has followed him in the O; this is also the opinion of Akh and of a number of the grammarians of El-Basrah [and of El-Koofeh], and F quoted this passage in the B and left it uncontradicted.
IB says, and F after him in the K, that this is a mistake: only that word is marked with teshdeed whose last letter is infirm. For هُوَ used as a man's name you say هُوٌّ; for لَوْ you say لَوٌّ; for فِى you say فِىٌّ.
Such a word is marked with teshdeed only so that it may not be reduced to a single letter, since the infirm letter, being sākin, would disappear with tenween, as it does in دَمٌ and يَدٌ.
But as to قَدْ, if you use it as a name you say قَدٌ; for مَنْ you say مَنٌ; and for عَنْ you say عَنٌ, like يَدٌ and دَمٌ.
F, following IB, is wrong to call J's statement a mistake, though the rule IB gives is generally preferred.
Show Lane's original text
is a noun and a particle: (S, O, Mughnee, K:) and as a noun it is used in two ways. (Mughnee, K.) (I) It is a noun syn. with حَسْبُ ; (S, O, Mughnee, K;) generally used indeclinably; (Mughnee, K;) thus accord. to the Basrees; with the د quiescent; (TA;) because resembling قَدْ the particle in respect of the letters composing it, and many other particles in respect of its form, (Mughnee, TA,) such as عَنْ and بَلْ &c.: (TA:) one says, قَدْ زَيْدٍ دِرْهَمٌ [The sufficiency of Zeyd (i. e. what is sufficient for Zeyd) is a dirhem], (Mughnee, K,) with the د quiescent; (Mughnee, * K, * TA;) and قَدِى (S, O) and قَدْنِى (S, O, Mughnee) [both] meaning حَسْبِى [My sufficiency (i. e. what is sufficient for me)]; (S, O;) the ن in قَدْنِى being inserted in order to preserve the quiescence [of the final letter of the noun] because this is the original characteristic of what they make indeclinable; (Mughnee;) but the insertion of the ن in this case is anomalous, for it is [by rule] only added in verbs, by way of precaution, [to prevent the confusion of the pronominal affix of the verb and that of the noun,] as in ضَرَبَنِى : (S, O:) [see, however, in the next sentence, an explanation of قَدْنِى accord. to which the ن is inserted regularly:] accord. to Yaakoob, using قَدْ in the sense of حَسْبُ , one says, مَا لَكَ عِنْدِى إِلَّا هٰذَا فَقَدْ i. e. فَقَطْ [There is nothing for thee with me, or nothing due to thee in my possession, except this, and it is a thing sufficient, or it is enough, فَقَطْ being held to signify properly فَحَسْبُ , but it is commonly used as meaning and no more]; and he asserts it [i. e. قَدْ ] to be a substitute [for قَطْ ]: (M:) and it is also used declinably; (Mughnee, K;) thus accord. to the Koofees; (TA;) but this is rare: (Mughnee:) one says قَدُ زَيْدٍ , making it marfooa, (Mughnee, K,) like as one says حَسْبُهُ ; and قَدِى without ن [as mentioned above,] like as one says حَسْبِى . (Mughnee.) (2) It is also a verbal noun, syn. with يَكْفِى : one says, قَدْ زَيْدًا دِرْهَمٌ [A dirhem suffices, or will suffice, Zeyd], and قَدْنِى دِرْهَمٌ [A dirhem suffices, or will suffice, me]; (Mughnee, K;) like as one says يَكْفِى زَيْدًا دِرْهَمٌ , and يَكْفِيْنِى دِرْهَمٌ . (Mughnee, K. *) As a particle, it is used peculiarly with a verb, (Mughnee, K,) [i. e.] as such it is not preposed to anything except a verb, (S, O,) either a pret. or an aor., (TA,) from which it is not separated unless by an oath, (Mughnee,) such as is perfectly inflected, enunciative, (Mughnee, K,) not an imperative, (TA,) affirmative, and free from anything that would render it mejzoom or man- soob, and from what is termed حَرْف تَنْفِيس [i. e. سَوْفُ and its variants]: and it has six meanings. (Mughnee, K.) (1) It denotes expectation: (M, Mughnee, K:) and when it is with an aor., this is evident; (Mughnee;) one says قَدْ يَقْدَمُ الغَائِبُ , (Mughnee, K,) meaning It is expected that the absent will come: (TA:) and most affirm that it is thus used with a pret.: (Mughnee:) accord. to some, (M,) it is used in reply to the saying لَمَّا يَفْعَلْ [i. e. “ He has not yet done ” such a thing, which implies expectation that he would do it]; (S, M, O;) the reply being, قَدْفَعَلَ [Already he has done the thing]: (M:) and Kh asserts that it is used in reply to persons expecting information; (S, M, * O, Mughnee;) [for to such] you say, قَدْ مَاتَ فَلَانٌ [Already such a one has died]; but if one inform him who does not expect it, he does not say thus, but he says [merely] مَاتَ فُلَانٌ : (S, O:) thus some say قَدْ رَكِبَ الأَمِيرُ [Already the commander has mounted his horse] to him who expects his mounting: some, however, disallow that قَدْ is used to denote expectation with the pret. because the pret. denotes what is already past; and hence it appears that those who affirm it to be so used mean that the pret. denotes what was expected before the information: (Mughnee: [in which it is added, with some other observations, that, in the opinion of its author, it does not denote expectation even with the aor.; because the saying يَقْدَمُ الغَئِبُ denotes expectation without قَدْ :]) MF says, What we have been orally taught by the sheykhs in ElAndalus is this, that it is a particle denoting the affirmation of truth, or certainty, when it occurs before a pret., and a particle denoting expectation when it occurs before a future. (TA.) (2) It denotes the nearness of the past to the present: (O, Mughnee, K:) so in the saying قَدْ قَامَ زَيْدٌ [Zeyd has just, or just now, stood; a meaning often intended by saying merely, has stood]; (Mughnee, K;) for this phrase without قد may mean the near past and the remote past; (Mughnee;) and so in the saying of the muëdhdhin, قَدْ قَامَتِ الصَّلَاةُ [The time of the rising to prayer has just come, or simply has come]: (O:) [and, when thus used, it is often immediately preceded by the pret. or aor. of the verb كَانَ ; thus you say, كَانَ قَدْ ذَهَبَ He had just, or simply had, gone away; and يَكُونُ قَدْ ذَهَبَ He will, or shall, have just, or simply have gone away:] and accord. to the Basrees, except Akh, it must be either expressed or understood immediately before a pret. used as a denotative of state; as in [the saying in the Kur ii. 247,] وَمَا لَنَا أَلَّا نُقَاتِلُ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللّٰهِ وَقَدْ أُخْرِجْنَا مِنْ دِيَارِنَا وَأَبْنَائِنَا [And what reason have we that we should not fight in the cause of God when we have been expelled from our abodes and our children?]; and in [the saying in the Kur iv. 92,] أَوْ جَاؤُوكُمْ حَصِرَتْ صُدُورُهُمْ أنْ يُقَاتِلُوكَمْ [Or who come to you, their bosoms being contracted so that they are incapable of fighting you, or their bosoms shrinking from fighting you]; but the Koofees and Akh says that this is not required, because of the frequent occurrence of the pret. as a denotative of state without قَدْ , and [because] the primary rule is that there should be no meaning, or making, anything to be understood, more especially in the case of that which is in frequent use: (Mughnee:) Sb [however] does not allow the use of the pret. as a denotative of state without قَدْ ; and he makes حصرت صدورهم to be an imprecation [meaning may their bosoms become contracted]: (S in art. حصر ; in which art. in the present work see more on this subject:) and the inceptive لَ is prefixed to it like of the saying, إِنَّ زَيْدًا لَقَدْ قَامَ [Verily Zeyd has just stood, or has stood]; because the primary rule is that it is to be prefixed to the noun, and it is prefixed to the aor. because it resembles the noun, and when the pret. denotes a time near to the present it resembles the aor. and therefore it is allowable to prefix it thereto. (Mughnee.) [See also the two sentences next after what is mentioned below as the sixth meaning.] (3) It denotes rareness, or paucity; (Mughnee, K;) either of the act signified by the verb, (Mughnee,) as in [the saying], قَدْ يَصْدُقُ الكَذُوبُ [In some few instances the habitual liar speaks truth]; (Mughnee, K;) or of what is dependent upon that act, as in [the saying in the Kur xxiv. last verse,] قَدْ يَعْلَمُ مَا أَنْتُمْ عَلَيْهِ [as though] meaning أَنَّ مَا هُمْ عَلَيْهِ هُوَ أَقَلُّ مَعْلُومَاتِهِ [so that it should be rendered At least He knoweth that state of conduct and mind to which ye are conforming yourselves]: but some assert that in these exs. and the like thereof it denotes the affirmation of truth, or certainty; [as will be shown hereafter;] and that the denoting of rareness, or paucity, in the former ex. is not inferred from قَدْ , but from the saying الكَذُوبُ يَصْدُقٌ . (Mughnee.) (4) It denotes frequency; (Mughnee, K;) [i. e.] sometimes (S, O) it is used as syn. with رُبَّمَا [as denoting frequency, as well as with رُبَّمَا in the contr. sense, mentioned in the next preceding sentence]: (S, M, O:) thus in the saying (S, M, O, Mughnee, K) of the Hudhalee, (M, Mughnee,) or 'Abeed Ibn-El-Abras, (IB, TA,) 1 [Often I leave the antagonist having his fingers' ends become yellow]. (S, M, O, Mughnee, K.) قَدْ أَتْرُكُ القِرْنَ مُصْفَرًّا أَنَامِلُهُ (5) It denotes the affirmation of truth, or certainty: thus in [the saying in the Kur xci. 9,] قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَنْ زَكَّاهَا [Verily, or certainly, or indeed, or really, he prospereth, or will prosper, who purifieth it; (namely, his soul;) each pret. here occupying the place of a mejzoom aor.]: (Mughnee, K:) and thus accord. to some in [the saying in the Kur xxiv. last verse, of which another explanation has been given above,] قَدْ يَعْلَمُ مَا أَنْتُمْ عَلَيْهِ [Verily, or certainly, &c., He knoweth that state of conduct and mind to which ye are conforming yourselves]. (Mughnee.) (6) It denotes negation, (Mughnee, K,) accord. to ISd, (Mughnee,) occupying the place of مَا , (M,) in the saying, قَدْ كُنْتَ فِى خَيْرٍ فَتَعْرِفَهُ , (M, Mughnee, K,) with تعرف mansoob, [as though meaning Thou wast not in prosperity, that thou shouldst know it,] (Mughnee, K,) heard from one of the chaste in speech: (M:) but this is strange. (Mughnee.) [When it is used to denote the nearness of the past to the present, as appears to be indicated by the context in the O,] قَدْ may be separated from the verb by an oath; as in قَدْ وَٱللّٰهِ أَحْسَنْتَ [Thou hast, by God, done well] and قَدْ لَعَمْرِى بِتُّ سَاهِرًا [I have, by my life, or by my religion, passed the night sleepless]. (O, Mughnee. [In the latter, this and what here next follows are mentioned before the explanations of the meanings of the particle; probably because the meaning in these cases can hardly be mistaken.]) And the verb may be suppressed after it, (M, * O, Mughnee,) when its meaning is apprehended, (O,) or because of an indication; (Mughnee;) as in the saying of En-Nábighah (M, O, Mughnee) Edh-Dhubyánee, (O,) 1 [The time of departure has drawn near, though the camels that we ride have not left with our utensils and apparatus for travelling, but it is as though they had (left)]; meaning كَأَنْ قَدْ زَالَتْ . (M, O, Mughnee.) أَفِدَ التَّرَحُّلُ غَيْرَ أَنَّ رِكَابَنَا | لَمَّا تَزُلْ بِرِحَالِنَا وَكَأَنْ قَدِ If you make قَدْ an اِسْم [i. e. a subst. or a proper name], you characterize it by teshdeed: therefore you say, كَتَبْتُ قَدًّا حَسَنَةً [I wrote a beautiful قد ]; and so you do in the case of كَىْ and هُوَ and لَوْ ; because these words have no indication of what is deficient in them [supposing them to be originally of three radical letters], therefore it is requisite to add to the last letter of each what is of the same kind as it, and this is incorporated into it: but not in the case of ا ; for in this case you add ء ; thus if you name a man لَا , or مَا , and then add at the end of it ا , you make it ء ; for you make the second ا movent, and ا when movent becomes ء : (S, O:) so says J, [and Sgh has followed him in the O,] and such is the opinion of Akh and of a number of the grammarians of El-Basrah [and of El-Koofeh (MF)], and F has quoted this passage in the B and left it uncontradicted: but IB says, (TA,) [and after him F in the K,] this is a mistake: that only is characterized by teshdeed of which the last letter is infirm: you say, for هُوَ , (IB, K,) used as the name of a man, (IB,) هُوٌّ , (IB, K,) and for لَوْ you say لَوٌّ , and for فِى you say فِىٌّ ; (IB;) and such is characterized by teshdeed only in order that the word may not be reduced to one letter on account of the quiescence of the infirm letter [which would disappear] with tenween [as it does in دَمٌ and يَدٌ &c.]: (K:) but as to قَدْ , if you use it as a name, you say قَدٌ ; (IB, K;) and for مَنْ you say مَنٌ , and for عَنْ you say عَنٌ ; (K;) like يَدٌ (IB, K) and دَمٌ &c.: (K:) F, however, [following IB,] is wrong in calling J's statement a mistake; though the rule given by him [and IB] is generally preferred. (MF, TA.)