Glossary: D

dahr

Al-Rāghib: dahr was originally the name for the duration of the world's existence from its beginning to its end, then used for any long period of time, unlike zamān, which is used for long and short periods. → Read at 45:24

ḍalāl

Ḍalāl here means “being devoid of guidance”: in and of himself the Prophet, like any human, had no guidance except through God, but by God’s grace divine guidance was intertwined with his being from the moment he was created. → Read at 93:7

darajah

Al-Rāghib: a darajah is a level going up, like the rungs of a ladder, its opposite being a darakah, a level going down; hence darajāt of Heaven and darakāt of Hell. → Read at 20:75

darajāt

God exalting a servant signifies bringing him closer to Himself; the verse divides believers into the general believer and the learned believer, whom it exalts in degrees (plural). → Read at 58:11

dhalūl

A docile mount is easy to ride without shaking or unruliness; manākib (plural of mankib, shoulder joint) is used figuratively for the earth's surface, as al-Rāghib notes, figuring the earth's subservience to human activity. → Read at 67:15

dhanb

() Originally the tail of an animal; its basic meaning is any action that causes harm or a loss of benefit. Its sense of "sin" is a terminological convention that developed after the Prophet's time, so it is broader than maʿṣiya (disobedience). → Read
() Al-Rāghib: the original meaning of dhanb is to grab the tail (dhanab) of something; it is used for any action that has an undesirable consequence, in the sense that the outcome comes after it like a tail. → Read
() The original meaning of dhanb, as gleaned from its usage, is any action that has evil consequences; "disobeying one's master" is a later meaning from religious usage. Here it is the evil consequences the idolaters held against the Prophet because of his call. → Read

dhanūb

A portion (naṣīb), here a share of punishment like that of their predecessors. → Read at 51:59

dharʾ

() Al-Rāghib: dharʾ means God's act of making His creatures apparent and visible; dharaʾa Allāhu al-khalq means God gave existence to individual creatures. → Read
() Creation; "multiplied you in the earth" refers to their creation as attached to the earth, so that their perfection is only completed through deeds connected with earthly matter, by which they are tested. → Read

dhāt al-bayn

A poor relationship between two parties; the command to rectify dhāt al-bayn tells them to patch things up and end the bad blood between themselves. → Read at 8:1

dhikr

() Al-dhikr (remembrance) is sometimes the opposite of al-ghaflah (inattention); inattention is not knowing what one knows although the knowledge is present in memory, so remembrance, its opposite, means knowing what one knows. → Read
() Al-Rāghib: a mental state that preserves acquired knowledge, like memorization but concerned with its retrieval, or the presence of a concept in the heart or on the tongue. The ʿAllāmah: the retention or recall of information, and the means that facilitate it. → Read
() Al-Rāghib: dhikr is sometimes the function of the soul that preserves acquired knowledge (like ḥifẓ, but with respect to recalling rather than storing), and at other times the presence of something in the heart or in speech. Apparently the first is its original sense, and verbal expressions are called dhikr only because they embody that presence in the heart. → Read
() Remembrance here is of God through His names, attributes, or actions. Al-Rāghib: dhikr is a faculty of the soul for retaining knowledge, like ḥifẓ, and also the presence of something in the heart or an utterance, of heart or tongue. → Read

dhū al-jalāl wa al-ikrām

"Lord of majesty and honor" refers to His Beautiful Names, which stem from His attributes of beauty and majesty, visible in and causing His acts. → Read at 55:78

dhū al-qurbā

"A relative"; here it refers to the Prophet's kinsfolk, or specific members of his family, as indubitable narrations dictate. → Read at 8:41

dhū al-quwwah

A divine name meaning al-qawiyy but more forceful; matīn also means al-qawiyy, and together they show that nothing can prevent God's provision from reaching its recipients. → Read at 51:58

dhū al-ṭawl

Majmaʿ al-bayān: al-ṭawl refers to blessings that endure for a lengthy duration for the one who receives them; Possessed of Enduring Bounty is one of God's Most Beautiful Names. → Read at 40:3

dīn

() The practice one follows in life to attain happiness therein; it also suggests obedience, and is sometimes used for recompense (jazāʾ). → Read
() In the language of the Qur'an, the societal norms prevailing in a community; these may follow the correct, natural religion, Islam, or be a distorted version of it. → Read
() Dīn here means jazāʾ (payment, retribution, compensation); what pits people against their Gracious Lord is their denial of retribution, which they know to be true by their fiṭrah, though perhaps only potentially. → Read
() Dīn here means recompense on the Day of Judgment, so the verse is about those who deny the hereafter; some have interpreted it as religion. → Read

duʿāʾ

() To invite: to call the invited person's gaze to what he is invited to and attract his attention. It is broader than nidāʾ (calling), which is only by words spoken aloud, while an invitation can be by words, gestures or otherwise. → Read
() Based on the context, duʿāʾ here is any request or pursuit (ṭalab), whether worded as a prayer or made through seeking and striving without verbal prayer; all of these are requests from God, since in reality there is no giver or depriver apart from Him. → Read
() Duʿāʾ (supplication, calling, invocation) in this verse means ʿibādah (worship, service), an equivalence seen in , so the verse means: do not worship anyone beside God because the places of worship belong to Him. → Read

ḍurr

Ḍarr is used for any kind of harm, but ḍurr is used for harms that specifically afflict one's life, such as illness and emaciation. → Read at 21:83

Glossary: D ​

Glossary: D