Lexical notes on the ḥadith:
– Falq al-habbah (splitting the grain): al-falq means “to split,” and al-habbah is the seed that grows inside the ear of grain.
– Barāʾa al-nasamah (He brought forth the living soul): with an open bāʾ and rāʾ, it signifies “He created.” Al-nasamah refers to the created being—every living creature that possesses a spirit.
– Fahm (understanding): al-Jawharī writes, “To understand (fahimtu) something is to know it; a person may be described as fahīm (intelligent). One tafahhama a discourse when he grasps it bit by bit. Fahm is the refined readiness of the mind for deduction and the sound apprehension of meaning. Its plurals are afhām and fuhūm.”
– Al-ṣaḥīfah (the written sheet or scroll): literally anything—paper and the like—on which something is written; here it denotes the written page mentioned in the narration.
– Al-ʿaql (blood-money, diyah): pronounced with an open ʿayn and a still qāf. It denotes the financial compensation for homicide. It was called ʿaql because, in ancient custom, the killer’s relatives would deliver the diyah in the form of camels and tie them with a rope (ʿiqāl) in the courtyard of the victim’s family.
– Fikāk al-asīr (ransoming the prisoner): read with either kasrah or fatḥah on the fāʾ. It means to set the captive free and rescue him from the enemy’s hand.
– Al-asīr (the captive): on the pattern faʿīl, meaning “one who is taken prisoner,” derived from asara, “to bind.” Anyone who is seized is called an asīr even if he is not actually tied.
– Tatakāfaʾu dimāʾuhum (their blood is of equal worth): al-kufuʾ means an equal or counterpart. The phrase asserts that their blood is equivalent—no distinction is made between the noble and the lowly—contrary to the pre-Islamic practice of favoritism and inequality.
– Adnāhum (the least of them): the member of lowest social standing—poor, weak, woman, and the like—may extend a pact of protection that binds the community.
– Wa hum yadun ʿalā man siwāhum (and they stand as one hand against all others): they unite against their enemies; there is no room for apathy, and each supports the other.