others have said less, and still others more; yet the view preferred by the linguists is that it spans one hundred years, and this is the convention adopted by the historians. What seems to be intended here is simply the people of a single age.

– yustashhadūn: The word shāhid (pl. shuhūd) denotes a witness. One may say, “He shahida the gathering,” meaning he attended it, or, “He shahida before the judge for so-and-so against so-and-so regarding such-and-such,” meaning he delivered the testimony he possessed—that is, he reported with certainty what he knew. Accordingly, yustashhadūn means that they give their testimony before it is requested of them.

– yakhūnūn: From khāna, yakhūnu, khawnan and khiyānah, “to betray.” The doer is khāʾin; the plural is khawanah. Khiyānah (betrayal) is the opposite of amānah (trustworthiness).

– yuʾtamanūn: From amina, yaʾmanu, amānah, the antonym of khāna. A person possessing this quality is amīn (trustworthy). Thus, yuʾtamanūn means “they are taken as trustees.”

– yandhurūn: nadhr is the verbal noun of nadhartu, andhuru (with ḍamma on the dhāl) following the pattern qatala. In the Sacred Law, a nadhr (vow) is when a morally responsible, willing person obligates himself to worship Allah Most High.

– yūfūn: From wafā bi-l-ʿahd (or bi-l-waʿd), yafī wafāʾan, “to complete and uphold”; its opposite is ghadr (treachery). One who does so is described as wafī or wāfin. Awfā nadhrahu means “he fulfilled his vow perfectly.”

– al-saman: From samina, yasmanu, samānah and simnan, meaning that one’s flesh and fat increase; the opposite is hazila, “to become thin.” Such a person is samīn (obese), plural simān.

Points derived from the two ḥadiths

1 – Testimonies (sing. shahādah) are derived from mushāhadah (direct witnessing), whether with the eye or the heart, because the witness reports what he has observed. The term shahādah applies both to accepting the responsibility to testify (taḥammul) and to actually delivering it (adāʾ).

2 – A shahādah is to inform of what one knows using the expressions ash-hadu (“I testify”) or shahidtu (“I witnessed”). This is the well-known position of the three Imams—Abū Ḥanīfah, Mālik, and Aḥmad. Another report from Aḥmad, however, holds that it is not a condition, when delivering testimony, to utter the word