Such is the objection to this approach.

Section

The second approach is that qarīb (near) in the verse exemplifies understanding a feminine noun in terms of a masculine noun equivalent in meaning, as in the poet’s words:

“I see a man among them, anguished, as though
he clasps a bloodstained hand against his sides.”

Kaff (hand) is feminine, but here it is understood as meaning a bodily member or limb, so its adjective is masculine. Likewise, rahmah (mercy), though feminine, is understood as ihsān (beneficence), and its predicate is therefore masculine.

They said: Understanding mercy as beneficence is more appropriate than understanding a hand as a bodily member, for two reasons.

First, mercy is a quality subsisting in the one who shows mercy, whereas beneficence is kindness shown to its recipient. Nearness to those who do good is more readily understood in relation to such kindness than to mercy.

Second, understanding the mercy described as near to those who do good in terms of beneficence establishes a correspondence with the good they themselves have done. This correspondence strengthens the meaning and lends vigor to the wording, as though He had said: “Allah’s beneficence is near to those who show beneficence.” As Allah Most High says:

“Is the reward for good anything but good?” 55: 60

Thus, qarīb is masculine to indicate that it describes the masculine noun ihsān, thereby conveying the intended correspondence.

They said: Another example of understanding a feminine noun in terms of a masculine one occurs in the verse cited by al-Farrāʾ:

“Nine battles there were in Mudar,
and in Wāʾil was the tenth.”

Here, waqāʾiʿ (battles), which is feminine, is understood as the masculine expression ayyām al-harb (days of war). Accordingly, the numeral referring to it takes the feminine form, tisʿah (nine). Without this interpretation, the poet would have said tisʿ, because waqāʾiʿ is feminine.

They said: If a masculine noun may be understood in terms of a feminine one—as in the expression jāʾathu kitābī (“My letter reached him”), meaning sahīfatī (“my written sheet”), and in the poet’s words:

“O rider, al-murbī of his mount,
ask Banū Asad, ‘What is this sound?’”