as in such roots as kh-r-r, gh-r-r and ʾ-z-r, which all contain guttural consonants. Likewise, dāl and tā’ are consonants articulated with the tongue, with closely related points of articulation. Thus, when one is unvowelled, it is changed into the other and assimilated into it, as in His words:

“Nor will I be a worshipper of what you worship.”

Here, the two consonants are pronounced together as a doubled tā’ in ʿabattum. The same occurs in ʿabattuhu (I worshipped him), wajattuhu (I found him), and majattuhu (I glorified him). There are many similar examples.

This word, in all its derivative forms, conveys the meaning of gathering and joining together, as opposed to separation, as in the expressions simdat al-māl and simād al-qārūra (a bottle’s stopper). Arabic indicates this meaning, widely reported from most of the Companions and Successors, more clearly than it indicates any other, even if a group of later scholars claims otherwise. Even those who explained it as “the Master” mentioned this meaning. Al-Qurtubī, the commentator on the names of Allah, said