I say:

Etymology supports both views: that al-Samad is the One who has no cavity, and that He is the Master. It points more clearly to the first, however, for the first meaning underlies the second. In Arabic, the word samad is used of that which has no cavity.

Yahyā ibn Abī Kathīr said: “The angels have no cavities, whereas human beings are hollow.” In the hadith concerning Adam, Iblīs is reported to have said of him: “He is hollow, not solid.” Al-Jawharī said: “Musammad is a variant of musmat, meaning that which has no cavity.” He also said: “Simād is the covering over a bottle’s mouth,” and: “Samad denotes high, solid ground.” Abū al-Najm said:

“It leaves the high ground like the back of a saddle-sore camel.”

The fundamental meaning of this root is gathering together and strength. Thus, one says yasmudu al-māl, meaning “he gathers wealth together.” Likewise, sayyid (master) was originally saywid: the letters yā’ and wāw came together, with the first unvowelled, so the wāw was changed into yā’ and the two were assimilated. Similarly, mayyit (dead) was originally maywit. The root, as found in sawād (blackness) and su’dud (mastery), conveys the sense of gathering together, and black is the color that concentrates the gaze.

Allah Most High has said:

“Noble and chaste.”

Most of the early generations interpreted sayyidan (“noble”) as “forbearing.” This is also reported from al-Hasan, Sa‘īd ibn Jubayr, ‘Ikrimah, ‘Atā’, Abū al-Sha‘thā’, al-Rabī‘ ibn Anas, and Muqātil. Abū Rawq reported from al-Dahhāk that it means “one of good character.” Sālim reported from Sa‘īd ibn Jubayr that it means “the God-fearing.” A man does not become a master over others until he is himself self-possessed and steadfast in character.