The same applies to sadd (blocking), sadād (soundness), su’dud (leadership), and sawād (a mass). Likewise, the word samad conveys gathering together, and gathering together entails strength: the more closely something’s parts are joined, without gaps between them, the stronger it is compared with something containing empty spaces.

Thus, firm, elevated ground is called samad because of its strength, cohesion, and compactness. A man described as samad is a leader who is sought out. One may say qasadtuhu, qasadtu lahu, or qasadtu ilayhi, all meaning “I sought him out”; likewise, one may say masmūd, masmūd lahu, or masmūd ilayhi, meaning “one who is sought out.” People seek help with their needs only from someone who can meet them. Only someone who is composed, strong, and steadfast in himself can do this: a noble, generous leader. This contrasts with someone who is anxious and fretful, becoming distracted, agitated, and overwhelmed by the number and burden of their needs. Such a person is not a leader upon whom they can depend and to whom they turn for their needs.

They therefore called a human leader samad because he possesses the quality for which people seek him out to meet their needs. In their language, leadership does not have a merely relational meaning—as nearness and distance do. Rather, it denotes a quality inherent in the leader, on account of which people seek him out. Sayyid (leader) derives from su’dud (leadership) and sawād (a mass). Through broader etymological affinity, this belongs to the same family as sadād, for the Arabs interchange a weak letter and a doubled consonant.

For example, they say taqaddā al-bāzī and taqaddada, both meaning “the hawk swooped down.” A sādd is something that blocks or fills something else, leaving no empty space in it. From this come sidād al-qārūrah (a bottle’s stopper) and sidād al-thaghr (what closes an opening), both pronounced with an i vowel: that which closes the thing in question. From it also comes sadād, with an a vowel, meaning correctness, and hence the expression “sound speech.” As stated by