, and if they speak, you listen to their words.” Allah Most High also says:

“And has increased him abundantly in knowledge and stature.”

Ibn ʿAbbās said: Saul was the most knowledgeable of the Children of Israel in warfare, and his shoulders, neck, and head towered above other people. The word bastah means amplitude. Ibn Qutaybah said: It comes from saying, “I spread something out,” when it was gathered together and you unfolded and expanded it. Some have said: The reference to his greater bodily size means superior strength, since a person with a larger body is ordinarily stronger. This, then, is the meaning of the word jism (body) in the Arabic language in which the Quran was revealed.

Al-Jawharī said:

Abū Zayd al-Ansārī said: Jism means the body, as do jusmān and juthmān. Al-Asmaʿī said: Jism, jasad, and juthmān mean the person. A number of authorities said that the human body is called juthmān. Jasuma means that something became large; it is then described as jasīm or jisām. Jisām, pronounced with an i vowel, is the plural of jasīm.

Abū ʿUbaydah said: “Tajassamtu fulānan min bayni al-qawm” means “I singled out so-and-so from among the people,” as though you directed yourself toward his body. Similarly, you say, “Taʾattaytuhu,” meaning that you directed yourself toward his person. Abū ʿUbaydah cited the verse:

“I singled him out from among them with a keen blade.”

You say, “Tajassamtu al-ard,” when you head toward a land, intending to reach it. The verb tajassama is derived from jism.

Ibn al-Sikkīt said: “Tajassamtu al-amr” means “I undertook its greatest and weightiest part”—that is, its main part. He said: Likewise, “Tajassamtu al-ramla wa-al-jabal” means “I climbed the largest part of the sand and the mountain.” Al-ajsam means the most massive. ʿĀmir ibn al-Tufayl said: