Reaching one's full strength (ashudd)
بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُۥ
balagha ashuddahu — reached his full strength
Across these verses, balagha ashuddahu marks a threshold in human development: the point up to which the prohibition on drawing near the orphan's wealth applies, at which judgment and knowledge are granted, and at which, together with reaching forty years, the human being speaks the prayer of gratitude (46:15). Read together, the occurrences show the expression functioning both as a legal boundary and as a stage in a life-span sequence.
The expression pairs the verb balagha ("to reach") with the noun ashudd ("full strength"), the noun always in the accusative with a pronoun suffix agreeing with the subject. In the verses given it appears in two settings. In (6:152) and (17:34), which share near-identical wording about the orphan's wealth, reaching ashudd is the limit of a prohibition: "do not draw near the wealth of the orphan except by that which is best, until he reaches his full strength." In (18:82) the same limit frames a narrative: the wall is repaired so that two orphan boys "reach their full strength" and retrieve their treasure. In (12:22) and (28:14), which share their wording except that (28:14) adds "and he became well-formed" (wa-istawā), reaching ashudd is followed by a grant of judgment and knowledge (ḥukman wa-ʿilman). In (22:5) and (40:67) the expression sits inside a sequence of creation from dust, drop, clinging mass, infant, then full strength, then old age or death — a life-span arc. In (46:15) the reaching of ashudd is coordinated with reaching forty years, and it is at that point that the human being speaks the prayer of gratitude. Read side by side, the occurrences show ashudd as a boundary that closes one relationship to a person (the prohibition on drawing near the orphan's wealth) and opens another (the grant of judgment and knowledge, the speech of gratitude).
Where it occurs
- 6:152 Marks the endpoint of the prohibition on drawing near the orphan's wealth.
- 12:22 Names the stage at which judgment and knowledge are granted, as recompense for the doers of good.
- 17:34 Marks the endpoint of the prohibition on going near the orphan's wealth, as in (6:152).
- 18:82 Names the stage the two orphan boys must reach before bringing out their treasure.
- 22:5 A stage in the sequence from dust and drop through infancy to full strength, old age, or death.
- 28:14 Names the stage at which discernment and knowledge are granted, with wording nearly identical to (12:22): the grant ḥukman wa-ʿilman is the same in both, (28:14) adds 'and he became well-formed' (wa-istawā), and our translation renders ḥukman as 'discernment' rather than 'wise judgment'.
- 40:67 A stage in the creation sequence between being brought out as a child and becoming elders.
- 46:15 The point, together with reaching forty years, at which the human being speaks the prayer of gratitude.
All Qur'anic expressions