Advancing to Allah a goodly loan
يُقْرِضُ ٱللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا
yuqriḍu llāha qarḍan ḥasanan — advances to Allah a fine loan
Six verses pair the verb of lending (Form IV of ق ر ض) with its own cognate object qarḍan, always directed to Allah and always qualified as ḥasanan; read together, they show the same expression recurring across question, covenant, conditional promise, description and command, each time with a stated return — multiplication, covering, a generous reward, gardens, or finding the good with Allah.
In all six verses the expression consists of a Form IV verb from the root ق ر ض plus the indefinite accusative noun qarḍan from the same root, followed by the adjective ḥasanan. The verb is always transitive with Allah as its object: the lender advances the loan 'to Allah'. The noun qarḍan is cognate to the verb, so the expression is built on a root that in these verses appears only in this pairing. The adjective varies slightly in the given translation ('fine', 'goodly'), but the Arabic ḥasanan is identical in all six. What changes is the grammatical person and mood of the verb, and with it the speech situation. In (2:245) and (57:11) it is a third-person masculine singular imperfect inside the rhetorical question man dhā lladhī... ('Who is this/it that...'), answered by a promise of multiplication. In (5:12) it is a second-person masculine plural perfect within a covenant, listed among actions such as establishing the ṣalāh and giving the zakāh, with covering of misdeeds and admission into gardens as the response. In (57:18) it is a third-person masculine plural perfect describing 'the men who confirm and the women who confirm', with multiplication and a generous reward. In (64:17) it is a second-person plural jussive in a conditional clause, with multiplication and covering. In (73:20) it is a second-person plural imperative, again listed with the ṣalāh and the zakāh, followed by the assurance that whatever good is advanced will be found with Allah, 'better and greater in reward'. Read side by side, the verses show a fixed expression whose frame — lending to Allah, a goodly loan, a promised return — stays constant while the addressee and mood shift from challenge to covenant to command.
Where it occurs
- 2:245 Opens a rhetorical question asking who will advance Allah a fine loan, answered by the promise that He multiplies it in many multiplied portions.
- 5:12 Appears as a second-person plural perfect in a covenant list, alongside establishing the ṣalāh, giving the zakāh, trusting the messengers and supporting them.
- 57:11 Opens a rhetorical question parallel to (2:245), with multiplication and a generous reward as the outcome.
- 57:18 Describes as a third-person plural perfect those who confirm with truthfulness and have advanced the loan, for whom it is multiplied.
- 64:17 Forms the protasis of a conditional ('If you extend...'), with multiplication and covering as the apodosis.
- 73:20 Appears as an imperative in a list of commands — recite, establish the ṣalāh, give the zakāh — followed by the assurance that good advanced is found with Allah.
All Qur'anic expressions