حددIbn Fāris gives two aṣl: prevention/restraint and the extremity or point of a thing — a … (root hdd)

The division between any two things is the ḥadd (حد) between them. The extremity of anything is its ḥadd. Ḥadda al-sayf (حد السيف) and iḥtadda (احتد) [the sword became sharp]. He is jaldun ḥadīd (جلد حديد) [a sharp, keen fellow]. Aḥdadtuhu (أحددته) [I sharpened it]. The man istaḥadda (استحد) and iḥtadda ḥiddatan (احتد حدة), so he is ḥadīd (حديد) [quick-tempered]. Ḥudūd Allāh (حدود الله) are the things He has delimited and commanded not to be transgressed. Al-ḥadd (الحد) is the punishment of the slanderer and the like — the penalty imposed on one for what he has committed. Al-ḥadīd (الحديد) is well-known [iron], and its craftsman is al-ḥaddād (الحداد) [blacksmith]. A maḥdūd (محدود) man is one deprived/unfortunate in his lot. The ḥadd of everything is the edge of its blade, like the ḥadd of the spearhead, the sword, and the like. Al-ḥadd also denotes a man deprived of good. And al-ḥadd is a man's valor and effectiveness in his boldness. Al-ʿAjjāj said: "Or how is the ḥadd [valor] of Muḍar al-Qaṭīm?" A woman who aḥaddat (أحدت) [mourned] for her husband is muḥidd (محد); one also says ḥaddat (حدت) without the alif, meaning the stripping [of adornment] after his death. Ḥādadtuhu (حاددته): I opposed him, as in 'whoever yuḥādid Allāh (يحادد الله),' meaning opposes Him. 'Mā ʿan hādhā al-amr ḥadad (ما عن هذا الأمر حدد)': meaning a way of turning away, and likewise muḥtad (محتد). Al-Kumayt said: "God forbid (ḥadadan) that your bounty to us should be scanty, or reach us stingily diminished." Ḥaddān (حدان) is a tribe of Yemen. Al-ḥadd is the turning away from a thing, whether good or evil. One says to the archer: 'Allāhumma iḥdudhu (اللهم احدده),' meaning 'may God not grant him success in hitting the mark.' Ḥaddadtuhu ʿan kadhā (حددته عن كذا): I prevented him from it. Al-istiḥdāʾ (الاستحداء) is shaving something with iron [a razor]. Ḥadd al-sharāb (حد الشراب) is its potency. Al-Aʿshā said: "And a cup like the rooster's eye, whose edge (ḥadd) we approached early, with true young men, while the bells were struck."

Ḥāʾ and dāl have two roots: the first is prevention/restraint, and the second is the edge or extremity of a thing. So ḥadd (الحد) is the barrier between two things. So-and-so is maḥdūd (محدود) when he is deprived/prevented [from something]. And he is truly maḥārif maḥdūd (محارف محدود), as if he has been deprived of his livelihood. The doorkeeper is called ḥaddād (حداد) because he prevents people from entering. Al-Aʿshā said: "We arose while our rooster had not yet crowed, toward a dark [wine-vessel], by its guard (ḥaddādihā)." And al-Nābighah said concerning ḥadd and prevention: "Except Solomon, when the King said to him: 'Arise among creation and restrain it (fa-ḥdudhā) from error.'" And another said: "O Lord, whoever concealed from me the difficult path, grant him a wayward wife, who, for as long as he lives, will be his guard (ḥaddādan)" — meaning she is his doorkeeper so that [what he guards] does not escape. Iron is called ḥadīd (حديد) because of its resistance, hardness, and toughness. Al-istiḥdād (الاستحداد) is the use of iron [i.e., shaving with a razor]. It is said ḥaddat al-marʾah ʿalā baʿlihā (حدت المرأة على بعلها) and aḥaddat (أحدت), meaning she withheld from herself adornment and dye [i.e., observed mourning]. Al-muḥāddah (المحادة) is opposition, as if it were mutual prevention — though it may also belong to the other root. It is said: mā lī ʿan hādhā al-amr ḥadad wa-lā muḥtad (مالي عن هذا الأمر حدد ومحتد), meaning 'a way out' or 'an escape,' i.e., there is no deviation or possibility. It is said ḥadadan (حددا), meaning 'God forbid,' its origin being from prevention. Al-Kumayt said: "God forbid (ḥadadan) that your bounty toward us should be scanty, or come to us diminished." The ḥadd (حد) [legal penalty] on the offender is so named because it prevents him from repeating [the offense]. Al-Duraydī said: it is said hādhā amrun ḥadad (هذا أمر حدد), meaning 'formidable, unassailable.' As for the other root, it is as in their saying ḥadd al-sayf (حد السيف), meaning its edge, and ḥadd al-sikkīn (حد السكين), and ḥadd al-sharāb (حد الشراب), meaning its strength/potency. Al-Aʿshā said: "And a cup like the rooster's eye, whose edge (ḥadd) we approached early —" And ḥadd al-rajul (حد الرجل) means a man's valor, which is a metaphor. Derived from this too is al-ḥiddah (الحدة), the irritability that befalls a person from impetuousness; one says ḥadadtu ʿalā al-rajul aḥiddu ḥiddatan (حددت على الرجل أحد حدة) [I became sharp/irritable with the man].

[This is used] in the sense of gathering/binding. Al-ḥijāz (الحجاز) is a rope tied from the camel's flank to its foreleg, and from this the notion of restraint was conceived; hence it is said: iḥtajaza fulānun ʿan kadhā (احتجز فلان عن كذا) [so-and-so restrained himself from such-and-such] and iḥtajaza bi-izārihi (احتجز بإزاره) [he girded himself with his waist-wrapper]; from this also ḥujzat al-sarāwīl (حجزة السراويل) [the waistband of trousers]. And it is said: 'in aradtum al-muḥājazah fa-qabla al-munājazah' (إن أردتم المحاجزة فقبل المناجزة), meaning restraint before combat. And it is said ḥijāzayka (حجازيك), meaning 'separate between them.' Ḥadd (الحد): al-ḥadd is the barrier between two things that prevents one from mixing with the other. It is said: ḥaddadtu kadhā (حددت كذا), meaning I gave it a distinguishing boundary. Ḥadd al-dār (حد الدار) is that by which a house is distinguished from others. Ḥadd al-shayʾ (حد الشيء) is the comprehensive description of its meaning distinguishing it from other things. The ḥadd for fornication and wine [i.e., the legal penalty] is so named because it prevents the one who commits it from repeating it, and prevents others from following his path. God Most High said: "And those are the limits (ḥudūd) of God. Whoever transgresses the limits of God..." (al-Ṭalāq 65:1). And He said: "Those are the limits of God, so do not transgress them" (al-Baqarah 2:229). And He said: "The bedouin are more intense in disbelief and hypocrisy, and more likely not to know the limits (ḥudūd) of what God has sent down" (al-Tawbah 9:97), meaning His rulings, or it is said, the realities of His meanings. All the limits of God are of four kinds: - Something that must not be transgressed by addition to it nor by falling short of it, such as the number of rakʿahs in obligatory prayer. - Something to which addition is permitted but diminution is not. - Something to which diminution is permitted but addition is not. - Something to which both are permitted. And His saying: "Indeed, those who oppose (yuḥāddūna) God and His Messenger" (al-Mujādilah 58:5), meaning they resist — this is either with regard to mutual resistance, or by reference to the use of iron (ḥadīd). Al-ḥadīd (الحديد) [iron] is well-known; He, Mighty and Exalted, said: "And We sent down iron, in which is great might" (al-Ḥadīd 57:25). Ḥaddadtu al-sikkīn (حددت السكين): I thinned/sharpened its edge; aḥdadtuhu (أحددته): I gave it an edge. Then it is said of everything fine/keen in itself, whether in physical form or in meaning — such as sight and insight — that it is ḥadīd (حديد); thus one says: huwa ḥadīd al-naẓar (هو حديد النظر) [sharp-sighted], ḥadīd al-fahm (حديد الفهم) [sharp of understanding]. He, Mighty and Exalted, said: "So your sight today is sharp (ḥadīd)" (Qāf 50:22). And it is said: lisānun ḥadīd (لسان حديد) [a sharp tongue], like lisānun ṣārim (لسان صارم) and māḍin (ماض), when it has an effect like that of iron. He Most High said: "They lash you with sharp tongues (bi-alsinatin ḥidādin)" (al-Aḥzāb 33:19). And because of the notion of prevention the doorkeeper is called ḥaddād (حداد). And it is said: rajulun maḥdūd (رجل محدود) means one denied sustenance and fortune.

Al-ḥadd (الحد): the separation between two things so that one does not mix with the other, or so that one does not transgress against the other; its plural is ḥudūd (حدود). The division between any two things is the ḥadd between them. The end of everything is its ḥadd; from this: aḥad ḥudūd al-araḍīn (أحد حدود الأرضين) [one of the boundaries of the lands] and ḥudūd al-ḥaram (حدود الحرم) [the boundaries of the sacred precinct]. In the ḥadīth describing the Qurʾān: "For every letter there is a ḥadd, and for every ḥadd there is a maṭlaʿ [point of disclosure]"; it is said this means: for every limit there is an end. The extremity of everything is its ḥadd. So-and-so is ḥadīd (حديد) of so-and-so when his house is next to the other's, or his land is next to the other's. My house is ḥadīdah (حديدة) [adjacent to] your house, and muḥāddatuhā (محادتها) [bordering it], when its boundary is like its boundary. Ḥaddadtu al-dāra aḥudduhā ḥaddan (حددت الدار أحدها حدا), and al-taḥdīd (التحديد) means the same; ḥadda al-shayʾa min ghayrihi yaḥudduhu ḥaddan wa-ḥaddadahu (حد الشيء من غيره يحده حدا وحدده): he distinguished it. The ḥadd of everything is its extremity, because it turns it back and prevents it from going on; the plural is as before. The ḥadd of the thief and others is that which prevents him from repeating [the offense] and also prevents others from committing crimes; its plural is ḥudūd. Ḥaddadtu al-rajul (حددت الرجل): I carried out the ḥadd-punishment on him. Al-muḥāddah (المحادة) is opposition and withholding what is due; likewise al-taḥādd (التحاد). In the ḥadīth of ʿAbdullāh ibn Salām: "Some people opposed us (ḥādūnā) when we believed in God and His Messenger." Al-muḥāddah means enmity, opposition, and dispute; it is a mutual (mufāʿalah) verbal form from al-ḥadd, as if each of the two parties transgresses his boundary toward the other. Ḥudūd Allāh taʿālā (حدود الله تعالى): the things between whose prohibition and permission [a boundary] has been fixed, with the command that nothing of them be transgressed so as to exceed what was commanded or forbidden therein, and opposition to them prohibited; its singular is ḥadd. Ḥadd al-qādhif (حد القاذف) [the slanderer's punishment] and the like: yaḥudduhu ḥaddan (يحده حدا): he carried out that punishment on him. Al-Azharī: al-ḥadd is the ḥadd of the fornicator and the ḥadd of the slanderer and the like, carried out on one who has committed fornication, slander, or theft. Al-Azharī said: the ḥudūd of God, Mighty and Exalted, are of two kinds: one kind consists of limits set for people regarding their food, drink, marriages, and other matters permitted or forbidden, with the command to cease from what He forbade therein and the prohibition of transgressing them; the second kind consists of punishments established for one who commits what He has forbidden, such as the ḥadd of the thief — the cutting off of his right hand for [theft of] a quarter dinar or more; the ḥadd of the unmarried fornicator — a hundred lashes and banishment for a year; the ḥadd of the married person who commits fornication — stoning; and the ḥadd of the slanderer — eighty lashes. These are called ḥudūd because they taḥudd (تحد), i.e., prevent the commission of that for which punishments were established; and the first kind are called ḥudūd because they are the limits (nihāyāt) which God forbade transgressing. Ibn al-Athīr said: In the ḥadīth, mention of al-ḥadd and al-ḥudūd occurs in more than one place, referring to the prohibitions of God and His punishments which He linked to sins. The origin of al-ḥadd is prevention and the separation between two things, so it is as if the limits of the Sharīʿah separate the lawful from the unlawful; some of them... [entry continues]