شكرfour disparate, non-reducible senses — praise/contentment for a favor received, fullness … (root shkr)

Shukr (الشكر): acknowledgment of a favor [and spreading word of it and praising the one who bestowed it], and it is also called shukūr (الشكور). God Almighty said: "We desire from you no reward nor thanks (shukūran)" [Q. 76:9]. Al-shakūr among animals is one that fattens on little fodder, which suffices it. Al-shakrah (الشكرة) refers to milk-animals that have had a share of herbage or pasture and thereby become abundant in milk after having given little; so when people alight at a place and their livestock get some herbage and their milk increases, it is said 'the people have become ashkara (أشكر)' and 'they are milking shakrah (شكرة)' [with a jazm/sukūn]. And shakirat al-ḥalūbah shakran (شكرت الحلوبة شكرا) [is said]; the poet said: "We churn their frothy milk when it has become abundant (shakirat)... with their curd-cheese, and the fresh butter is what we skim off it." (Al-rakhfah is fresh butter.) Al-shakīr (الشكير) of hair is what grows between the braided locks; of plants, it is what grows from the stalk of a tree — tender shoots emerging among the harder stalks — the plural being al-shukur (الشكر). A poet said: "While the young man flourishes fresh in life... like a green shoot whose tender growth (shakīruhā) quivers." Al-shukr (الشكر) means the vagina/private parts, in the saying of al-Aʿshā: "[And a white-armed one, a companion in dalliance]... I was alone with her shukr (شكرها) a whole night."

Al-shukr (الشكر): praise of a benefactor for the kindness he has bestowed. One says shakartuhu (شكرته) and shakartu lahu (شكرت له), the latter with the preposition lām being more eloquent. As for His saying, Most High: "We desire from you no reward nor shukūran (شكورا)" — it may be a verbal noun (maṣdar) like qaʿada qaʿūdan, or it may be a plural like burd/burūd and kufr/kufūr. Al-shukrān (الشكران) is the opposite of al-kufrān (الكفران). Tashakkartu lahu (تشكرت له) is like shakartu lahu. Al-shakūr (الشكور) among animals is one for which a little fodder suffices. Shakara al-marʾah farjahā (شكر المرأة فرجها) [he had intercourse with the woman]. The Hudhalī poet said: "Skillful with her awl, chaste in her farj (شكرها)/private parts, generous with the food of the belly, abundant of udder..." And ishtakarati al-samāʾ (اشتكرت السماء): the rain's downpour intensified. Imruʾ al-Qays said, describing rain: "It shows its affection (al-wudd) when it drizzles lightly, and hides it when it pours heavily (tashtakir)..." (also read as tastaʿkir). And ishtakara al-ḍarʿ (اشتكر الضرع): the udder became full of milk. From this one says shakirat al-nāqah, yashkuru, shakran (شكرت الناقة تشكر شكرا) — [with kasrah] — so she is shakirah (شكرة). Al-Ḥuṭayʾah said: "When there was nothing but what should not be, her co-wives' udders became full of milk (shakirāt)..." And ashkara al-qawm (أشكر القوم) means they are milking abundantly (shakrah). 'This is the season of al-shakrah (الشكرة)' — when animals have become full of milk from spring pasture. One says ibil shakārā (إبل شكارى) and ghanam shakārā (غنم شكارى) [camels/sheep abundant in milk]. Ḍarrah shakrā (ضرة شكرى): a udder full of milk. Shakirat al-shajarah (شكرت الشجرة) also occurs, tashkuru shakran, meaning the tree put forth its shakīr (الشكير), which is what grows around the base of a tree from its root. The poet said: "The wild ass, standing apart, was startled by it — the shakīr (شكير) of its jowls having become matted with dirt." Al-shaykurān (الشيكران): a type of plant.

Shīn, kāf, rāʾ: four disparate roots, far apart in analogy. The first is shukr (الشكر), praise of a person for a kindness he has bestowed upon you. It is said that the true meaning of shukr is contentment with little; they say 'a shakūr (شكور) horse' (faras shakūr) when a little fodder suffices to fatten it, and they cite the saying of al-Aʿshā: "There must needs be a summer raid... a terror that wearies the well-fed, contented one (al-shakūr)." And it is said as a proverb, 'More thankful (ashkar) than the burūqah plant,' because it turns green from clouds without rain. The second root is fullness and abundance in a thing; one says ḥalūbah shakirah (حلوبة شكرة) when a milk-animal has had good pasture and become abundant in milk; and one says ashkara al-qawm (أشكر القوم), meaning 'the people milk shakrah (شكرة)' [i.e., abundant milk], and it is said shakirat al-ḥalūbah (شكرت الحلوبة). From this same chapter comes shakirat al-shajarah (شكرت الشجرة), 'the tree became abundant in its shade/growth.' The third root is shakīr (الشكير) of plants, which is what grows from the trunk of a tree — tender shoots — and this occurs in a plant when it first sprouts. A poet said: "...blackened, a chick like the soft new shoots (al-shakīr al-jaʿd)..." The fourth root is shakr (الشكر), meaning sexual intercourse; one says 'so-and-so had intercourse with (shakara) the woman's private part (farj).' Yaḥyā ibn Yaʿmur said to a man whose wife had disputed with him: 'If I ask you the bride-price of her shakr (شكر) and shibr (شبر) [i.e. her private parts], you would go on about wronging her and depriving her.'

Al-shukr (الشكر) is the conceiving and manifesting of a blessing/favor (niʿmah). It is said to be a metathesis of al-kashr (الكشر), i.e. disclosure/uncovering, and it is opposed by al-kufr (الكفر), which is the forgetting and concealing of a favor. A shakūr (شكور) animal is one that shows, through its fatness, the goodness its owner has done it. It is also said that its root is from ʿayn shakrā (عين شكرى), i.e. a 'full' spring/eye — so shukr on this view is fullness through remembrance of the one who bestowed the favor. Shukr is of three kinds: shukr of the heart, which is conceiving the favor; shukr of the tongue, which is praising the benefactor; and shukr of the rest of the limbs/faculties, which is repaying the favor to the degree it deserves. His saying, Most High: "Work, O family of David, in shukran (شكرا)" [Q. 34:13] — it is said that shukran is accusative as a specifier (tamyīz), meaning 'do whatever you do as thanks to God.' It is also said that shukran is the direct object of iʿmalū ('work'), and He said iʿmalū rather than ushkurū ('give thanks') in order to draw attention to the necessity of committing to all three kinds of shukr — of the heart, tongue, and other faculties. He said: "Give thanks (ushkur) to Me and to your parents" [Q. 31:14]; "and We will reward the thankful (al-shākirīn)" [Q. 3:145]; "and whoever is thankful (shakara) is thankful only for his own soul" [Q. 27:40]. And His saying: "few of My servants are truly thankful (al-shakūr)" [Q. 34:13] contains an indication that fulfilling the shukr owed to God is difficult; that is why He praised none of His friends doubly with shukr except two: He said of Abraham, peace be upon him: "thankful (shākiran) for His favors" [Q. 16:121], and He said of Noah: "indeed he was a most thankful servant (ʿabdan shakūran)" [Q. 17:3]. When God is described with shukr, as in His saying "and God is Shakūr (شكور), Forbearing" [Q. 64:17], what is meant is His bestowal of favor on His servants and His rewarding them for the worship they have performed. It is said: nāqah shakirah (ناقة شكرة) — a she-camel full of milk in the udder; and it is said, 'more thankful than burūq (بروق)' — a plant that turns green and thrives with the least rain. Al-shukr (الشكر) is used euphemistically for a woman's private parts (farj) and for sexual intercourse. Someone said [entry continues]…

Al-shukr (الشكر): acknowledgment of a favor and spreading word of it; it is also called al-shukūr (الشكور). Thaʿlab said: shukr occurs only in response to a [benefiting] hand/favor, whereas ḥamd (praise) occurs both in response to a favor and without one — this is the distinction between them. Shukr from God is recompense and beautiful praise. Shakarahu (شكره) and shakara lahu (شكر له), yashkuru, shukran, shukūran, shukrānan (شكرا وشكورا وشكرانا). Abū Nukhaylah said: "I thanked you (shakartuka), for shukr is a bond of piety... and not everyone whom you favor with a kindness fulfills [his duty of thanks]." Ibn Sīdah said: this indicates that shukr occurs only in response to a favor received — note that he said 'not everyone whom you favor with a kindness fulfills [his duty]', i.e., not everyone you bestow a favor upon thanks you for it. Al-Liḥyānī related: shakartu Allāh (شكرت الله), shakartu li-llāh (شكرت لله), and shakartu bi-llāh (شكرت بالله) [are all said], and likewise shakartu niʿmata Allāh (شكرت نعمة الله). Tashakkara lahu balāʾahu (تشكر له بلاءه) is like shakarahu. Tashakkartu lahu (تشكرت له) is like shakartu lahu. In the ḥadīth about Yaʿqūb (Jacob): he would not eat the fat of camels, tashakkuran lillāh (تشكرا لله), 'as an act of thanksgiving to God'; Abū ʿAlī cited: "And indeed I come to you giving thanks (tashkuru) for what has passed of the matter, and to secure the obligation of what will be tomorrow." i.e., 'that you may give thanks for what has passed,' the past being used in place of the future. Rajul shakūr (رجل شكور): a man who gives much thanks. In the noble Qur'an: "indeed he was a most thankful servant (ʿabdan shakūran)" [Q. 17:3]. In the ḥadīth: when the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, was seen exhausting himself in worship, it was said to him: 'O Messenger of God, do you do this when God has already forgiven you your past and future sins?' He, peace be upon him, said: 'Shall I not then be a most thankful servant (ʿabdan shakūran)?' The same term applies to a woman, without the tāʾ marbūṭah. Al-shakūr (الشكور) is among the names/attributes of God, Exalted be His Name, meaning that even a small amount of His servants' deeds is accounted worthy by Him, so He multiplies the reward for them; and His shukr toward His servants is His forgiveness of them. Al-shakūr is a pattern of intensive emphasis (mubālaghah). As for al-shakūr among God's worshippers, he is one who strives in thanking his Lord through obedience to Him and performance of the duties of worship placed upon him. God, Exalted, said: "Work, O family of David, in thanks (shukran), and few of My servants are truly thankful (al-shakūr)" — shukran is accusative because it is a maf'ūl lahu (object expressing purpose), as if He said 'work for God's sake in thanks'; or, if you wish, it may be construed as an emphatic verbal noun (maṣdar muʾakkid). Shukr is like ḥamd, except that ḥamd is more general than it, for you praise (taḥmadu) a person for his beautiful qualities and for his kindness, but you only thank (tashkuru) him for his kindness, not for his qualities. Shukr is the requiting of a favor by word, deed, and intention: one praises the benefactor with one's tongue, dissolves oneself in obedience to him, and believes that he is the one who bestowed the favor. It derives from shakirat al-ibil, tashkuru (شكرت الإبل تشكر), said of camels when they obtain pasture and grow fat upon it. In the ḥadīth: 'God does not thank (yashkuru) one who does not thank people' — meaning that God does not accept a servant's thanks for His kindness to him if that servant does not thank people's kindness and... [entry continues]