قدسa sound root denoting purity, which he suspects belongs to Islamic religious usage. (root qds)

Al-quds (القدس): transcendent purity (tanzīh) of God; He is al-Quddūs (القدوس), al-Muqaddas (المقدس) [and al-Mutaqaddis (المتقدس)]. Al-qudās (القداس): strung pearls (jumān) made of silver.

Al-quds and al-qudus (القدس والقدس): purity (al-ṭuhr), both as a noun and a verbal noun (maṣdar). From this Paradise is called ḥaẓīrat al-quds (حظيرة القدس). Rūḥ al-quds (روح القدس) is Gabriel, peace be upon him. Qudus (قدس), with sukūn, is a great mountain in the land of Najd. Al-taqdīs (التقديس) is purification. Taqaddasa (تقدس) means 'he became pure.' Al-arḍ al-muqaddasa (الأرض المقدسة) means 'the purified land.' Bayt al-Maqdis and al-Muqaddas (بيت المقدس والمقدس) may be pronounced with doubling (tashdīd) or without (takhfīf), and the relative adjective (nisba) to it is Maqdisī, on the pattern of Majlisī and Muqaddasī. The poet — namely Imru' al-Qays — said: 'Then they caught up with him, seizing him by shank and sinew, just as children tear apart the garment of al-Muqaddasī' — meaning a Jew. It is said that Abraham, peace be upon him, prayed for al-Qādisiyya (القادسية) with [the blessing of] al-quds, [asking] that it become a stopping-place for pilgrims. Al-Quddūs (القدوس) is one of the names of God Most High; it is on the pattern fa'ūl from al-quds, which is purity (al-ṭahāra). Sībawayh used to say Quddūs and Subbūḥ with fatḥa on their first letters, which we have discussed under [the root] dh-r-ḥ. Tha'lab said: every noun on the pattern fa'ūl has fatḥa on its first letter, like saffūd, kallūb, sammūr, shabbūṭ, tannūr — except for Subbūḥ and Quddūs, for which ḍamma is more common, though fatḥa also occurs; likewise dharūḥ [usually] takes ḍamma, though it may take fatḥa. Al-qadas (القدس), with taḥrīk, is a bucket (saṭl) in the dialect of the people of the Ḥijāz, because one purifies oneself with it. Al-qudās (القداس), with ḍamma, is something made like strung pearls (jumān) of silver. The poet said, describing tears: 'Like the stringing of qudās whose thread has broken.'

Qāf, dāl, sīn (قدس) is a sound root, and I think it belongs to Islamic legal/religious terminology; it denotes purity (al-ṭuhr — الطهر). From this, al-arḍ al-muqaddasa (الأرض المقدسة) means 'the purified land,' and Paradise is called ḥaẓīrat al-quds (حظيرة القدس), i.e., 'the enclosure of purity.' Gabriel, peace be upon him, is rūḥ al-quds (روح القدس). All of this carries one meaning. Among the attributes of God Most High is al-Quddūs (القدوس), which bears this same meaning, because He is exalted above rivals, equals, consort, and offspring — exalted is God far above what the wrongdoers say, a great exaltation. It is said that al-Qādisiyya (القادسية) was named thus because Abraham, peace be upon him, prayed for it with [the blessing of] al-quds (القدس), [asking] that it become a stopping-place for pilgrims. And Qudus (قدس) is [the name of] a mountain. They also say that al-qudās (القداس) is something like strung pearls (jumān), made of silver. He said [in verse]: 'Like the stringing of qudās (قداس) whose thread has broken.'

Al-taqdīs (التقديس) is the divine purification mentioned in His saying: 'and purify you completely' [al-Aḥzāb 33], as distinct from purification that consists in removing sensible impurity (najāsa). And His saying: 'and we glorify You with praise and sanctify You' (wa naḥnu nusabbiḥu bi-ḥamdika wa nuqaddisu laka) [al-Baqara 30] means: we purify things in devotion to You. It is also said: 'we sanctify You,' i.e., we describe You with taqdīs (sanctity). And His saying: 'Say, the Holy Spirit (rūḥ al-quds) has brought it down' [al-Naḥl 102] refers to Gabriel, in that he brings down al-quds (holiness) from God — that is, that by which our souls are purified: the Qur'an, wisdom, and divine emanation (al-fayḍ al-ilāhī). Bayt al-Maqdis (بيت المقدس) is that which is purified from impurity, i.e., from polytheism (shirk); likewise al-arḍ al-muqaddasa (الأرض المقدسة), 'the Holy Land.' God Most High said: 'O my people, enter the Holy Land which God has decreed for you' [al-Mā'ida 21]. As for ḥaẓīrat al-quds (حظيرة القدس), it is said [to mean] Paradise, and it is [also] said [to mean] the Sacred Law (al-sharī'a). Both are correct, for the Sharī'a is an enclosure from which al-quds, i.e., purification (al-ṭahāra), is obtained.

Al-taqdīs (التقديس): the transcendent purification (tanzīh) of God, Mighty and Exalted. In al-Tahdhīb: al-quds is the tanzīh of God Most High; and He is al-Mutaqaddis, al-Quddūs, al-Muqaddas. It is said: al-Quddūs is on the pattern fa'ūl from al-quds, which is purity (al-ṭahāra). Sībawayh used to say Subbūḥ and Quddūs with fatḥa on their first letters. Al-Liḥyānī said: the agreed-upon [vocalization] for Subbūḥ and Quddūs is ḍamma, though he said fatḥa is also permissible — but he said, 'I do not know the reason for that.' Tha'lab said: every noun on the pattern fa'ūl has fatḥa on its first letter, like saffūd, kallūb, sammūr, tannūr, except for Subbūḥ and Quddūs, for which ḍamma is more common, though fatḥa also occurs; likewise dharūḥ [usually] takes ḍamma, though it may take fatḥa. Al-Azharī said: nothing has come among the attributes of God Most High except al-Quddūs, meaning the Pure One, transcendent above defects and deficiencies; and fa'ūl with ḍamma is among the intensive patterns (abniyat al-mubālagha), and the qāf may sometimes take fatḥa, though this is not common. In the ḥadīth of Bilāl ibn al-Ḥārith: that [the Prophet] granted him as a fief whatever land suitable for cultivation lay in Qudus (قدس), and did not give him a Muslim's right [i.e., excluded protected land] — this [Qudus], with ḍamma on the qāf and sukūn on the dāl, is a well-known mountain; and it is said [it means] the elevated place suitable for cultivation. In Kitāb al-Amkina it is given as Qurays; it is said Qurays and Qurs are two mountains near Medina, but the well-known reading transmitted in the first ḥadīth [is Qudus]. As for Qadas (قدس), with fatḥa on both qāf and dāl, it is a place in Syria (al-Shām), among the conquests of Shuraḥbīl ibn Ḥasana. Al-quds and al-qudus (القدس والقدس), with ḍamma or sukūn on the dāl, is both a noun and a verbal noun; from it Paradise is called ḥaẓīrat al-quds. Al-taqdīs is purification and blessing (tabrīk). Taqaddasa means 'he became pure.' In the Revelation: 'and we glorify You with praise and sanctify You' — al-Zajjāj said: the meaning of nuqaddisu laka is 'we purify ourselves for You,' and likewise we do to whoever obeys You — nuqaddisuhu, i.e., 'we purify him.' From this the bucket (al-saṭl) is called al-quds, because one purifies oneself (yataqaddasu) with it. And al-qadas, with taḥrīk, is the bucket in the dialect of the people of the Ḥijāz, because one purifies oneself in it. He [al-Azharī] said: from this comes Bayt al-Maqdis, i.e., 'the purified house,' the place by which one is purified from sins. Ibn al-Kalbī: al-Quddūs means the Pure One (al-ṭāhir). His saying Most High: 'al-Malik al-Quddūs' means the Pure One, among the attributes of God, Mighty and Exalted; and it is [also] said Quddūs with fatḥa on the qāf. He said: it has come in the tafsīr that it means the Blessed One (al-mubārak). Al-Quddūs is [a name for] God, Mighty and Exalted, Himself. Al-quds [also] means blessing (al-baraka). Al-arḍ al-muqaddasa is Syria (al-Shām), from this [same sense]; and Bayt al-Maqdis is likewise from it — either formed by the dropping of the augment letter, or it is a noun not formed on the [regular] verbal pattern, as Sībawayh held regarding al-mankib [the shoulder]. It may be pronounced lightly (mukhaffaf) or doubled (muthaqqal), and the relative adjective (nisba) to it is Maqdisī, on the pattern of Majlisī and Muqaddasī. Imru' al-Qays said: 'Then they caught up with him, seizing him by shank and sinew, just as the children tear apart the garment of al-Muqaddasī' — and the hā' in 'adraknahu' is a pronoun referring to the wild bull, and the... [entry continues]