قدمa sound root denoting precedence and going ahead, from which 'the opposite of … (root qdm)

Al-qadam (القدم): that on which a person treads, from the ankle-joint and what is above it. Al-qudma (القدمة) and al-qadam also mean precedence in a matter. His saying, exalted is He: 'lahum qadama ṣidqin ʿinda rabbihim' (لهم قدم صدق عند ربهم, 'they have a true precedence with their Lord') means good has preceded for them with God, while for the disbelievers there is a precedence of evil. In the ḥadīth: 'Indeed Hell will not settle until God places His qadam (قدمه) in it' — al-Ḥasan said: until God places those whom He has sent ahead of the worst of His creatures into it; so they are God's 'qadam' for the Fire, while the Muslims are a 'qadam' for Paradise. Al-qidam (القدم) is the verbal noun of al-qadīm (القديم) for anything; one says qadima yaqdumu (قدم يقدم). 'So-and-so qadama (قدم) his people' means he goes ahead of them, as in 'he leads his people on the Day of Resurrection' — from here. Al-qadam [in another sense] is going straight forward; one says 'yamḍī qudumān' (يمضي قدما), meaning he does not turn back. Al-qudūm (القدوم) is returning from a journey; qadima yaqdamu (قدم يقدم). Qudaydima (قديدمة) is the diminutive of qudām (قدام), opposite of warāʾ (وراء, 'behind'). 'I saw him qudaydimata dhālika and wurayʾata dhālika' means shortly before and shortly after that. Al-qudām also means 'the king'; he said: 'a vast army of the sons of al-qudām.' Al-qadūm (القدوم), lightly pronounced, is the iron tool with which wood is hewn; it is feminine. Al-qadam [as 'front'] is opposite of al-ākhir (الأخر), like qabl and dubr. A qadim (قدم) man plunges boldly into things, going ahead of people, and advances straight forward in war. Muqaddam is opposite of muʾakhkhar; muqdam al-ʿayn (مقدم العين) is what is next to the nose, and its muʾkhar is what is next to the temple. In their speech the light form (muqdam/muʾkhar) occurs only for the corners of the eye; elsewhere the doubled form is used. Al-muqaddama (المقدمة) is the forelock; it is said of a slave-girl: 'she is the base one, al-muqaddama.' Al-muqaddama also is what faces you of the forehead and brow; it is said: 'I struck him and he fell upon his muqādīm,' i.e. upon his face — singular muqdam or muqaddam. He said of a man he stabbed in the forehead: 'I left Ibn Aws, and the spearhead as though / a peg-driver were driving it into the front of the head.' Istaqdama (استقدم) means he advanced. Qādimat al-raḥl (قادمة الرحل) is [the part] in front of the middle pommel. Al-qādim of the teats is the one nearest the navel, for she-camel and cow; there are two qādimān and two ākhirān. Al-qādima (القادمة) is the feather nearest the shoulder of the wing; collectively qawādim and qadāmā. He said: 'and He did not make the foremost feathers like the hindmost.'

Qadima min safarihi qudūman wa maqdaman (قدوما ومقدما), with fatḥa on the dāl. It is said: 'waradtu maqdama l-ḥājj' (وردت مقدم الحاج), treating it as an adverb of time though it is a verbal noun, meaning 'the time of the pilgrims' arrival.' Qadama (قدم), with fatḥa, yaqdumu qadman (يقدم قدما), means he went ahead. God, exalted, said: 'yaqdumu qawmahu yawma l-qiyāmati fa-awradahumu n-nār' ('He will go before his people on the Day of Resurrection and lead them into the Fire') [Q. 11:98]. Qaduma (قدم) the thing, with ḍamma, qidaman (قدما), so it is qadīm; and taqādama (تقادم) is similar. Aqdama ʿalā l-amr iqdāman (أقدم على الامر إقداما, 'he ventured boldly upon the matter'). Al-iqdām is courage. It is said: 'Aqdim!' (أقدم), a cry to urge on a horse, as though commanding it to advance. In the ḥadīth of the military campaigns: 'Iqdim, Ḥayzūm!' with kasra [on the hamza], though the correct form has fatḥa. Aqdamahu and qaddamahu have the same meaning. Labīd said: 'So he went on and made her go ahead, and it was her custom, / when she balked, [to require] urging her forward' — i.e. making her precede [him]. 'Qaddama bayna yadayhi' (قدم بين يديه) means he went ahead. He, exalted, said: 'lā tuqaddimū bayna yaday llāhi wa-rasūlihi' ('Do not put yourselves forward before God and His Messenger') [Q. 49:1]. Al-qidam (القدم) is the opposite of ḥudūth. It is said: 'qudamān kāna kadhā wa kadhā,' a noun derived from qidam, made into one of the names for [past] time. 'Maḍā qudumān' (مضى قدما), with ḍamma on the dāl, means he did not turn aside and did not bend back. He said, describing a licentious woman: 'She goes straight on when rebuked from an evil deed, / as though she were a collapsing ruin crumbling into a well.' Al-qadam is the singular of al-aqdām (feet). Al-qadam also means precedence in a matter. It is said: 'so-and-so has qadam ṣidq,' meaning a good distinguishing mark. Al-Akhfash said: it means taqdīm, as though he had put forward some good and had precedence in it; likewise al-qudma, with ḍamma and sukūn. It is said: 'so-and-so walked al-qadamiyya,' meaning he went ahead. A man is qadim (قدم), with kasra on the dāl, meaning foremost. Abū ʿAmr recited: 'O Surāq, Maʿadd indeed knows that I / am foremost and bold when the watering-troughs are shunned.' Al-miqdām and al-miqdāma are a man much given to boldly attacking the enemy. It is said: 'he was struck and fell upon his muqādīm,' i.e. upon his face. Istaqdama and taqaddama have the same meaning, as one says istajāba and ajāba. In the proverb: 'istaqdamat raḥālatuka' ('your saddle got ahead'), meaning something preceded that another had more right to. It is said: 'huwa jariʾu l-muqdam,' with ḍamma on the mīm and fatḥa on the dāl, meaning bold in venturing forward. Muqdim al-ʿayn, with kasra on the dāl, is [the corner] next to the nose, as its muʾkhir is next to the temple. It is also said: 'mashaṭathā l-muqdima,' with kasra on the dāl, a [particular] way of combing. Qawādim al-ṭayr are the foremost feathers of a bird's wing, ten in each wing, singular qādima, also called al-qadāmā. Qādim al-insān is a person's head, plural qawādim, whose singular is scarcely used. And qaydūm al-jib... [entry continues]

Qāf, dāl, mīm is a sound root indicating precedence (sabq) and getting/going ahead (ruʿāf) [as a horse takes the lead]; from it branches what is close to this meaning. They say qidam (القدم) is the opposite of ḥudūth ('coming into being'), and a thing is called qadīm (قديم) when its time is bygone. Its basis is their saying 'so-and-so went qudumān (قدما)' meaning he did not turn aside and did not bend back. They sometimes form the diminutive of qudām (قدام, 'in front') as qudaydīmā (قديديما) and qudaydīma (قديديمة). Al-Qutami said: 'A little before provocation to war and forbearance, indeed I / see the heedlessness of life before [gaining] experience...' It is said: 'he was struck and fell upon his muqādīm (مقاديمه)' when he fell on his face. Qādimat al-raḥl (قادمة الرحل, 'the front of the saddle') is the opposite of its rear (ākhira). Al-qādima (القادمة) of a she-camel's teats is the one nearest the navel. 'So-and-so has qadam ṣidq (قدم صدق)' means something of good effect that has gone before. From this chapter also: qadima min safarihi qudūman (قدم من سفره قدوما, 'he arrived from his journey'), and aqdama ʿalā al-shayʾ iqdāman (أقدم على الشيء إقداما, 'he ventured boldly upon the thing'). Ibn Duraid said: qādim al-insān (قادم الإنسان) is a person's head, plural qawādim (قوادم); he said they scarcely use the singular. The qawādim of a bird (قوادم الطير) are the foremost feathers, ten in each wing, the singular being qādima (قادمة), also called al-qadāmā (القدامى). Muqaddimat al-jaysh (مقدمة الجيش) is the vanguard of the army. Aqdim (أقدم) is a cry to urge on a horse, as if commanding it to advance. 'The people went in war al-yaqdamiyya (اليقدمية)' means they advanced. He said: 'Those who strike al-yaqdamiyya (اليقدمية) with Indian-forged blades...' Qaydūm al-jabal (قيدوم الجبل) is a projecting spur of a mountain jutting forward from it. And his saying: 'Indeed we strike their heads with swords... the striking of the butcher (al-qaddār), [preparing] the feast-meat of al-qudām (القدام)...' — some said al-qudām means 'the king,' and this is a sound analogy since the king is the one put foremost (al-muqaddam). It is also said al-qudām are those returning from a journey. Qadam al-insān (قدم الإنسان, 'the human foot') is well known, and perhaps it was so named because it is the instrument of advancing and preceding. Among what is anomalous to this root is al-qadūm (القدوم), the iron tool used for hewing, well known; and al-Qadūm is also a place-name. In the ḥadīth: 'Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) circumcised himself with al-qadūm (بالقدوم).'

Al-qadam (القدم): the foot of a man, plural aqdām; He, exalted, said: 'wa-yuthabbita bihi l-aqdām' ('and to make firm thereby the feet') [Q. 8:11]. By it is derived the notion of taqaddum (precedence) and taʾakhkhur (posteriority). Taqaddum is of four kinds, as we mentioned under [the entry] 'qabl.' One says: ḥadīth ('recent') and qadīm ('ancient'), either with respect to the two times, or with respect to rank; as in 'so-and-so is mutaqaddim over so-and-so,' meaning more noble than him; or with respect to that whose existence is a necessary condition for another's existence, as when you say 'the one is prior to number,' meaning that if its removal were supposed, numbers would be removed [with it]. Al-qidam (القدم) is existence in what is past, while al-baqāʾ (بقاء) is existence in what is to come. It has come in a description of God: 'O Qadīm al-Iḥsān (يا قديم الإحسان, O Eternal in Kindness).' And it has not come in anything of the... [entry continues]

Among the names of God, exalted: al-Muqaddim (المقدم) is He who advances things and places them in their [proper] positions; whoever deserves precedence, He advances him. Al-Qadīm (القديم), absolutely, is God, mighty and exalted. Al-qidam (القدم) is antiquity, the verbal noun of al-qadīm. Al-qidam is the opposite of ḥudūth; qaduma yaqdumu qidaman wa-qadāma wa-taqādum; it is qadīm, plural qudamāʾ and qadāmā. A thing that is qudām (قدام) is like qadīm. In the ḥadīth of Ibn Masʿūd: 'He greeted him with salām while he was praying, but he did not return the greeting.' He said: 'Then there overtook me mā qadama wa-mā ḥadatha (ما قدم وما حدث)' — that is, grief and dejection; he means that his old sorrows returned to him and joined with the new. It was also said: its meaning is 'reflection overcame me upon my past and present states, [wondering] which of them was the cause for his not returning my greeting.' Al-qadam and al-qudma: precedence in a matter. It is said: 'so-and-so has qadam ṣidq,' meaning a good distinguishing mark. Ibn Barrī said: al-qadam means al-taqaddum. The poet said: 'And if a people have indeed been struck [with loss], / they built for you the best of structures, and precedence.' Umayya ibn Abī l-Ṣalt said: 'I knew that no one of precedence escapes God, / and that He takes vengeance upon an evil commander.' ʿAbdullāh ibn Hammām al-Sulūlī said: 'And we seek help, when their [sword-]edges clash / at the encounter, with an edge firm of foot.' Jarīr said: 'O sons of Usayd, I have found for Māzin / a precedence, while you have no known antiquity.' In the ḥadīth of ʿUmar: 'We are [ranked] according to our stations from the Book of God and the Messenger's apportionment, and [according to] the man and his precedence, and the man and his trial [i.e. his service]' — meaning his deeds, his precedence in Islam, and his having preceded [others] in it. In the noble revelation: 'wa-bashshiri lladhīna āmanū anna lahum qadama ṣidqin ʿinda rabbihim' ('And give good tidings to those who believe that they have a true precedence with their Lord') [Q. 10:2], meaning a preceding good and a goodly trace. Al-Akhfash said: it means taqdīm, as though he had put forward some good and had precedence in it; likewise al-qudma, with ḍamma and sukūn. Sībawayh said: a man is qadim and a woman is qadima, meaning that both have qadam ṣidq in goodness. It was said: qadam al-ṣidq is the lofty, preceding rank, meaning that good has already preceded for them with God. He said: and for the disbeliever there is a qadam of evil. Dhū l-Rumma said: 'And you are a man from a household of prominence, / who have a known precedence and glories.' They said: al-qadam and al-sābiqa [both mean] that in which they preceded others. It is related from Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā: '[regarding] qadama ṣidqin ʿinda rabbihim' — al-qadam is everything of good one has sent ahead. 'There preceded for so-and-so in it a qadam' means precedence in good. Ibn Qutayba [said]: 'anna lahum qadama ṣidqin' means a righteous deed which they have sent ahead. Abū Zayd [said]: a man is qadim, and a woman is qadim, [pl.] rijāl and nisāʾ qudum, and they are dhawū l-qadam ('possessors of precedence'). It has come in the exegesis of 'qadam ṣidq': the intercession of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, on the Day of Resurrection. Qudām (قدام) is the opposite of warāʾ (وراء); both are treated as feminine and diminutivized with the tāʾ marbūṭa: qudaydima and qudaydīm... [entry continues]