كلمIbn Fāris gives two separate aṣls: intelligible utterance and wounding. (root klm)

Al-kalm (الكلم): the wound, plural al-kulūm (الكلوم). Kalamtuhu akalimuhu kalman (كلمته أكلمه كلما), and I am kālim (كالم), [and he is maklūm (مكلوم)], meaning 'I wounded him.' Your kalīm (كليمك) is the one who speaks to you and whom you speak to. Al-kalimah (الكلمة) [with fatḥah] is Hijazi usage, and al-kilmah (الكلمة) [with kasrah] is Tamimi usage; the plural is al-kalim and al-kilam (الكلم والكلم). Thus it is reported from Ru'bah: "the riders do not hear from it the echo of speech (rajʿ al-kalim)."

Al-kalām (الكلام) is a generic noun (ism jins) applying to both the small and the large amount. Al-kalim (الكلم) cannot be fewer than three words, because it is the plural of kalimah (كلمة), like nabiqah/nabiq. This is why Sībawayh said: 'This is the chapter on knowing what al-kalim is in Arabic,' and did not say 'what al-kalām is,' because he meant precisely the three things: noun, verb, and particle, so he used a word that can only be plural, and set aside a word that could apply to both singular and plural. The Tamīm say hiya kilmah (هي كلمة) with kasrah on the kāf. Al-Farrā' reported three dialectal forms for it: kalimah, kilmah, and kalmah (كلمة، كلمة، كلمة), like kabid, kibd, kabd, and waraq, wariq, warq. Al-kalimah also means a qaṣīdah (poem) in its entirety. Al-kalīm (الكليم) is the one who speaks to you. One says kallamtuhu taklīman wa-kalāman (كلمته تكليما وكلاما), like kadhdhabtuhu takdhīban wa-kidhāban. You say takallamtu kalimatan wa-bi-kalimatin (تكلمت كلمة وبكلمة). Kālamtuhu (كالمته) means 'I answered/conversed with him.' Takālamnā (تكالمنا) means we spoke to each other after estrangement. One says: kānā mutaṣārimayni fa-aṣbaḥā yatakālamān (كانا متصارمين فأصبحا يتكالمان), 'they were estranged, then they came to converse with each other' — one should not say yatakallamān. Mā ajidu mutakalliman (ما أجد متكلما), with fatḥah on the lām, means 'I find no place for speech.' Al-kalmānī (الكلماني) means 'eloquent, talkative.' Al-kalm (الكلم) [also] means the wound, plural kulūm and kilām (كلوم وكلام). You say kalamtuhu kalman (كلمته كلما). Some [Qur'an readers] recited: {a beast from the earth that will speak to them / will wound them (تكلمهم)}, meaning 'it will wound and brand them.' Al-taklīm (التكليم) [in this sense] means wounding. 'Antarah said: "As I remain ever upon a stout, swift-running steed, around which the champions circle, wounded (mukallam)..." And 'Īsā (peace be upon him) is kalimat Allāh (كلمة الله), the Word of God, because benefit was obtained through him in religion [entry continues].

Kāf, lām, and mīm have two roots: one indicates intelligible speech, and the other wounds. The first is kalām (الكلام) - speech. You say kallamtuhu ukallimuhu taklīman (كلمته أكلمه تكليما), and he is my kalīm (كليمي) if he spoke to me or I spoke to him. Then usage is broadened, so a single meaningful utterance is called kalimah (كلمة), a story/tale is called kalimah, and a long poem (qaṣīdah) in its entirety is called kalimah. Kalimah is pluralized as kalimāt (كلمات) and kalim (كلم). God Almighty said: {they distort the kalim (الكلم) from its places} (al-Nisā' 46, al-Mā'idah 13). The other root is al-kalm (الكلم), meaning 'wound,' and al-kalām in this sense means 'wounds.' The plural of kalm is also kulūm (كلوم). A wounded man is kalīm (كليم), and a wounded people are kalmā (كلمى), i.e., wounded. As for kalām, it is [also] said to mean rugged/hard ground, though this is questionable (fī dhālika naẓar). (كلا - kalā): Kāf, lām, and a weak letter or hamzah [form a root with] three sub-branches: one sound branch indicates watching and guarding, another indicates a plant, and the third is a bodily organ, later used metaphorically. As for watching and guarding, it is al-kilā'ah (الكلاءة), meaning protection. You say kala'ahu Allāh (كلأه الله), 'God protected him.' God the Mighty and Exalted said: {Say: Who protects you (yakla'ukum) by night and day from the Most Merciful?}, meaning He protects you from Him [i.e., His punishment], in the sense that no one protects you from Him — and this belongs to the meaning we mentioned, watching/guarding, since one who protects a thing looks at it and watches over it. By this analogy the Arabs say takalla'tu kala'atan (تكلأت كلأة), meaning 'I requested a deferred payment' (istansa'tu nasī'atan), relating to delay. From this comes the hadith prohibiting al-kāli' bi'l-kāli' (الكالئ بالكالئ), i.e., [selling] a deferred payment for a deferred payment. And the poet's saying: 'and his eye [glances] like the absent, unhoped-for one (ka'l-kāli' al-ḍimār)...' meaning his presence and witness are like al-ḍimār, the absent thing not to be hoped for. We said this belongs to [the root] al-kilā'ah because the creditor watches and keeps track of when his debt falls due, so the analogy drawn is sound. One says iktala'tu min al-qawm (اكتلأت من القوم), 'I guarded myself against them.' And [a poet] said: 'I made my camel kneel and guarded myself with his eye... and I consulted myself, that is, I do what I command myself...' One says akla'tu baṣarī fī al-shay' (أكلأت بصري في الشيء) when repeatedly turning one's gaze back to something. Al-maklā (المكلا) is a place where ships anchor, sheltered from the wind; it is said that Kalā' of Basra (كلاء البصرة) was named for this. The other root is al-kala' (الكلأ), meaning herbage/pasture; one says arḍ mukli'ah (أرض مكلئة), land having kala', whether dry or fresh. A place [with pasture] is kāli' (كالئ), like mukliyy (مكلئ). The third root is al-kulyah (الكلية), the kidney, well known, and used metaphorically: al-kulyah is applied to kulyat al-mazādah (كلية المزادة), a round piece of leather sewn beneath the handle-loop [of a waterskin]. The same term is used for the bow: al-kulyatān (الكليتان) of a bow are where the strap of the arrow is fastened, to the right and left of the arrowhead. Kulyat al-saḥāb (كلية السحاب) is the underside of a cloud. The plural is kulan (كلى).

Al-kalm (الكلم): the effect/impression perceived by one of the two senses [hearing and sight], and... [entry continues]

The Qur'an is kalām Allāh (كلام الله, the Speech of God), kalim Allāh (كلم الله), His kalimāt (كلماته), and His kalimah (كلمته). The Speech of God cannot be bounded or counted, and it is uncreated — God is exalted far above what the fabricators say, with great exaltation. In the hadith: 'I seek refuge in the complete Words of God (kalimāt Allāh al-tāmmāt)' — it is said this means the Qur'an. Ibn al-Athīr said: He described His speech as 'complete' because it is not permissible for any deficiency or flaw to exist in any part of His speech, as may occur in human speech. It is also said the meaning of 'completeness' here is that these words benefit the one who seeks refuge in them, protecting him from afflictions and sufficing him. And in the hadith: 'Glory be to God, [equal to] the number of His Words (ʿadad kalimātihi)' — God's Words means His speech, which is His attribute, and His attributes cannot be confined by number; so mentioning 'number' here is figurative (majāz), meaning an expression of great abundance. It is also said it may mean the number of remembrances (adhkār) or the number of rewards for that; and 'ʿadad' (عدد) is in the accusative as a verbal noun (maṣdar). And in the hadith concerning women: 'You made their private parts lawful to yourselves by the Word of God (bi-kalimati'llāh)' — it is said this refers to His saying: {then either retain [her] in kindness or release [her] with good treatment}. It is also said it refers to God's permission and sanction of marriage. Ibn Sīdah: al-kalām (الكلام) is al-qawl (القول, utterance/speech), well known. It is also said: al-kalām is that which is self-sufficient [in meaning], i.e., the complete sentence (jumlah), while al-qawl is that which is not self-sufficient, i.e., a part of the sentence. Sībawayh said: know that 'qultu' (I said) occurs in kalām so as to quote what was [full] kalām, not [mere] qawl. Among the clearest evidence for the difference between kalām and qawl is the consensus of people that they say 'the Qur'an is the kalām of God' and do not say 'the Qur'an is the qawl of God.' This is because this is a narrow, fixed matter that cannot be distorted, nor may any of its letters be altered; it was therefore expressed by the term kalām, which can only consist of complete, meaningful sounds. Abū al-Ḥasan said: however, [speakers] may sometimes broaden [usage] and put each of the two terms in place of the other. Among what indicates that kalām in reality means composed sentences is the saying of Kuthayyir: "If they heard as I heard her speech (kalāmuhā), ... they would fall down for ʿAzzah, bowing and prostrating." For it is known that a single word (kalimah) does not move to grief, sadden, or captivate the listener's heart — that only occurs with lengthy speech that delights its hearers through the sweetness of what is heard and the delicacy of its nuances. And Sībawayh said: 'This is the chapter on the least that kalim can be,' and there he mentioned the conjunctive particle (ḥarf al-ʿaṭf) and its fā', the lām of inception (lām al-ibtidā'), the hamzah of interrogation, and other single-letter items, naming each of these a kalimah (word). Al-Jawharī: al-kalām is a generic noun applying to both little and much. Al-kalim cannot be fewer than three words, because it is the plural of kalimah, like nabiqah and nabiq. This is why Sībawayh said: 'This is the chapter on knowing what al-kalim is in Arabic...' [entry continues]