Understanding Salat — Page 105
Ruku’ 105 ِ الْعَظِيْم The Most Great Lane quotes, ‘ ٌ عَظِيم signifies esteemed great…by another or others; differing from ٌ كَبِير , which signifies “great…in itself:” …or the former is the contr. of ٌ حَقِير ; [i. e. it signifies of great account or estimation;] and as ٌ حَقِير is inferior to ٌ صَغِير , so ٌ عَظِيم is superior to ٌ كَبِير ;’ ( Lane’s Lexicon , Root: عظم , Entry: ٌ عَظِيم ). When compared with one another, the word Kab ī r describes the greatness of a thing objectively, whereas ‘A zī m describes the greatness of a thing subjectively. This can more easily be understood by knowing the antonym of each word. The antonym of Kab ī r is the word S agh ī r [small], whereas the antonym of ‘A zī m is the word H aq ī r [despicable, worth- less]. For example, if we say a Tafs ī r [book of commentary] is Kab ī r , it means it is large in its size; this is a simple obser- vation. If we say a Tafs ī r is S agh ī r [small], it means that it is small in its size. We are not necessarily criticizing it; we are just making an observation. If we say that a Tafs ī r [commen- tary] is ‘A zī m , now we are speaking from our experience and we are praising its grandeur, we are saying that it is esteemed as great. If we were to say that a Tafs ī r is H aq ī r , we would have to be criticizing it. The word H aq ī r is more sharp in its crit- icism, whereas the word S agh ī r is far more broad. Similarly, the word ‘A zī m is more specific in its describing the manifes- tation of greatness, whereas the word Kab ī r is more broad. Difference between Kabīr and ‘A z īm