“ Verily, We have created man in hardship “: A pragmatic Study.

Abstract

This study investigates the meaning of the term kabad ‘hardship’ in verse (4) of Surat Al-Balad: laqadxalaqna l-ʔinsaanafiikabad ‘verily, We created man into hardship’. To achieve this goal, the work examines resources of the Holy Quran interpretation and Arabic lexicons. The study has then linked the word with all verses which includes the verb xalaq-na ‘we created’ on the one hand, and describes their structures on the other. The study has also presented the interpreters’ suggestions for the possible meanings, explaining the meaning that most of them agree upon in order to to weight the most appropriate meaning of the phrase: fiikabad ‘into hardship’. The search over the best meaning was consequently based on the lexical intention and the structural analysis of all verses which contain the verb xalaq-na ‘we created’.The study concludes with the notion that the expression under investigation more likely refers to creating man in the best stature (mould) as compared to the four-legged animals