قوم

[𐎂𐎍𐎐𐎗 𐎃𐎐4]

Hi,

What is the meaning of قوم in CA (Classical Arabic) and is it the same as the one in MSA? Sometimes it seems to mean people rather than nation in CA. Like here

فَأَتَوْا عَلَىٰ قَوْمٍ يَعْكُفُونَ عَلَىٰ أَصْنَامٍ لَهُمْ

But most other times it seems to mean nation like here

قَالَ الْمَلَأُ مِنْ قَوْمِ فِرْعَوْنَ إِنَّ هَٰذَا لَسَاحِرٌ عَلِيمٌ

 

[Ali Smith]

I think the CA meaning of قَوْم is '(group of) people' rather than 'nation'. Observe:

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرٍ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ إِدْرِيسَ وَغُنْدَرٌ وَأَبُو أُسَامَةَ عَنْ شُعْبَةَ عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ مُرَّةَ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ سَلِمَةَ عَنْ صَفْوَانَ بْنِ عَسَّالٍ أَنَّ قَوْمًا مِنَ الْيَهُودِ قَبَّلُوا يَدَ النَّبِىِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَرِجْلَيْه

...that a group of Jews kissed the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)'s hand and feet.

In the verse you cited, it can be taken to mean 'people', too.

قَالَ الْمَلَأُ مِنْ قَوْمِ فِرْعَوْنَ إِنَّ هَٰذَا لَسَاحِرٌ عَلِيمٌ

The nobles from among Pharaoh's people said...

 

[Mahaodeh]

Actually, if you look up dictionaries, even modern ones, it just means a group of people. It never meant nation, not in Classical Arabic nor in MSA.

القوميّة is modern coinage used to mean ethnicity, not nationality. By ethnicity I don’t mean black or white, I mean Arab or Kurd or Berber or Persian… etc. This word did not exist in CA as far as I know. If used, it would have been understood as نسبة مؤنثة but not understood as a term, although I highly doubt it was because one would usually say “one of the group” even in Arabic.

A nation as a group of people (excluding the land) has always been أمّة, both in CA and in MSA, their homeland is وطن.

 

[Hamster Huey]

What about in يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا يَسْخَرْ قَوْمٌ مِّن قَوْمٍ عَسَىٰ أَن يَكُونُوا خَيْرًا مِّنْهُمْ وَلَا نِسَاءٌ مِّن نِّسَاءٍ عَسَىٰ أَن يَكُنَّ خَيْرًا مِّنْهُنَّ ۖ وَلَا تَلْمِزُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ وَلَا تَنَابَزُوا بِالْأَلْقَابِ ۖ بِئْسَ الِاسْمُ الْفُسُوقُ بَعْدَ الْإِيمَانِ ۚ وَمَن لَّمْ يَتُبْ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الظَّالِمُونَ ?

Isn't it clear that it doesn't mean people here?

 

[Mahaodeh]

It does. It may be implied that it’s a “group of men”, but unless you are saying that men aren’t people, it is saying people.

 

[Ali Smith]

If قَوْم means 'people', what's the difference between الناس and قوم?

 

[גולם]

No difference between them or شعب either.

 

[Mahaodeh]

If قَوْم means 'people', what's the difference between الناس and قوم?

The main difference is in use. القوم is used to refer a specific group of people such قوم نوح وقوم عاد - his people, not any people, while الناس refers to any people, as in

إِن يَمْسَسْكُمْ قَرْحٌ فَقَدْ مَسَّ الْقَوْمَ قَرْحٌ مِّثْلُهُ ۚ وَتِلْكَ الْأَيَّامُ نُدَاوِلُهَا بَيْنَ النَّاسِ - آل عمران

Here القوم refers specifically to the enemy, while الناس is very generic and includes all and any people.

Having said that, they do in fact both mean people.

No difference between them or شعب either.

Actually, no. الشعب is something else.

الشعب is one of the divisions of people according to Arabs. A nation as a group of people is أمة, which is divided into several شعوب, which in turn are divided into several قبائل … and so on. For example, Arabs are أمّة, the “tribe” of خزيمة are شعب, the “tribe” of كنانة is قبيلة, the “tribe” of قريش is عمارة, the “tribe” of قصي is بطن … etc. قصي is a part of قريش, which is a part of كنانة, which is a part of خزيمة, which is a part of the Arabs.

The meaning of “people” used today is actually derived from this meaning, and is not used interchangeably with ناس or قوم. It generally refers to the population of a country that are most probably not all of the same قوم, and that may or may not be part of a larger group. It was coined to differentiate between الأمة العربية that links the populations of all Arab countries as a single nation, and الشعوب العربية that describes the populations of single Arab countries. The modern usage is actually a political one that is not the same as the English people.