The particle “qad” / قَد

The particle expresses 4 main values depending on the tense of the verb and the context in which it will be used:

• Fulfillment of the action / التحقيق
• Temporal proximity / التقريب
• The expectation / التوقع
• The small probability / التقليل

It is worth mentioning that very often the context will determine the value of قد as the same sentence with قد in two different contexts can have two different translations.

Perfect tense / الماضي

Fulfillment of the action / التحقيق

Express the idea of an action that has indeed occurred and been fulfilled. 

• It can sometimes be translated by “already” or “indeed” depending on the context.

{The believers have (indeed) succeed} Qur’an [Al-Mu’minūn : 1]	قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ} القُرْآن [المؤمِنون : ١]}
We already saw that yesterday	قد رَأَيْنا ذَلِكَ البارِحة

• It can express the idea of an event that occurred as expected (التَوَقُّع). It can be translated in English by “effectively”, “surely” or “indeed”.

The teacher [effectively] came	قَدْ جاءَ الأُسْتاذُ
We (indeed) returned back home at four o’clock	قَدْ رَجَعْنا إِلى البَيْتِ فِي الساعةِ الرابِعةِ

• قد can also be translated by the English present perfect tense ((have + verb (ed)).

She has left the place	قد تَرَكَتْ المَكانَ
You have brought up your children in religion	قَد رَبَّيتَ أَوْلادَكَ في الدِّينِ

Note: we can find قد preceded by the emphatic lām لَ when used in the perfect tense to reinforce this meaning.

وَلَقَدْ أَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ آيَاتٍ بَيِّنَاتٍ…} القُرْآن [البَقَرة : ٩٩]}

{And We have certainly relieved to you verses [which are] clear proofs…} Qur’an [Al-Baqara : 99]

Temporal proximity / التقريب

Particle قد can also express the idea of something that just happened or very shortly in the past, often translated by “just”.

Prayer time has just arrived	قَدْ قامَتْ الصَلاةُ
We just arrived home	قَدْ وَصَلْنا إِلى البَيْتِ

Note: we can find قد preceded by the empathic lām لَ when used in the perfect tense to reinforce this meaning.

لَقَد أَكَلْتُ وَجْبَتي

I just ate my meal

Imperfect tense / المُضارِع

The expectation / التوقع

When used with a verb in the imperfect tense قد expresses the idea of an action that is expected to occur in the future. In English, this meaning can be translated as “may”.

The absentee may come	قَدْ يَأْتِي الغائِبُ
I may accompany you to the museum	قَدْ أُواكِبُكِ إلى المَتْحَفِ

The small probability / التقليل

Particle قد can express the idea of something unlikely because of the rarity of its occurrence. It can be translated by “could”.

The lazy one could succeed (litt. lazy people rarely succeed)	قَدْ يَنْجَحُ الكَسُولُ
He might see his children at the end of the year (meaning: chance is very small)	قَدْ يَرى أَوْلادَهُ فِي نِهايةِ السَنَةِ

Note: We can find examples in the Qur’an, where قد is used with an imperfect tense verb (مُضارع) expressing the fulfillment of the action/event (التَحْقيق). Outside of the Qur’an, we don’t find قد following a verb in the imperfect tense with this particular value.

{Already Allah knows the hinderers among you…} Qur’an [Al-Aḥzāb : 18]

{…قَدْ يَعْلَمُ اللَّهُ الْمُعَوِّقِينَ مِنكُمْ} القُرْآن [الأَحْزاب : ١٨]