قَيْس
Boy Arabic origin Qays
Companion“Strength, hardness” according to the lexicographers; name of great Arab tribes
Qays ibn Saʿd ibn ʿUbada, son of the chief of the Khazraj, was renowned for his generosity; Anas reports that he stood beside the Prophet ﷺ “like the chief of police beside a governor” (al-Bukhari 7155). Qays ibn ʿAsim, one of the chiefs of the Banu Tamim, also embraced Islam in the Prophet’s lifetime ﷺ.
Qays is one of the oldest Arabic names. Its root q-y-s is that of measure (qiyas), but Ibn Sida gives al-qays as “strength, hardness” (al-shidda) and explains in this way the name of the poet Imruʾ al-Qays, “the man of strength”. Qays ʿAylan is the ancestor of a vast group of tribes of northern Arabia. Literary tradition also gives this name to Majnun Layla, the poet madly in love with Layla.
No: neither the name Qais nor its root appears in the Quran. A name can be beautiful and permissible without coming from the Quran.
إِنَّ قَيْسَ بْنَ سَعْدٍ كَانَ يَكُونُ بَيْنَ يَدَيِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ، بِمَنْزِلَةِ صَاحِبِ الشُّرَطِ مِنَ الْأَمِيرِ "
No text or scholarly opinion concerns the name Qais in particular: the general rules of Islam apply.
Read the rules for choosing a name
This page is an aid to reflection, not a fatwa. For a personal case, ask a person of knowledge.
