The pattern "... قَليلاً مَا/qalīlan ma" takes place in ten verses in the Qur'ān with three different verbs: "to believe in", "to contemplate" and "to be grateful". The meaning of this expression in both the exegeses and the translations appear to be different even in the same exegesis or translation. In fact, the meaning is expressed in such a way as to indicate the qualitative insufficiency of the relevant act used with this pattern or the quantitative insufficiency of the agents or the

more »

... e of the act in the least. In addition to this, the expressions in which the pattern "... قَليلاً مَا" is used are expressed by different authors with different meanings even in varied verses that are passed by the same author. In this study, it is aimed to reveal the accurate meaning in verses where "... قَليلاً مَا" pattern is used. Within this direction, we will put emphasis on the linguistic/grammatical use of the pattern "... قَليلاً مَا" as well as the context of the verse in which this pattern is addressed as we believe that they have an important role in revealing the accurate meaning. As a matter of fact, the related expression is used in the meaning of absence in the Arabic language as well as in the real sense (rarity). It is clear that in all the other verses, except al-Baqara 2/88, the polytheists are mentioned and therefore these expressions take place in the Meccan chapters. Since the chapter al-Baqara is an Madanian one, the address in the relevant verse is directly to the Jews. Therefore, we argue that since the interlocutors are the polytheists and Jews in the verses in which the expression take place, it is more appropriate to understand it in the sense of the absence of the acts, believing-contemplating-being grateful, to which the expression denote.