2/269-270 — Wisdom
"He gives wisdom to whom He wills. And whoever is given wisdom has been given much good. But only the possessors of understanding take it to heart."
حِكْمَة — root ح-ك-م: to restrain, to make firm. The concrete sense the lexicographers record is striking: ḥakama is the bit that turns an animal's head. From this comes the sense "to hold a thing in place, to keep it from being flung about". Ḥukm, ḥākim, muḥkam are from the same root.
The word's relation to this root also gives its definition: wisdom is the use of knowledge in its place; what keeps one from being flung about.
That the verse stands in this section is worth recording: all the verses around it are about spending — to whom, how much, how, secretly or openly. This verse standing in the middle names what all those details require: to know what is to be done in which situation is a different thing from knowing the rule.
وَمَآ أَنفَقْتُم مِّن نَّفَقَةٍ أَوْ نَذَرْتُم مِّن نَّذْرٍ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَعْلَمُهُۥ — that what is done is known; and the close with wa mā li'ẓ-ẓālimīna min anṣār.