Tarawih Top Five, Ramadan 2026🌙

Juz 14 (Al-Hijr Verse 1 Through An-Nahl Verse 128)

Here are 5 fruits 🍐 from the language of Quran:

1.) The root (ل - ه - م) refers to swallowing something. From this root, we obtain the Form V verb اِلْتَهَمَ, both of which mean “to swallow.” Also from this root, we obtain the Form IV verb أَلْهَمَ, which means “to inspire,” so called because inspiration because it is as if inspiration was “cast” into one’s heart and he/she “swallowed it.” The word إلهام means “divine inspiration,” and refers to inspiration from God that is not revelation (وَحْيٌ). The latter (وَحْيٌ) is only for prophets and messengers, but any non-prophet/non-messenger can have إلهام from God, by His Will. This verb can also be used with the meaning of “to distract/divert.” We see this usage in verse 15:3 of Surah Ash-Shams: فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَىٰهَا (“then with ˹the knowledge of˺ right and wrong inspired it”). 

2.) The root (ل - ه - ي) refers to distracting or diverting attention away from. From this root, we obtain the Form IV verb أَلْهَى عَنْ (“to distract or divert away from”). We see this verb used in its present tense form in verse 15:3 of Surah Al-Hijr: ذَرْهُمْ يَأْكُلُوا۟ وَيَتَمَتَّعُوا۟ وَيُلْهِهِمُ ٱلْأَمَلُ ۖ فَسَوْفَ يَعْلَمُونَ (“˹So˺ let them eat and enjoy themselves and be diverted by ˹false˺ hope, for they will soon know”). Here, we see that this verb indicates that they are diverted/distracted by false hopes. 

3.) The root (س - ل - ك) refers to the piercing of something. From this root, we obtain the verb سَلَكَ - يَسْلُكُ, which means “to tread a path” (but it can also mean “to pierce something”). We also obtain the word السُّلُوك, which refers to a path treaded on. We see this verb used in its present-tense first-person plural form in ayah 15:12 of Surah al-Hijr: كَذَٰلِكَ نَسْلُكُهُۥ فِى قُلُوبِ ٱلْمُجْرِمِينَ (“This is how We allow disbelief ˹to steep˺ into the hearts of the wicked”). 

4.) The root (خ - ص - م) has the primary root meaning of argumentation and quarrelling. We also have the Form III verb خَاصَمَ, which means “to quarrel with another.” From this root, we obtain the word خَصْم and خَصِيم, which both mean “opponent | adversary”, except that خَصِيم is a more hyperbolic meaning of the word (called اسم المباغلة or the noun of hyperbole), therefore خَصِيم more accurately means “the one who frequently quarrels.”  We see this word خَصِيم in ayah 16:4 of Surah An-Nahl: خَلَقَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ مِن نُّطْفَةٍۢ فَإِذَا هُوَ خَصِيمٌۭ مُّبِينٌ (“He created humans from a sperm-drop, then—behold!—they openly challenge ˹Him˺”).  

5.) The root (ش - ج - ر) refers to the interconnectedness, intertwining, and interlacing of two (or more) things, and it can also refer to the ascension or rise of a thing.  From this root, we obtain the word شَجَرَةٌ (“tree”) and its plural أَشْجَارٌ or شَجَرٌ (“trees”) 🌲, so called because the branches of a tree are interconnected and intertwined. From this root, we obtain also the adjectival version, which is شَجِر, meaning plentiful of trees. We can also use the word أَشْجَر (comparative/superlative) for the same meaning: “more plentiful”. We also obtain the verb شَجَرَ, which means “ to differ amongst themselves,” so called because this requires people to be “interconnected” with each other. We see the word شَجَر used in verse 16:10 of Surah An-Nahl: هُوَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنزَلَ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مَآءًۭ ۖ لَّكُم مِّنْهُ شَرَابٌۭ وَمِنْهُ شَجَرٌۭ فِيهِ تُسِيمُونَ (“He is the One Who sends down rain from the sky, from which you drink and by which plants grow for your cattle to graze”).