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Juz 20 (Surah Al-Ankabut and Surah Al Qasas)

Here are some beneficial fruits 🍐 from the Quran:

1.) The root (ح - ج - ز) indicates a meaning of prevention and constrainment. The corresponding verb is حَجَزَ, which means “to restrain or prevent.” The doer pattern (اِسْمُ الفَاعِل) of حَاجِزًا refers to a barrier 🚧, as is seen in verse 27:61, in which God states that He placed a barrier between fresh and salt bodies of water. 🌊

2.) The word مُضْطَرّ refers to someone who is compelled or coerced into a situation or difficulty. It comes from the root (ض - ر - ر), which refers to harm and a generally bad condition and state. As for the word مُضْطَرّ , this is used in verse 27:62 to refer to the one who is coerced into a distressing situation.

3.) The word أَسَاطِيرُ is used frequently in the Quran, and it means “legends/fables”. It singular is أُسْطُورَة. It comes from the root (س - ط - ر), which refers to the orderly alignment of things, such as the pages of a book 📖. This word is often used to refer to the speech of those who deny the Quran, stating that it is full of the fables of old, such as in verse 27:68. It relates to its root meaning in that it refers to a book of “falsehoods” that are neatly arranged.

4.) The root (ك - ن - ن) means to hide, conceal, and cover something up. Its Form I verb is كَنَّ - يَكُنُّ, and its form II verb is أَكَنَّ - يُكِنُّ, as seen in verse 27:74, in which God states that He knows what the hearts conceal.

5.) The root (ع - ل - ن) indicates the meaning of making something manifest and prominent. From this root, we obtain the Form IV verb أَعْلَنَ - يُعْلِنُ, which means “to announce,” ie “to make something known via announcement.” This verb is used in his present-tense plural form (يُعْلِنُونَ) in verse 27:74, referring to the fact that God knows what the hearts conceal and that which they announce or reveal.

6.) The root (ض - ع - ف) indicates the weakness of something. A common derived word is ضَعِيف, meaning “weak.” In fact, in verse 4:28, God states: وَخُلِقَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ ضَعِيفًۭا (“for humankind was created weak”). Another derived verb is Verb Form IX: اِسْتَضْعَفَ - يَسْتَضْعِفُ , which literally means “to deem someone as weak,” but often, it is translated as “to oppress,” because one oppresses someone else when they deem them to be weak. In verse 28:4, this verb is used, with the context that Firawn oppressed his people and deemed them as weak.

7.) The root (ذ - ب - ح) indicates the meaning of splitting something open. The derived Form I verb is ذَبَحَ, which means to slaughter, and this is where we get the commonly-known word ذَبِيحَةٌ, which refers to the animal that is slaughtered. However, in common Islamic nomenclature, this word ذَبِيحَةٌ has now come to have the meaning of an animal that is slaughtered according to all Islamic rites (“Zabiha halal”). In verse 28:4, the form II present tense verb (يُذَبِّحُ) is used, with the context that Pharaoh would kill his own people out of his tyranny.

8.) The root (خ - ط - أ) relates to the meaning of errors and mistakes. From this root, we obtain the word الخَطَأ, which means “mistake/error,” and the doer pattern (اسم الفاعل) of خَاطِئ, which is used in its plural form (خَاطِئِينَ) in verse 28:8, referring Pharaoh and his soldiers being mistaken and sinful.

9.) The root (ن - ف - ع) revolves around the meaning of benefit, and is the opposite of harm. The Form I verb نَفَعَ means “to be beneficial.” This verb is seen in its present-tense form (يَنْفَعَ) is seen in verse 28:9, in which the wife of Pharaoh pleads to him not to kill the infant Musa, as he may be useful to them, as well as a source of joy and comfort. This root is also seen in the doer pattern (اسم الفاعل) of نَافع (“beneficial”), which is evident in the common dua: زَادَك اللهُ عِلْمًا نَافِعًا (“May God increase you in beneficial knowledge”)

10.) The word فُؤَاد means “heart.” 🫀 How is this word different from the commonly-known Arabic word for heart, which is قَلْبٌ? The linguistic difference lies in its root, which is (ف - أ - د). This root gives the meaning of intense heat and igniting of a flame. This indicates that the word فُؤَاد refers to the fiery nature of the heart, in which is housed a variety of intense emotions. However, the word قَلْبٌ is more closely aligned with its own root (ق - ل - ب), which means to overturn something. The heart, when referred to as قَلْبٌ, gives the meaning of something that is overturned frequently, which is an apt way to describe the heart, as it is something that waves in its emotional and spiritual state and is constantly overturned.