Taraweeh Top 🔟 :

Juz 15 (Surah Al Isra and Surah Al Kahf)

Here are 10 fruits 🍐 from the language of the Quran:

1.) The root (ش - د - د ) refers to solidity 🪨 and intensity, and is the opposite of softness and pliability. The verb شَدَّ means “to be severe or intense,” and its resulting adjective is شَدِيدٌ (“severe”), as appears in the following verse: فَإِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ أُولَىٰهُمَا بَعَثْنَا عَلَيْكُمْ عِبَادًۭا لَّنَآ أُو۟لِى بَأْسٍۢ شَدِيدٍۢ فَجَاسُوا۟ خِلَـٰلَ ٱلدِّيَارِ ۚ وَكَانَ وَعْدًۭا مَّفْعُولًۭا [“When the first of the two warnings would come to pass, We would send against you some of Our servants of great might, who would ravage your homes. This would be a warning fulfilled” (17:5)]. Additionally, in Tajwid, there is the diacritical mark of shaddah, which is also from this root. The connection here is that a shaddah indicates two of the same letter, hence “intensifying” it

2.) The root (ت - ب - ر) has two distinct meanings: 1.) destruction, and 2.) a jewel 💎 of the earth. As for the first meaning, the Form II verb تَـبَّـرَ means “to destroy,” as occurs in the following verse: إِنْ أَحْسَنتُمْ أَحْسَنتُمْ لِأَنفُسِكُمْ ۖ وَإِنْ أَسَأْتُمْ فَلَهَا ۚ فَإِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ لِيَسُـۥٓـُٔوا۟ وُجُوهَكُمْ وَلِيَدْخُلُوا۟ ٱلْمَسْجِدَ كَمَا دَخَلُوهُ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍۢ وَلِيُتَبِّرُوا۟ مَا عَلَوْا۟ تَتْبِيرًا [“If you act rightly, it is for your own good, but if you do wrong, it is to your own loss. “And when the second warning would come to pass, your enemies would ˹be left to˺ totally disgrace you and enter that place of worship as they entered it the first time, and utterly destroy whatever would fall into their hands” (17:7)].  As for the second root meaning, we get the word التِّبْرُ, which refers to gold 🪙 or silver 🥈

3.) The root (ع - ج - ل) refers to speediness 🏃 and gives a sense of urgency. The word العَجَلَة comes from this root and means “urgency.” The verb is عَجِلَ, which means “to be in haste,” and the derived word عَجُول means to be constantly hasty, as occurs in this verse: وَيَدْعُ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ بِٱلشَّرِّ دُعَآءَهُۥ بِٱلْخَيْرِ ۖ وَكَانَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ عَجُولًۭا [“And humans ˹swiftly˺ pray for evil as they pray for good. For humankind is ever hasty” (17:11)].

4.) The root (م - ح - و) refers to the erasing or vanishing of something. From this, we obtain the verb مَحَا - يَمْحُو - مَحْوٌ, which means “to erase,” and this verb appears in this verse: وَجَعَلْنَا ٱلَّيْلَ وَٱلنَّهَارَ ءَايَتَيْنِ ۖ فَمَحَوْنَآ ءَايَةَ ٱلَّيْلِ وَجَعَلْنَآ ءَايَةَ ٱلنَّهَارِ مُبْصِرَةًۭ لِّتَبْتَغُوا۟ فَضْلًۭا مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَلِتَعْلَمُوا۟ عَدَدَ ٱلسِّنِينَ وَٱلْحِسَابَ ۚ وَكُلَّ شَىْءٍۢ فَصَّلْنَـٰهُ تَفْصِيلًۭا (“We made the day and night as two signs. So We made the sign of the night devoid of light, and We made the sign of the day ˹perfectly˺ bright, so that you may seek the bounty of your Lord and know the number of years and calculation ˹of time˺. And We have explained everything in detail” (17:12)]. God has the ability to erase our sins as if they never existed. This is the difference between the verbs مَحَا and غَفَرَ. The verb غَفَرَ refers to forgiving in general, but without completely effacing the sin, such that its trace can still be present. However, the verb مَحَا refers to completely effacing the sin, such that no trace effect remains.

5.) The root (م - د - د) means “to extend, elongate 📏.” The Form I past-tense verb of مَدَّ means “to be elongated,” while the Form II past-tense verb of أَمَدّ - يُمِدُّ means “to elongate (something),” as is seen in the following verse: كُلًّۭا نُّمِدُّ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ وَهَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ مِنْ عَطَآءِ رَبِّكَ ۚ وَمَا كَانَ عَطَآءُ رَبِّكَ مَحْظُورًا (We provide both the former and the latter from the bounty of your Lord. And the bounty of your Lord can never be withheld” (17:20)].  This root is also seen in the Science of Tajwid (Quranic Recitation), in that المَدّ refers to elongation of certain letters and sounds according to specific rules.

6.) The word عَطَاءٌ generally translates to “giving” or “Bounty.” The most common verb of this is Verb Form II أعطَى - يُعْطِي, which means “to give.” The word عَطَاء is specifically seen in the following verse: كُلًّۭا نُّمِدُّ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ وَهَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ مِنْ عَطَآءِ رَبِّكَ ۚ وَمَا كَانَ عَطَآءُ رَبِّكَ مَحْظُورًا (“We provide both the former and the latter from the bounty of your Lord. And the bounty of your Lord can never be withheld” (17:20)]. In this verse, the word عَطَاء in the expression مِنْ عَطَاءِ رَبِّكَ, which means “from the Bounty of your Lord.”

7.) The root (م - ك - ث) indicates the meaning of waiting and staying at a place for an extended period of time ⏲️. The verb is مَكَثَ (“to tarry, remain”), and the verbal noun version is مُكُوثٌ. It is seen in verse 18:3, in which the Quran states: مَّـٰكِثِينَ فِيهِ أَبَدًۭا '[“in which they will remain forever”). In this verse, it is seen in its doer pattern (اِسْمُ الفَاعِل) as مَاكِثِينَ. This gives the meaning of staying a place for a long time. The Quran frequently describes the inhabitants of both Paradise and Hellfire that they abide therein forever.

8.) The root (ب - خ - ع) refers to the killing or torture of oneself from abasement and coercion, and it can also refer to psychologically torturing oneself. The verb is بَخَعَ, and the اِسْمُ الفَاعِل (“doer pattern”) is seen in the following verse: فَلَعَلَّكَ بَـٰخِعٌۭ نَّفْسَكَ عَلَىٰٓ ءَاثَـٰرِهِمْ إِن لَّمْ يُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِهَـٰذَا ٱلْحَدِيثِ أَسَفًا [“Now, perhaps you ﷺ will grieve yourself to death over their denial, if they ˹continue to˺ disbelieve in this message” (18:6)], in which the Quran describes the Prophet ﷺ as taking on great pains and agonizing himself over his ﷺ concern of the disbelievers, who refuse to believe in him, despite all the efforts that he ﷺ gave. God consoles and assures him ﷺ by stating that the Prophet ﷺ is a warner and messenger, but He is the One who Guides to Islam.

9.) The root (ع - ج - ب) indicates a meaning of wondrous amazement, and it can also carry the meaning of arrogance. For example, the word العُجْبُ can mean “wonder,” but it often takes the meaning of vanity (self-pride), such as how Imam Ghazali رَحِمَهُ الله describes this in his masterpiece إِحْيَاءُ عُلُومِ الدِّين (“Revival of the Sciences of the Faith”).  Another related word is عَجِيبٌ, which refers to an awe-inspiring, amazing, and wondrous thing. Imam Ghazali even has an entire chapter devoted to what he calls عَجَائِبُ القَلْب (“Marvels of the Heart 🫀”).

10.) The root (ظ - ل - م) refers to darkness 🌑, and also refers to putting something in a place where it does not belong. As for the first meaning of darkness, we obtain the word ظُلْمَةٌ and its plural ظُلُمَاتٌ (“darknesses”), which is seen in verse 2:17. The verb أَظْلَمَ means “to darken something.” As for the second root meaning of putting something in a place where it is not suitable for it, we obtain the derived meaning of ظَلَمَ meaning “to oppress,” as oppression is done in an inappropriate way. The verbal noun is ظُلْمٌ (“oppression”), and the comparative version (اِسْمُ التَّفْضِيل) is أَظْلَمُ (meaning “the one who is more oppressive”), as in seen in verse 18:15, in which the Quran states: هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ قَوْمُنَا ٱتَّخَذُوا۟ مِن دُونِهِۦٓ ءَالِهَةًۭ ۖ لَّوْلَا يَأْتُونَ عَلَيْهِم بِسُلْطَـٰنٍۭ بَيِّنٍۢ ۖ فَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ ٱفْتَرَىٰ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ كَذِبًۭا [“˹Then they said to one another,˺ “These people of ours have taken gods besides Him. Why do they not produce a clear proof of them? Who then does more wrong than those who fabricate lies against God?” (18:15)].