Taraweeh Top 🔟

Juz 9 (Surah Al-A’raf and Surah Al-Anfal)

Here are 10 fruits 🍐 from the language of Quran:

1.) The root (و - س - ع) means to be spacious or vast. We see this root being used in its past-tense form (وَسِعَ) in the following verse: (وَسِعَ رَبُّنَا كُلَّ شَىْءٍ عِلْمًا) [“Our Lord has encompassed everything in His Knowledge” (7:89)]. God frequently mentions how His Attributes (His Mercy, Knowledge, Dominion, etc) have no limits, without any sense of constriction or restriction, which is aptly suitable for this root meaning.

2.) The root (ف - ت - ح) means “to open.” This root is seen frequently in the Quran. In fact, the first chapter of the Quran, Surah Al Fatihah (سُورَةُ الفَاتِحَةِ), comes from this root, and it means “the Opening Chapter.” This root also comes with the meaning of conquering something, which is why فَتْحُ مَكَّة is translated as “the Conquest of Makkah,” and this is when the Prophet ﷺ conquered Mecca in the most peaceful way possible, having forgiven everyone who wronged him, as he is the Prophet of Mercy ﷺ

3.) The word بَغْتَةً means “suddenly” It is often used to describe something that suddenly arose unexpectedly. The root (ب - غ - ت) also comes with this meaning of a sudden unexpected event. This word comes in verse 7:95, as God states: ثُمَّ بَدَّلْنَا مَكَانَ ٱلسَّيِّئَةِ ٱلْحَسَنَةَ حَتَّىٰ عَفَوا۟ وَّقَالُوا۟ قَدْ مَسَّ ءَابَآءَنَا ٱلضَّرَّآءُ وَٱلسَّرَّآءُ فَأَخَذْنَـٰهُم بَغْتَةًۭ وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ (“Then We changed their adversity to prosperity until they flourished and argued, ‘Our forefathers had been visited by adversity and prosperity.’ So We seized them by surprise, while they were unaware”). This verse refers to the unexpected affliction that struck the arrogant disbelievers of past nations whenever they denied their prophets.

4.) The verb آمَنَ means “to believe.” It is a common word found in the Quran, such as in verse 7:96: وَلَوْ أَنَّ أَهْلَ ٱلْقُرَىٰٓ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَٱتَّقَوْا۟ لَفَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِم بَرَكَـٰتٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَلَـٰكِن كَذَّبُوا۟ فَأَخَذْنَـٰهُم بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَكْسِبُونَ (“Had the people of those societies been faithful and mindful of Allah, We would have overwhelmed them with blessings from heaven and earth. But they disbelieved, so We seized them for what they used to commit”). Here, God states that if the arrogant disbelievers of past nations had humbled themselves and believed in their prophets, He would have showered them with blessings from the heavens and the earth 🌍. A common female name, آمِنَةُ, comes from this root, which means “believing woman.” The root is (أ - م - ن) has two primary meanings: 1.) comfort of the heart 🫀, and 2.) verification of the truth. The former meaning is apparent in the Form I verb (أَمِنَ), which means “to be safe from ,” and the latter meaning is clear in the Form IV verb (آمَنَ), as occurs in verse 7:98-99, which means “to believe (and thus verify the truth of”). The word إِيمَانٌ also comes from this root, which means “faith (in Islam).”

5.) The root (ه - د - ي) means “to prepare/advance (someone) in order to guide or counsel them.” The verb هَدَى comes from this root, meaning “to guide someone,” as appears in verse 7:100: أَوَلَمْ يَهْدِ لِلَّذِينَ يَرِثُونَ ٱلْأَرْضَ مِنۢ بَعْدِ أَهْلِهَآ أَن لَّوْ نَشَآءُ أَصَبْنَـٰهُم بِذُنُوبِهِمْ ۚ وَنَطْبَعُ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ فَهُمْ لَا يَسْمَعُونَ (“Is it not clear to those who take over the land after the destruction of its former residents that, if We will, We can punish them for their sins and seal their hearts so they will not hear the Truth?”). The verbal noun هُدًى and هِدَايَة both comes from this root as well, meaning “guidance.”

6.) The word ذَنْبٌ means “sin,” and its plural is ذُنُوبٌ. This word is seen commonly in the Quran, such as this verse: كَدَأْبِ ءَالِ فِرْعَوْنَ ۙ وَٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ ۚ كَفَرُوا۟ بِـَٔايَـٰتِ ٱللَّهِ فَأَخَذَهُمُ ٱللَّهُ بِذُنُوبِهِمْ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ قَوِىٌّۭ شَدِيدُ ٱلْعِقَابِ (“Their fate is that of the people of Pharaoh and those before them—they all disbelieved in Allah’s signs, so Allah seized them for their sins. Indeed, Allah is All-Powerful, severe in punishment” (8:52). This comes from the root (ذ - ن - ب), which has three meanings: 1.) revolving around the idea of sins and crimes, and 2.) the end/appendage of something, and 3.) one’s fate or portion in life. As for the first meaning, this is where the word ذَنْبٌ comes in, meaning “sin/crime.” As for the second meaning, the word ذَنَبٌ (with a fathah on the nun instead of a sukun) means “the tail of an animal 🐎.” The relationship between these two might be that sins attach to the “end” of a person, like a heavy burden, weighing on his/her conscience 🧠 psychologically and spiritually.

7.) The root (ط - ب - ع) means to “seal or imprint something upon something.” From this word, we derive the verb يَطْبَعُ, as appears in verse 7:101, in which God states: كَذَٰلِكَ يَطْبَعُ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ (“This is how Allah seals the hearts of the disbelievers”). The verb يَطْبَعُ means more than just to write something down. It carries the meaning of imprinting something permanently upon something, similar to carving a message in a stone 🪨. The word طَبْعٌ and طَبِيعَةٌ can also both be used to describe the nature of man, in that God has “sealed” upon a person his/her temperament and personality. The Modern Standard Arabic word طَبَعَ also has this root meaning, as it means “to type (on a keyboard ⌨),” with similar meaning of “sealing” a message on a computer 🖨.

8.) The root (ف - س - ق) means “deviating or exiting from something”. For example, the Arabs say فَسَقَتْ الحَبَّةُ مِن قِشْرِهَا (“the seed 🌱 exited from its skin”). However, this root most often comes with the meaning of “deviating or exiting from obedience.” From this, we get the derived word فِسْقٌ, which refers to “corruption and disobedience,” as this is exiting from the Straight Path. For example, the sentence (فَسَقَ إِبليسُ عَنْ أَمر رَبِّهِ) (“Iblis exited/deviated from the Command of His Lord”). The Quran repeatedly warns people not to be corrupt and sinful, such as in verse 7:102: وَمَا وَجَدْنَا لِأَكْثَرِهِم مِّنْ عَهْدٍۢ ۖ وَإِن وَجَدْنَآ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَفَـٰسِقِينَ (“We did not find most of them true to their covenant. Rather, We found most of them truly rebellious”).

9.) The word عَاقِبَةٌ refers to the end result or end place of something, and it comes from the root (ع - ق - ب), which has two meanings: 1.) something that is appended to the end of something, and 2.) difficulty and hardship. As for the first meaning, the word عَاقِبَةٌ comes from this, and in the Quran, it often means “the ending result, place” of either the believers or disbelievers, such as in verse 7:103: ثُمَّ بَعَثْنَا مِنۢ بَعْدِهِم مُّوسَىٰ بِـَٔايَـٰتِنَآ إِلَىٰ فِرْعَوْنَ وَمَلَإِي۟هِۦ فَظَلَمُوا۟ بِهَا ۖ فَٱنظُرْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَـٰقِبَةُ ٱلْمُفْسِدِينَ (“Then after them We sent Moses with Our signs to Pharaoh and his chiefs, but they wrongfully rejected them. See what was the end of the corruptors!”). As for the second root meaning, we get the derived word عِقَابٌ, which means “punishment,” referred to as such because it implies difficulty and hardship.

10.) The word عَصَا means “staff, rod ⚕” and often refers to the staff of Moses (عَصَا مُوسى عليه السلام), such as in verse 7:107: فَأَلْقَىٰ عَصَاهُ فَإِذَا هِىَ ثُعْبَانٌۭ مُّبِينٌۭ (“So Moses threw down his staff and behold! It became a real snake”). This was one of his miracles that he presented to Pharaoh as a way of challenging his claim that he is god. The plural is عِصِيّ, which is used in Surah Taha (20:66) in the same context of Musa عليه السلام challenging the authority of Pharaoh, specifically in verse 20:66: قَالَ بَلْ أَلْقُوا۟ ۖ فَإِذَا حِبَالُهُمْ وَعِصِيُّهُمْ يُخَيَّلُ إِلَيْهِ مِن سِحْرِهِمْ أَنَّهَا تَسْعَىٰ (“Moses responded, “No, you go first.” And suddenly their ropes and staffs appeared to him—by their magic—to be slithering”