Mashrabaمشربة

Root · 2,851 in the Quran · 1,238 in 28 texts of the library

ألهa single root, taʿabbud; ilāh is God, so called because He is worshipped. He expressly … (root lh)

الهمزة واللام والهاء أصل واحد وهو التعبد

Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-lugha · English rendering

أله

The family of the root

Patterns computed · our data

The words of أ ل ه that our sources attest: the root's letters in green, the added letters in gold.

24 words3 verbs1 verbal noun1 participle9 other nouns5 plurals5 relatives and abstracts

  • إِلَاهgod; deity
  • إِلاهِيّdivine; godly
  • ءَالِهَة—
  • ءَالِهَت—
  • اللّاهُمَّtruly; certainly
The whole family6 groups, by pattern; tap a pattern to see what it does
Verbs3أَلَهَ · تَأْلِيَ · تألّهَ

The root as an action: the bare Form I, and the Forms made by adding letters before, inside or after the root.grammar →

Form I vowels: فَعَلَ يَفْعَلُ (a – a; the imperfect from Lane's “aor.”)

  • أَلَهَForm ILaneIbn Fāris
  • تَأْلِيَForm IILane
  • تألّهَhe devoted himself to religious services or exercisesLaneForm VLaneIbn Fāris
Verbal nouns1تَأْلِيه

The action itself, named as a noun (maṣdar).grammar →

  • تَأْلِيهdeification; making god-likeautoForm IIlibrary ×1
Participles1مَأْلُوه

The one who does it, and the one it is done to.grammar →

  • مَأْلُوهpassive, Form ILane
Other nouns9إِلَاه · اللّاهُمَّ · أُلَاهَة

Nouns on other patterns; their meaning is learned word by word.grammar →

Plurals5ءَالِهَة · ءَالِهَت · أَالِهَت

Broken plurals rebuild the word on a new pattern; sound plurals add an ending.grammar →

  • ءَالِهَةbroken plural of إِلَاهQurʾān ×18
  • ءَالِهَتbroken plural of إِلَاهQurʾān ×13
  • أَالِهَتbroken plural of إِلَاهQurʾān ×1
  • آلِهَةobjects of worship or adorationfrom the singularbroken plural of إِلهLane
  • إِلاهِيِّيْنbroken plural of إِلاهِيّlibrary ×1
Relative and abstract5إِلاهِيّ · أُلُوهِيّ · أُلْهَانِيَّة

-iyy relates a thing to its source; -iyya makes an abstract noun.grammar →

  • إِلاهِيّdivine; godlyautorelative adjective (-iyy)library ×73
  • أُلُوهِيّdivinityautorelative adjective (-iyy)library ×4
  • أُلْهَانِيَّةabstract noun (-iyya)Lane
  • إِلهِيَّةtheologyLaneabstract noun (-iyya)Lane
  • إِلهِيّrelative adjective (-iyy)Lane

Reference

Why this shape?What each of the 9 patterns does

What each pattern does. The pattern gives a tendency, not a rule: many words have drifted into meanings of their own.

The pattern machinePour the root into a pattern; see whether the word exists

Choose a pattern; the root's letters pour into it. Then see whether the word exists in our sources. The machine makes shapes; only usage makes words.

مَفْعَلَةأ ل همَأْلَهَة

Not in our sources. A possible shape, not a word we can show: the Quran, the library and Lane do not have it for this root.

Place noun with -a. The place noun with the feminine -a. Sometimes it is only a variant of mafʿal; often it names the place where a thing is found in abundance (maʾsada, 'a place full of lions'). So maktab is the place of writing, and maktaba, where writings are gathered: a library, a bookshop. Our summary

But: maktaba is not in our classical dictionaries for k-t-b: Lane and al-Jawharī give maktab ('a school'), none gives maktaba. Its sense of 'library, bookshop' fits the pattern of abundance, but that is our reading of the pattern, not a classical entry. Many mafʿala words are single items of usage (maqbara 'cemetery'), which the grammarians call heard, not formed by rule.

The grammarians on this pattern (4)

  • ما يكون مفعلة لازمة لها الهاء والفتحة … وذلك إذا أردت أن تكثر الشيء بالمكان، وذلك قولك: أرض مسبعة، ومأسدة

    Chapter on what is mafʿala, with the -a and the a-vowel always: that is when you mean that a thing abounds in a place, as you say 'a land of many beasts of prey (masbaʿa), of many lions (maʾsada)'

    Sībawayh (d. c. 180/796), al-Kitāb, ed. ʿAbd al-Salām Hārūn, 3rd ed. (Cairo: al-Khānjī, 1988), 4:94 · OpenITI line 21027–21028 ↗ · on this site · OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

  • و نحو المظنة و المقبرة فتحا و ضما ليس بقياس

    and words like maẓinna and maqbara (with a or u) are not by rule

    Ibn al-Ḥājib (d. 646/1249), al-Shāfiya fī ʿilm al-taṣrīf, ed. Ḥasan Aḥmad al-ʿUthmān (Mecca: al-Maktaba al-Makkiyya, 1995), 1:30 · OpenITI line 223 ↗ · on this site · OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

  • “designate the place where the object signified by the noun from which they are formed, is found in large numbers or quantities” Wright, Grammar I, §247, p. 148 ↗ · on nouns of abundance, maf'ala · 3rd ed. (Cambridge, 1896) · public domain
  • “Nouns of time and place not unfrequently take the feminine form” Wright, Grammar I, §225, p. 128 ↗ · on maf'ala as a variant of maf'al · 3rd ed. (Cambridge, 1896) · public domain

This root has a weak or doubled letter, so real words change shape (qāla → qāʾil, not qāwil); the machine pours the letters in as they are, and matches attested words by their regular pattern.

About thisWhat “attested” means here; the sources

Attested means found in our data: the Quranic Arabic Corpus (lemmas, verb Forms, participles, verbal nouns, plurals), the library's words (automatic analysis), Lane's Lexicon (his headwords, the Forms he numbers, the verbal nouns and plurals he names) and Ibn Fāris's entry. Nothing is generated for this list. Meanings are Lane's first gloss in his entry, or else the analyser's gloss (“auto”). Vowelling follows the corpus, then Lane, then the analyser; verbs are given in the regular perfect. Lane's Lexicon thins out after qāf, and a few of his entries cover several roots at once: those roots show no Lane. The patterns, written with ف ع ل, are computed by us.

The dictionaries

English: AI translation
  • al-Khalīl · 170The Greatest Name of Allāh is: Allāh (الله) — there is no god but He alone.

    al-Khalīl b. Aḥmad (d. c. 170/786), Kitāb al-ʿAyn. The first Arabic dictionary, arranged by permutations of the root letters.

    The Greatest Name of Allāh is: Allāh (الله) — there is no god but He alone. The Arabs say: 'Allāh, I did not do that,' meaning 'By Allāh, I did not do it.' And al-ta'alluh (التأله) is worship. Ru'ba said: 'They glorified [God] and turned back from my worship (ta'allahī).' And in their saying in the foolish Jāhiliyyah: lāha anta (لاه أنت), meaning 'By Allāh (li-llāh) you are.' And they say: lāhumma ighfir lanā (لاهم اغفر لنا, 'O Allāh, forgive us'), though this was disliked in Islam. And his saying: "By Allāh (lāh), your cousin does not fear... the destructive things among the consequences." And his saying: "By Allāh (lāh), how excellent is youth and black hair... and the swift-paced [she-camels] beneath the saddles."

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    إن اسم الله الأكبر هو: الله، لا إله إلا هو وحده. وتقول العرب: الله ما فعلت ذاك تريد: والله ما فعلته والتأله: التعبد. قال رؤبة «4» : سبحن واسترجعن من تألهي وقولهم في الجاهلية الجهلاء: لاه أنت، أي لله أنت. ويقولون: لاهم اغفر لنا، وكره ذلك في الإسلام، وقوله «1» : لاه ابن عمك لا يخاف ... الموبقات من العواقب وقوله: «2» لاه در الشباب والشعر الأسود ... والراتكات تحت الرحال

    al-Khalīl · 170 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 4, p. 90) ↗
  • al-Jawharī · 393Aliha (أله), with fatḥa, ilāhatan (إلاهة), means: he worshipped, [a true] worship.

    al-Jawharī (d. c. 393/1003), al-Ṣiḥāḥ. Admits only usage he judged sound.

    Aliha (أله), with fatḥa, ilāhatan (إلاهة), means: he worshipped, [a true] worship. From this is [the reading] of Ibn ʿAbbās, may Allāh be pleased with him: 'wa-yadharaka wa-ilāhataka' (ويذرك وإلاهتك) with kasra on the hamza. He said: [meaning] 'and your worship (ʿibādataka).' And he used to say that Pharaoh used to be worshipped [on earth]. From this too comes our word 'Allāh' (الله), whose origin is ilāh (إلاه) on the pattern fiʿāl (فعال) in the sense of mafʿūl (passive), because he is ma'lūh (مألوه), i.e. worshipped — just as we say imām (إمام) is [the pattern] fiʿāl in the sense of mafʿūl, because he is the one followed. When the alif and lām were added to it, the hamza was dropped, for lightness, due to its frequency in speech. Had the two [alif-lām] been a substitute (ʿiwaḍ) for it, they would not have come together with that for which they substitute in their saying al-ilāh (الاله) [with the hamza retained]. The hamza is pronounced as a cutting hamza in the vocative because of its fixedness, out of reverence for this name. I heard Abū ʿAlī al-Naḥwī say that the alif and lām are a substitute for it [the hamza]. He said: This is shown by their allowing the cutting of the connecting hamza that enters upon the lām of definiteness in oaths and the vocative, as in their saying: a-fa-Allāha la-yafʿalanna (أفألله ليفعلن) and yā Allāhu ighfir lī (يا ألله اغفر لى). Do you not see that, were it not a substitute, it would not remain fixed [as a cutting hamza], as it does not in any other word besides this name? He said: Nor can it be due to the fixedness of the letter, for that would require that the hamza of alladhī (الذي) and allatī (التي) also be cut. Nor can it be because it is a hamza with fatḥa though connecting, since this was not allowed in aymu 'llāh (ايم الله) and aymunu 'llāh (ايمن الله), which have a connecting hamza with fatḥa as well. Nor can it be due to frequency of use, for that would require cutting the hamza in other frequently used words too. So we know this is due to a meaning peculiar to it, found in no other word, and nothing better fits that meaning than that it [alif-lām] be the substitute for the deleted letter, namely the [root's] first radical. Sībawayh allowed that its origin be lāhā (لاها), as we shall mention later. Ilāhah (إلاهة) is the name of a place in the [Arabian] Peninsula. He [a poet] said: "It is grief enough that the caravan departs at dawn, while he lies at the height of Ilāhah, having spent the night there" — he had been bitten by a snake. Ilāhah (إلاهة) is also a name for the sun, used indeclinably without alif and lām; sometimes they made it declinable and introduced the alif and lām, saying al-Ilāhah (الالاهة). Abū ʿAlī recited to me: "We journeyed at evening a short while from al-Luʿbāʾ, and we hastened on before al-ilāhah (the sun) should return." Such variation has occurred elsewhere too — the definite lām sometimes entering, sometimes dropping — they said: laqītuhu al-nadrā and fī nadrā (لقيته الندرى وفى ندرى), and al-fīnata and al-fī (فينة والفي).

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    أله بالفتح إلاهة، أي عبد عبادة. ومنه قرأ ابن عباس رضي الله عنهما: (ويذرك وإلاهتك) بكسر الهمزة. قال. وعبادتك. وكان يقول: إن فرعون كان يعبد [في الارض (1) ] . (*) ومنه قولنا " الله " وأصله إلاه على فعال، بمعنى مفعول، لانه مألوه أي معبود، كقولنا: إمام فعال بمعنى مفعول، لانه مؤتم به، فلما أدخلت عليه الالف واللام حذفت الهمزة تخفيفا لكثرته في الكلام. ولو كانتا عوضا منها لما اجتمعتا مع المعوض منه في قولهم: الاله. وقطعت الهمزة في النداء للزومها تفخيما لهذا الاسم. وسمعت أبا على النحوي يقول: إن الالف واللام عوض منها. قال: ويدل على ذلك استجازتهم لقطع الهمزة الموصولة الداخلة على لام التعريف في القسم والنداء، وذلك قولهم: أفألله ليفعلن، ويا ألله اغفر لى. ألا ترى أنها لو كانت غير عوض لم تثبت كما لم تثبت في غير هذا الاسم. قال: ولا يجوز أيضا أن يكون للزوم الحرف، لان ذلك يوجب أن تقطع همزة الذى والتى. ولا يجوز أيضا أن يكون لانها همزة مفتوحة وإن كانت موصولة، كما لم يجز في ايم الله وايمن الله التى هي همزة وصل فإنها مفتوحة. قال: ولا يجوز أيضا أن يكون ذلك لكثرة الاستعمال، لان ذلك يوجب أن تقطع الهمزة أيضا في غير هذا مما يكثر استعمالهم له. فعلمنا أن ذلك لمعنى اختصت به ليس في غيرها، ولا شئ أولى بذلك لمعنى من أن يكون المعوض من الحرف المحذوف الذى هو الفاء. وجوز سيبويه أن يكون أصله لاها على ما نذكره من بعد. وإلاهة: اسم موضع بالجزيرة. وقال (1) : كفى حزنا أن يرحل الركب غدوة * وأصبح في عليا إلاهة ثاويا (2) وكان قد نهشته حية. وإلاهة أيضا: اسم للشمس غير مصروف بلا ألف ولام، وربما صرفوه وأدخلوا فيه الالف واللام فقالوا الالاهة (3) . وأنشدني أبو علي: تروحنا من اللعباء قصرا (4) * وأعجلنا الالاهة أن تؤوبا (5) (*) وقد جاء على هذا غير شئ من دخول لام المعرفة مرة وسقوطها أخرى، قالوا: لقيته الندرى وفى ندرى، وفينة والفينة بعد الفينة، ونسر والنسر: اسم صنم، فك

    al-Jawharī · 393 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 6, p. 2223) ↗
  • Ibn Fāris · 395The hamza, lām, and hāʾ form a single root, meaning 'worship' (al-taʿabbud).

    Ibn Fāris (d. 395/1004), Maqāyīs al-Lugha. Seeks each root's original sense (aṣl).

    The hamza, lām, and hāʾ form a single root, meaning 'worship' (al-taʿabbud). Thus al-ilāh (الإله) is Allāh, the Exalted, and He was so named because He is an object of worship (maʿbūd). It is said ta'allaha (تأله) of a man when he worships [God]. Ru'ba said: "By God, how excellent are the languishing damsels of the abode... they glorified [God] and turned back from my worship (ta'allahī)..." And al-ilāhah (الإلاهة) is the sun, so named because a certain people used to worship it. A poet said: "So we hastened on before al-ilāhah (the sun) should return..." As for their saying, regarding bewilderment, aliha ya'lahu (أله يألَه), it does not belong to this chapter, because its hamza [is originally] a wāw, and it has been mentioned in its [proper] chapter.

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الهمزة واللام والهاء أصل واحد وهو التعبد فالإله الله تعالى وسمى بذلك لأنه معبود ويقال تأله الرجل إذا تعبد قال رؤبة — لله در الغانيات المدة … سبحن واسترجعن من تألهي … والإلاهة الشمس سميت بذلك لأن قوما كانوا يعبدونها قال شاعر — فبادرنا الإلاهة أن تؤوبا … فأما قولهم في التحير أله يأله فليس من الباب لأن الهمزة واو وقد ذكر في بابه

    Ibn Fāris · 395 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 1, p. 127) ↗
  • al-Rāghib · 502Allāh (الله): It is said that its origin is ilāh (إله), whose hamza was dropped and the alif and lām introduced upon it, and it was made specific to the Creator, Exalted is He.

    al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī (d. c. 502/1108), al-Mufradāt. Quranic vocabulary, from core sense to Quranic usage.

    Allāh (الله): It is said that its origin is ilāh (إله), whose hamza was dropped and the alif and lām introduced upon it, and it was made specific to the Creator, Exalted is He. Because of its being specific to Him, He, Exalted, said: "Do you know of anyone similarly named to Him?" (Qur'ān, Maryam 19:65). Ilāh (إله) they made a name for every object of worship (ma'būd) of theirs, and likewise al-Lāt; and they named the sun ilāhah (إلاهة) because they took it as an object of worship. Aliha (أله) fulānun ya'lahu al-ālihah (يأله الآلهة) means: he worshipped; it is also said ta'allaha (تأله) [likewise]. So al-ilāh (الإله), on this view, is the object of worship (al-ma'būd). And it is [also] said that it is from aliha (أله), meaning 'he was bewildered,' and naming Him thus is an allusion [entry continues]

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الله: قيل: أصله إله فحذفت همزته، وأدخل عليها الألف واللام، فخص بالباري تعالى، ولتخصصه به قال تعالى: هل تعلم له سميا [مريم/ 65] . وإله جعلوه اسما لكل معبود لهم، وكذا اللات، وسموا الشمس إلاهة «3» لاتخاذهم إياها معبودا. وأله فلان يأله الآلهة: عبد، وقيل: تأله. فالإله على هذا هو المعبود «4» . وقيل: هو من: أله، أي: تحير، وتسميته بذلك إشارة

    al-Rāghib · 502 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 1, p. 82) ↗
  • Lisān · 711Al-ilāh (الإله): Allāh, Mighty and Exalted.

    Ibn Manẓūr (d. 711/1311), Lisān al-ʿArab. The great compendium of the earlier dictionaries (entry shortened).

    Al-ilāh (الإله): Allāh, Mighty and Exalted. And everything taken as an object of worship besides Him is an ilāh (إله) to the one who takes it [as such]; plural, ālihah (آلهة). Al-ālihah (الآلهة) [also means] idols, so named because of [the idolaters'] belief that worship is due to them; their names follow the beliefs [held about them], not what the thing is in itself. And it [the word] is between al-ilāhah (الإلاهة) and al-alhāniyyah (الألهانية). In the ḥadīth of Wuhayb ibn al-Ward: 'If the servant falls into the alhāniyyah (الألهانية) of the Lord, the muhayminiyyah (مهيمنية) of the truthful ones, and the rahbāniyyah (رهبانية) of the righteous, he finds no one to seize his heart' — meaning he finds no one who pleases him and loves none but Allāh, glory be to Him. Ibn al-Athīr said: it is derived from ilāh (إله), and its measure is fi'lāniyyah (فعلانية) with ḍamma; one says ilāh (إله) is between al-ilāhiyyah (الإلهية) and al-alhāniyyah (الألهانية), and its origin is from aliha ya'lahu (أله يأله), meaning 'he was bewildered'; he means: when the servant falls into [contemplation of] Allāh's greatness and majesty and other attributes of Lordship, and directs his thought to them, he comes to hate people, such that his heart inclines to no one [else]. Al-Azharī [reported]: al-Layth said: It has reached us that the Greatest Name of Allāh is Allāh — there is no god but He alone. He said: and the Arabs say 'Allāh, I did not do that,' meaning 'By Allāh, I did not do it.' Al-Khalīl said: [regarding] Allāh — the alif is not dropped from the name; rather it is Allāh, Mighty is His mention, in complete form. He said: and it is not among the names from which a verb may be derived, as is possible with al-Raḥmān and al-Raḥīm. Al-Mundhirī related from Abū al-Haytham that, when asked about the derivation of the name of Allāh, Exalted, in the language, he said: Its proper form was ilāh (إلاه); the alif and lām were introduced for definiteness, giving al-ilāh (أَلْإِلاه); then the Arabs dropped the hamza out of aversion to its heaviness. Having dropped the hamza, they transferred its kasra onto the lām of the definite article, and the original hamza vanished entirely, so they said allāh (أللاه) [with a voweled definite-article lām] — thus voweling the lām of the article, which otherwise is never anything but vowelless (sākin). Then two voweled lāms came together, so they assimilated the first into the second, producing Allāh (الله) — just as Allāh, Mighty and Exalted, said: "lākinnā huwa Allāhu Rabbī" (لكنا هو الله ربي) [Qur'ān, al-Kahf 18:38, in one reading], meaning "lākin anā" ('but I...'). Then, when the Arabs heard 'Allāhumma' (اللهم) current in people's speech, they imagined that if the alif and lām were removed from 'Allāh' what remained would be lāh (لاه); so they said lāhumma (لاهم); and he cited [as evidence]: "O Lāhumma (لاهم), You mend the broken one... You bestowed a great herd of she-camels (jillah jurjūr)..." And they say lāha abūka (لاه أبوك), meaning 'Allāh abūka' ('By Allāh, your father!'), the lām being the lām of wonderment; and he cited [the verse] of Dhū al-Iṣbaʿ: "By Allāh (lāh), my cousin does not fear... the misfortunes among the consequences." Abū al-Haytham said: the Arabs also said 'bismi 'llāh' (بسم الله) without the elongation of the lām, dropping the madda of lāh likewise; and he cited: "A flood came, arising from the command of Allāh (min amri 'llāh)... raging like the rage of the overflowing garden (al-jannati 'l-mughlah)..." And he cited: "Indeed you are, O woman of ʿAbs, comely... despite certain faults — a liar is whoever says so... it [the oath] is only 'By Allāh' (li-llāh), truly..." [entry continues]

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الإله: الله عز وجل، وكل ما اتخذ من دونه معبودا إله عند متخذه، والجمع آلهة. والآلهة: الأصنام، سموا بذلك لاعتقادهم أن العبادة تحق لها، وأسماؤهم تتبع اعتقاداتهم لا ما عليه الشيء في نفسه، وهو بين الإلهة والألهانية: وفي حديث وهيب بن الورد: إذا وقع العبد في ألهانية الرب، ومهيمنية الصديقين، ورهبانية الأبرار لم يجد أحدا يأخذ بقلبه أي لم يجد أحدا يعجبه ولم يحب إلا الله سبحانه؛ قال ابن الأثير: هو مأخوذ من إله، وتقديرها فعلانية، بالضم، تقول إله بين الإلهية والألهانية، وأصله من أله يأله إذا تحير، يريد إذا وقع العبد في عظمة الله وجلاله وغير ذلك من صفات الربوبية وصرف وهمه إليها، أبغض الناس حتى لا يميل قلبه إلى أحد. الأزهري: قال الليث بلغنا أن اسم الله الأكبر هو الله لا إله إلا هو وحده «1»: قال: وتقول العرب لله ما فعلت ذاك، يريدون والله ما فعلت. وقال الخليل: الله لا تطرح الألف من الاسم إنما هو الله عز ذكره على التمام؛ قال: وليس هو من الأسماء التي يجوز منها اشتقاق فعل كما يجوز في الرحمن والرحيم. وروى المنذري عن أبي الهيثم أنه سأله عن اشتقاق اسم الله تعالى في اللغة فقال: كان حقه إلاه، أدخلت الألف واللام تعريفا، فقيل ألإلاه، ثم حذفت العرب الهمزة استثقالا لها، فلما تركوا الهمزة حولوا كسرتها في اللام التي هي لام التعريف، وذهبت الهمزة أصلا فقالوا أللاه، فحركوا لام التعريف التي لا تكون إلا ساكنة، ثم التقى لامان متحركتان فأدغموا الأولى في الثانية، فقالوا الله، كما قال الله عز وجل: لكنا هو الله ربي ؛ معناه لكن أنا، ثم إن العرب لما سمعوا اللهم جرت في كلام الخلق توهموا أنه إذا ألقيت الألف واللام من الله كان الباقي لاه، فقالوا لاهم؛ وأنشد: لاهم أنت تجبر الكسيرا، ... أنت وهبت جلة جرجورا ويقولون: لاه أبوك، يريدون الله أبوك، وهي لام التعجب؛ وأنشد لذي الإصبع: لاه ابن عمي ما يخاف ... الحادثات من العواقب قال أبو الهيثم: وقد قالت العرب بسم الله، بغير مدة اللام وحذف مدة لاه؛ وأنشد: أقبل سيل جاء من أمر الله، ... يحرد حرد الجنة المغله وأنشد: لهنك من عبسية لوسيمة، ... على هنوات كاذب من يقولها إنما هو لله إنك، فحذف الألف واللام فقال لاه: إنك، ثم ترك همزة إنك فقال لهنك؛ وقال الآخر: أبائنة سعدى، نعم وتماضر، ... لهنا لمقضي علينا التهاجر يقول: لاه إنا، فحذف مدة لاه وترك همزة إنا كقوله: لاه ابن عمك والنوى يعدو وقال الفراء في قول الشاعر لهنك: أراد لإنك، فأبدل الهمزة هاء مثل هراق الماء وأراق، وأدخل اللام في إن لليمين، ولذلك أجابها باللام في لوسيمة. قال أبو زيد: قال لي الكسائي ألفت كتابا في معاني القرآن فقلت له: أسمعت الحمد لاه رب العالمين؟ فقال: لا، فقلت: اسمعها. قال الأزهري: ولا يجوز في القرآن إلا الحمد لله بمدة اللام، وإنما يقرأ ما حكاه أبو زيد الأعراب ومن لا يعرف سنة القرآن. قال أبو الهيثم: فالله أصله إلاه، قال الله عز وجل: ما اتخذ الله من ولد وما كان معه من إله إذا لذهب كل إله بما خلق . قال: ولا يكون إلها حتى يكون معبودا، وحتى يكون لعابده خالقا ورازقا ومدبرا، وعليه مقتدرا فمن لم يكن كذلك فليس بإله، وإن عبد ظلما، بل هو مخلوق ومتعبد. قال: وأصل إله ولاه، فقلبت الواو همزة كما قالوا للوشاح إشاح وللوجاح وهو الستر إجاح، ومعنى ولاه أن الخلق يولهون إليه في حوائجهم، ويضرعون إليه فيما يصيبهم، ويفزعون إليه في كل ما ينوبهم، كما يوله كل طفل إلى أمه. وقد سمت العرب الشمس لما عبدوها إلاهة. والألهة: الشمس الحارة؛ حكي عن ثعلب، والأليهة والألاهة والإلاهة وألاهة، كله: الشمس اسم لها؛ الضم في أولها عن ابن الأعرابي؛ قالت مية بنت أم عتبة «2» بن الحرث كما قال ابن بري: تروحنا من اللعباء عصرا، ... فأعجلنا الإلهة أن تؤوبا «3». على مثل ابن مية، فانعياه، ... تشق نواعم البشر الجيوبا قال ابن بري: وقيل هو لبنت عبد الحرث اليربوعي، ويقال لنائحة عتيبة بن الحرث؛ قال: وقال أبو عبيدة هو لأم البنين بنت عتيبة بن الحرث ترثيه؛ قال ابن سيده: ورواه ابن الأعرابي ألاهة، قال: ورواه بعضهم فأعجلنا الألاهة يصرف ولا يصرف. غيره: وتدخلها الألف واللام ولا تدخلها، وقد جاء على هذا غير شيء من دخول لام المعرفة الاسم مرة وسقوطها أخرى. قالوا: لقيته الندرى وفي ندرى، وفينة والفينة بعد الفينة، ونسر والنسر اسم صنم، فكأنهم سموها الإلهة لتعظيمهم لها وعبادتهم إياها، فإنهم كانوا يعظمونها ويعبدونها، وقد أوجدنا الله عز وجل ذلك في كتابه حين قال: ومن آياته الليل والنهار والشمس والقمر لا تسجدوا للشمس ولا للقمر واسجدوا لله الذي خلقهن إن كنتم إياه تعبدون. ابن سيده: والإلاهة والألوهة والألوهية العبادة. وقد قرئ: ويذرك وآلهتك وقرأ ابن عباس: ويذرك وإلاهتك ، بكسر الهمزة، أي وعبادتك؛ وهذه الأخيرة عند ثعلب كأنها هي المختارة، قال: لأن فرعون كان يعبد و …

    Lisān · 711 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 13, p. 467) ↗
  • Lane · 1876English, synthesising the classical dictionaries.

    E. W. Lane (d. 1876), An Arabic-English Lexicon. English, synthesising the classical dictionaries.

    أَلَهَ

    1. أَلَهَ, (S, and so in some copies of the K,) with fet-h, (S,) or أَلِهَ, (Mgh, Msb, and so in some copies of the K,) like تَعِبَ, aor. اَلَهَ , (Msb,) inf. n.

    إِلَاهَةٌ

    إِلَاهَةٌ (S, Msb, K) and أُلُوهَةٌ and أُلُوهِيَّPٌ, (K,) He served, worshipped, or adored; syn. عَبَدَ. (S, Msb, K.) Hence the reading of I'Ab, [in the Kur vii. 124,] وَيَذَرَكَ وَإِلَاهَتَكَ [And leave thee, and the service, or worship, or adoration, of thee; instead of وَآلِهَتَكَ and thy gods, which is the common reading]; for he used to say that Pharaoh was worshipped, and did not worship: (S:) so, too, says, Th: and IB says that the opinion of I'Ab is strengthened by the sayings of Pharaoh [mentioned in the Kur lxxix. 24 and xxviii. 38], “I am your lord the most high,” and “I did not know any god of yours beside me.” (TA.) أَلِهَ, aor. اَلَهَ , (S, K,) inf. n. أَلَهٌ, (S,) He was, or became, confounded, or perplexed, and unable to see his right course; (S, K;) originally وَلِهَ. (S.) أَلِهَ عَلَي فُلَانٍ He was, or became, vehemently impatient, or affected with vehement grief, or he manifested vehement grief and agitation, on account of such a one; (S, K;) like وَلِهَ. (S.) أَلِهَ إِلَيْهِ He betook himself to him by reason of fright or fear, seeking protection; or sought, or asked, aid, or succour, of him: he had recourse, or betook himself, to him for refuge, protection, or preservation. (K.) أَلِهَ بِالمَكَانِ He remained, stayed, abode, or dwelt, in the place. (MF.) أَلَهَهُ, (K,) like مَنَعَهُ, (TA,) [in the CK اَلِهَهُ,] He protected him; granted him refuge; preserved, saved, rescued, or liberated, him; aided, or succoured, him; or delivered him from evil: he rendered him secure, or safe. (K.)

    تَأْلِيهٌ

    2. تَأْلِيهٌ [inf. n. of أَلَّهَهُ He made him, or took him as, a slave; he enslaved him;] i. q. تَعْبِيدٌ. (S, K.) [The primary signification of أَلَّهَهُ seems to be, He made him to serve, worship, or adore. Accord. to Freytag, besides having the former of the two meanings explained above, it signifies He reckoned him among gods; held him to be a god; made him a god: but he does not mention his authority.]

    تألّه

    5. تألّه He devoted himself to religious services or exercises; applied himself to acts of devotion. (JK, S, Msb, K.)

    أُلْهَانِيَّةٌ

    أُلْهَانِيَّةٌ: see إِلَاهَةٌ.

    إِلهٌ

    إِلهٌ, or إِلَاهٌ, [the former of which is the more common mode of writing the word,] is of the measure فعَالٌ (S, Msb, K) in the sense of the measure مَفْعُولٌ, (S, Msb,) like كِتَابٌ in the sense of مَكْتُوبٌ, and بِسَاطٌ in the sense of مَبْسُوطً, (Msb,) meaning مَأْلْوةٌ [An object of worship or adoration; i. e. a god, a deity]; (S, Msb, K) anything that is taken as an object of worship or adoration, accord. to him who takes it as such: (K:) with the article ال, properly, i. q. اللّٰهُ; [sec this word below;] but applied by the believers in a plurality of gods to what is worshipped by them to the exclusion of اللّٰه: (Msb:) pl. آلِهَةٌ: (Msb, TA:) which signifies idols: (JK, S, TA:) in the K, this meaning is erroneously assigned to إِلَاهَةٌ: (TA:) [not so in the CK; but there, الالِهَةُ is put in a place where we should read الإِلَاهَةُ, or إِلَاهَةُ without the article:] الإِلَاهَةُ [is the fem. of الإِلَاهُ, and] signifies [the goddess: and particularly] the serpent: [(a meaning erroneously assigned in the CK to الآلِهَةُ; as also other meanings here following:) because it was a special object of the worship of some of the ancient Arabs:] (K:) or the great serpent: (Th:) and the [new moon; or the moon when it is termed] هِلَال: (Th, K:) and, (S, K,) as also إِلَاهَةُ, without ال, the former perfectly decl., and the latter imperfectly decl., (S,) and الأُلَاهَةُ, (IAar, K,) and أُلَاهَةُ, (IAar, TA,) and الأَلَاهَةُ, (K,) [and app. أَلَاهَةُ,] and الأَلِيهَةُ, (K,) the sun; (S, K;) app. so called because of the honour and worship which they paid to it: (S:) or the hot sun. (Th, TA.) [إِلهٌ is the same as the Hebrew אֱלוֹהַּ and The Chaldee ???; and is of uncertain derivaTion: accord. To some,] it is originally وِلَاهٌ, like as إِشَاحٌ is originally وِشَاحٌ; meaning that mankind yearn towards him who is thus called, [seeking protection or aid,] in their wants, and humble themselves to him in their afflictions, like as every infant yearns towards its mother. (TA.) [See also the opinions, cited below, on the derivation of اللّٰهُ.]

    أَلَهَةُ

    أَلَهَةُ and الأَلَاهَةُ: see إِلهٌ.

    أُلَاهَةُ

    أُلَاهَةُ and الأُلَاهَةُ: see إِلهٌ. أُلَاهَةٌ: see إِلَاهَةٌ.

    إِلَاهَةٌ

    إِلَاهَةٌ inf. n. of 1, q. v. (S, Msb, K.) Godship; divinity; (K;) as also أُلَاهَةٌ (CK [not found by me in any MS. copy of the K) and أُلْهَانِيَّةٌ. (K.) إِلَاهَةُ and الإِلَاهَةُ: see إِلهٌ.

    الأَلِيهَةُ

    الأَلِيهَةُ: see إِلهٌ.

    إِلهِىٌّ

    [إِلهِىٌّ, or إِلَاهِىٌّ, Of, or relating to, God or a god; divine; theological: Hence, العِلْمُ الإِلهِىُّ or الإِلَاهِىٌّ: see what next follows.]

    الإِلهِيَّةُ

    [الإِلهِيَّةُ, or الإِلَاهِيَّةُ, Theology; the science of the being and attributes of God, and of the articles of religious belief; also termed عِلْمُ الإِلهِيَّاتِ or الإِلَاهِيَّاتِ, and العِلْمُ الإِلهِىُّ or الإِلَاهِىُّ.]

    Lane, Arabic-English Lexiconread Lane's entry online ↗
Look this root up elsewhere:Doha Historical Dictionary ↗Quranic Arabic Corpus ↗Arabic Almanac ↗Hawramani Arabic Lexicon ↗

The same letters, turned

The same three letters in all six orders. Choose one.

أ ل ه

الهمزة واللام والهاء أصل واحد وهو التعبد فالإله الله تعالى وسمى بذلك لأنه معبود ويقال تأله الرجل إذا تعبد

a-l-h is one root, and it is worship; al-ilāh is Allah, the Exalted, and He was so named because He is worshipped; one says ta'allaha al-rajul when he worships.

Ibn Fāris ↗Lisān ↗Lane ↗Quran ×2851

an entry in Ibn Fārislater sources onlyin none of them

Do these six share one core meaning?

Reference

About thisal-Khalīl, Ibn Jinnī, Ibn Fāris; the counts across the dictionary

al-Khalīl (d. c. 170/786), Kitāb al-ʿAyn, as transmitted by al-Layth: a two-letter word “turns in two ways”, a three-letter word “in six ways” (masdūsa), four letters in 24, five in 120; “its used forms are written down and its unused ones dropped” (line 975 ↗). The dictionary is built on this: each chapter takes a set of letters and names which orders are used (mustaʿmal) and which unused (muhmal). The ring shows that verdict, from the chapter heading as edited (documented in the text; how much of the book is al-Khalīl's own is disputed).

A reported total. al-Suyūṭī transmits, from Ḥamza al-Iṣfahānī, that al-Khalīl put the possible forms, used and unused, of two to five letters at 12,305,412 (al-Muzhir, line 1347 ↗). It is reported, not found in the ʿAyn. It equals exactly the arrangements of 2 to 5 different letters out of 28 (756 + 19,656 + 491,400 + 11,793,600); the breakdown printed beside it is corrupt, and al-Zubaydī's count, given next, differs (6,659,400).

Ibn Jinnī (d. 392/1002), al-Khaṣāʾiṣ, names the greater derivation (al-ishtiqāq al-akbar): bind a three-letter root and its six orders to one meaning, and bring stray members back “by the subtlety of the craft and interpretation” (line 7536 ↗). He says himself that it does not hold for every root (line 167 ↗; line 7603 ↗).

Ibn Fāris (d. 395/1004) gives each root its own aṣl and treats a rearranged word as maqlūb, “turned round”, and so not a root of its own: “j-b-dh is not a root, because it is a single word, turned round” (Maqāyīs, line 6147 ↗). The ring sets his aṣl for each order side by side; whether they meet is the question.

Neighbours on the ring differ by one swap of two letters.

The critique. A source quoted by al-Suyūṭī calls the greater derivation Ibn Jinnī's innovation, “not relied on in the language” (al-Muzhir, line 6159 ↗).

The other axis. The root's letters also go into patterns that keep their order and change the frame: the patterns (awzān) and the verb Forms I–X.

Across Ibn Fāris's dictionary. Of the 2,300 possible sets of three different sound letters (no hamza, w or y), 1,021 have at least one order as an entry. How many of their six orders are entries:

Ibn Fāris, entries found (1,021 letter-sets)
  1. 1 of 6319
  2. 2 of 6218
  3. 3 of 6164
  4. 4 of 6155
  5. 5 of 6107
  6. 6 of 658
al-Khalīl, orders his headings call used (746 letter-sets)
  1. 1 of 6148
  2. 2 of 6108
  3. 3 of 6157
  4. 4 of 6179
  5. 5 of 6111
  6. 6 of 643

Of the orders al-Khalīl calls used, 2,097 are entries in Ibn Fāris and 267 are not; 17 that he calls unused are entries in Ibn Fāris.

Our computation from the OpenITI texts; heading detection can miss entries

Attested here means found in our digital texts (Ibn Fāris, Lisān al-ʿArab, Lane, the Quranic Arabic Corpus), with w and y kept apart and hamza spellings merged; it is our data, not a classical verdict. English beside the Arabic is AI translation. Sources and grades: docs/research/root-permutations.md.

Letters & sound

How each letter is made, in brief, from Sībawayh's and Ibn Jinnī's own sentences (linked); their words are under Reference.

Sharing two of its three letters (computed; kinship of form, not of meaning)

16 more

Reference

How it is madeSībawayh and Ibn Jinnī · phonetics

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

أ

فأقصاها مخرجا: الهمزة والهاء والألف

The furthest of them [the three in the throat] in place: the hamza, the hāʾ and the alif. Sībawayh, line 26548 ↗

فأولها من أسفله وأقصاه، مخرج الهمزة والألف والهاء، هكذا يقول سيبويه

The first of them [in the throat], from its lowest and furthest part, is the place of the hamza, the alif and the hāʾ: so Sībawayh says. Ibn Jinnī, line 965 ↗

ل

ومن حافة اللسان من أدناها إلى منتهى طرف اللسان، من بينها وبين ما يليها من الحنك الأعلى، مما فويق الضاحك والناب والرباعية والثنية، مخرج اللام

From the edge of the tongue, from its nearest part to the end of its tip, between it and the upper palate next to it, just above the premolar, the canine, the lateral and the central incisor, is the place of the lām. Ibn Jinnī, lines 977–978 ↗

ه

فأقصاها مخرجا: الهمزة والهاء والألف

The furthest of them [the three in the throat] in place: the hamza, the hāʾ and the alif. Sībawayh, line 26548 ↗

فأولها من أسفله وأقصاه، مخرج الهمزة والألف والهاء، هكذا يقول سيبويه

The first of them [in the throat], from its lowest and furthest part, is the place of the hamza, the alif and the hāʾ: so Sībawayh says. Ibn Jinnī, line 965 ↗

Sībawayh, al-Kitāb (ed. Hārūn) and Ibn Jinnī, Sirr ṣināʿat al-iʿrāb; OpenITI digital texts (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Full credits on each letter's page.

In the Breath of the All-MercifulIbn ʿArabī · metaphysics

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

أ

Nature (ch. 2)

وإلا الهاء والهمزة فإنهما باردتان رطبتان

And except hāʾ and hamza, for these two are cold and moist.

Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2583

ل

Level of existence: السماء الثالثة · the third heaven

Divine Name: القاهر · the Subduer (al-Qāhir)

Lunar mansion: العوا · al-ʿAwwā

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 64654

Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 7 line 2576 ↗

Nature (ch. 2)

منها دون الألف فطبعها الحرارة واليبوسة

[Zāy and lām] of it, excluding alif: their nature is heat and dryness.

Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2577

ه

Level of existence: أبتداء العالم · the beginning of the world

Divine Name: البديع · the Originator (who creates without prior model)

Lunar mansion: الشرطين · al-Sharaṭān (the Two Signs), first of daily time, when the sun is in Aries

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 66017

Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 10 line 2573 ↗

Nature (ch. 2)

وإلا الهاء والهمزة فإنهما باردتان رطبتان

And except hāʾ and hamza, for these two are cold and moist.

Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2583
Meaning by vowelal-Dabbāgh · a visionary claim about a primordial “Syriac”, not historical Syriac

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

أ

With fatḥa ـَ

فهي إشارة إلى جميع الأشياء قلت أو كثرت، وتكون الإشارة في بعض الأحيان من المتكلم إلى ذاته ونفسه، وهذه الإشارة سالمة من القبض.

It is an indication of all things, whether few or many. At times the indication is from the speaker to his own essence and self, and this indication is free of contraction (qabḍ).

With ḍamma ـُ

فهي إشارة إلى الشيء القريب القليل.

It is an indication of the near, small thing.

With kasra ـِ

فهي إشارة إلى الشيء القريب المناسب.

It is an indication of the near, fitting (congruent) thing.

al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-Lamaṭī

ل

With fatḥa ـَ

فهي حصول المتكلم على شيء عظيم، وتكون إشارة إلى شيء عظيم.

It is the speaker's attaining of something great, and it serves as an indication of something great.

With ḍamma ـُ

فهي إشارة إلى الشيء الذي لا نهاية له.

It is an indication of the thing that has no end.

With kasra ـِ

فهي إشارة من المتكلم إلى وجود ذاته أو إلى ذاته.

It is an indication by the speaker of the existence of his self, or of his self.

al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-Lamaṭī

ه

With fatḥa ـَ

فهي الرحمة الطاهرة التي لا نهاية لها.

It is pure mercy that has no end.

With ḍamma ـُ

فهي اسم من أسمائه تعالى.

It is one of the names of God, Exalted is He.

With kasra ـِ

فهي إشارة إلى الخير الذي يخرج من ذوات المخلوقات.

It is an indication of the good that issues from the selves of created beings.

al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-Lamaṭī
Two-letter nucleus28 roots in Ibn Fāris’s chapterء ل

Ibn Fāris groups his roots under two-letter chapters (“the X and the Y and what makes them three”). These are the roots of this root's chapter with the core sense he gives each. Setting them side by side is our juxtaposition; he does not himself draw a shared meaning. His chapter heading, line 1485 ↗

  • ألمالهمزة واللام والميم أصل واحد وهو الوجعQ 75 · L1486
  • ألوىالهمزة واللام وما بعدهما في المعتل أصلان متباعدان أحدهما الاجتهاد والمبالغة والآخر التقصير والثاني خلاف ذلك الأول قولهم آلى يولى إذا حلف ألية وإءلوةL1497
  • ألتالهمزة واللام والتاء كلمة واحدة تدل على النقصانQ 1 · L1538
  • ألسالهمزة واللام والسين كلمة واحدة وهي الخيانة العرب تسمى الخيانة ألسا يقولون لا يدالس ولا يؤالسL1540
  • ألفالهمزة واللام والفاء أصل واحد يدل على انضمام الشيء إلى الشيء والأشياء الكثيرة أيضاQ 22 · L1542
  • ألقالهمزة واللام والقاف أصل يدل على الخفة والطيش واللمعان بسرعةL1556
  • أمنالهمزة والميم والنون أصلان متقاربان أحدهما الأمانة التي هي ضد الخيانة ومعناها سكون القلب والآخر التصديق والمعنيان كما قلنا متدانيانQ 879 · L1578
  • أمهوأما الهمزة والميم والهاء فقد ذكروا في قول الله ( وادكر بعد أمه ) على قراءة من قرأها كذلك أنه النسيانL1608
  • أموىوأما الهمزة والميم وما بعدهما من المعتل فأصل واحد وهو عبودية المملوكةL1610
  • أمتالهمزة والميم والتاء أصل واحد لا يقاس عليه وهو الأمتQ 1 · L1619
  • أمدالهمزة والميم والدال الأمد الغاية كلمة واحدة لا يقاس عليهاQ 4 · L1622
  • أمرالهمزة والميم والراء أصول خمسة الأمر من الأمور والأمر ضد النهي والأمر النماء والبركة بفتح الميم والمعلم والعجب فأما الواحد من الأمور فقولهم هذا أمر رضQ 248 · L1623
  • أملالهمزة والميم واللام أصلان الأول التثبت والانتظار والثاني الحبل من الرمل فأما الأول فقال الخليل الأمل الرجاء فتقول أملته أؤمله تأميلا وأملته آمله أملاQ 2 · L1656
  • أنىالهمزة والنون وما بعدهما من المعتل له أصول أربعة البطء وما أشبهه من الحلم وغيره وساعة من الزمان وإدراك الشيء وظرف من الظروف فأما ا لأول فقال الخليل الQ 36 · L1670
  • أنبالهمزة والنون والباء حرف واحد أنبته تأنيبا أي وبخته ولمته والأنبوب ما بين كل عقدتين ويزعمون أن الأناب المسك والله أعلم بصحته وينشدون قول الفرزدق — كأنL1701
  • أنحالهمزة والنون والحاء أصل واحد وهو صوت تنحنح وزحيرL1712
  • أنسالهمزة والنون والسين أصل واحد وهو ظهور الشيء وكل شيء خالف طريقة التوحشQ 97 · L1721
  • أنضالهمزة والنون والضاد كلمة واحدة لا يقاس عليهاL1728
  • انفالهمزة والنون والفاء أصلان منهما يتفرع مسائل الباب كلها أحدهما أخذ الشيء من أوله والثاني أنف كل ذي أنف وقياسه التحديد فأما الأصل الأول فقال الخليل استQ 3 · L1732
  • أنقالهمزة والنون والقاف يدل على أصل واحد وهو المعجب والإعجابL1767
  • أهبالهمزة والهاء والباء كلمتان متباينتا الأصلL1783
  • أهرالهمزة والهاء والراء كلمة واحدة ليست عند الخليل ولا ابن دريد وقال غيرهما الأهرة متاع البيتL1788
  • أهلالهمزة والهاء واللام أصلان متباعدان أحدهما الأهلQ 127 · L1789
  • أهنالهمزة والهاء والنون كلمة واحدة لا يقاس عليهاL1800
  • أوىالهمزة والواو والياء أصلان أحدهما التجمع والثاني الإشفاقQ 36 · L1806
  • أولالهمزة والواو واللام أصلان ابتداء الأمر وانتهاؤه أما الأولQ 170 · L1888
  • أونالهمزة والنون كلمة واحدة تدل على الرفقL1940
  • أوهالهمزة والواو والهاء كلمة ليست أصلا يقاس عليهاQ 2 · L1943
In the sister scriptsHebrew א ל הSyriac ܐ ܠ ܗ
Arabicأ ل ه
Hebrewא ל ה
Syriacܐ ܠ ܗ
Ancient South Arabian (musnad)𐩱 𐩡 𐩠
Phoenician𐤀 𐤋 𐤄

Letter for letter, by the regular sound correspondences of the Semitic languages (Arabic keeps several sounds the others merged). This shows how the root would be spelled; whether a related word exists is a separate question, answered in the Semitic lens. Where an Arabic sibilant (s, sh) continues two older sounds, both spellings are shown.

Lenses

  • Classical lexiconAl-Khalīl calls Allāh the greatest name and glosses taʾalluh as taʿabbud, citing Ruʾba.well attested

    The lexicographers in chronological order, from al-Khalīl to Lane.

    Al-Khalīl calls Allāh the greatest name and glosses taʾalluh as taʿabbud, citing Ruʾba. He also records the Jāhilī forms lāhi anta ('by God, you') and lāhumma ighfir lanā, the latter disliked in Islam. Al-Jawharī gives alaha, verbal noun ilāha, 'to worship', supported by Ibn ʿAbbās's reading wa-yadharaka wa-ilāhataka ('and your worship'). He analyses Allāh as ilāh on the pattern fiʿāl in the sense of mafʿūl (maʾlūh, 'worshipped', like imām, 'one followed'), with the hamza dropped after the article because the word is so frequent. Ibn Fāris keeps a single root, worship, adds ilāha as a name of the sun that some people worshipped, and rejects aliha 'to be bewildered' as belonging to w-l-h. Al-Rāghib records both derivations, from worship and from aliha 'to be bewildered'. Ibn Manẓūr notes that idols are called āliha after their worshippers' beliefs, not after what the thing is in itself, and cites Ibn al-Athīr deriving ulūhāniyya from aliha, 'to be bewildered'. Lane collects the verbal nouns ilāha, ulūha and ulūhiyya.

    Draws on: al-Khalīl · al-Jawharī · Ibn Fāris · al-Rāghib · Ibn Manẓūr · Lane

  • Letters & soundAl-Dabbāgh (in al-Ibrīz) reads lām as the speaker's attaining of something great, or an indication of something great, and hāʾ as pure mercy without end.speculative

    What the theorists of sound symbolism would say of these letters. Speculative by nature.

    Al-Dabbāgh (in al-Ibrīz) reads lām as the speaker's attaining of something great, or an indication of something great, and hāʾ as pure mercy without end. No Akbarian letter data is given for these three letters. In the grammarians' order of articulation, which Ibn ʿArabī adopts for his degrees of the Breath of the All-Merciful, hamza and hāʾ belong to the deepest point of the throat and lām to the edge of the tongue. A symbolist could therefore read the name as the breath opening from the innermost point and closing back into it. Mainstream linguistics treats such readings as suggestive at most.

    Draws on: al-Dabbāgh · makhārij order

    • al-Lamaṭī, al-Ibrīz min kalām ... al-Dabbāgh
  • Root structureIn Ibn Fāris's ʾ-l chapter the neighbours of ʾ-l-h have unrelated senses: ʾ-l-m (pain), ʾ-l-w (two distant roots: exertion or oath, and falling short), ʾ-l-t (diminution), ʾ-l-s (treachery), ʾ-l-f (joining one thing to another) and ʾ-l-q (lightness, quick flashing).plausible

    The two-letter nucleus (Ibn Fāris's own chapters) and the permutations of the letters (Ibn Jinnī).

    In Ibn Fāris's ʾ-l chapter the neighbours of ʾ-l-h have unrelated senses: ʾ-l-m (pain), ʾ-l-w (two distant roots: exertion or oath, and falling short), ʾ-l-t (diminution), ʾ-l-s (treachery), ʾ-l-f (joining one thing to another) and ʾ-l-q (lightness, quick flashing). No shared nuclear meaning emerges. Among the permutations, ʾ-h-l (ahl, 'people, household'; 127 Quranic occurrences) stands beside ʾ-l-h. Faṣṣ Ādam itself sets ahliyya ('worthiness') next to al-jamʿiyya al-ilāhiyya, but this is a juxtaposition and not a derivation. The other permutations are l-ʾ-h (given as lāh, a name of God, to which the article was added), h-ʾ-l (hāla, the halo around the moon) and h-l-w (halā, a call used to quiet she-camels). Ibn Jinnī's greater derivation finds no common sense across this set.

    Draws on: Ibn Fāris chapter siblings · permutations

  • Semitic kin & loanwordsIlāh belongs to the Common Semitic word for 'god', *ʾil-: Akkadian ilu(m), Ugaritic ʾil and Hebrew ʾēl.well attested

    Cognates in the sister languages, and whether the word was borrowed.

    Ilāh belongs to the Common Semitic word for 'god', *ʾil-: Akkadian ilu(m), Ugaritic ʾil and Hebrew ʾēl. The form with -h is shared with Hebrew ʾĕlōah (plural ʾĕlōhîm), Aramaic ʾĕlāh and Syriac ʾalāhā. Late Sabaic monotheistic inscriptions use ʾlhn, 'the god'. The root is native, but Jeffery and others have asked whether the contracted form Allāh was shaped by Syriac or Aramaic ʾalāhā in Christian and Jewish usage; this remains an open question.

    Draws on: Common Semitic *ʾil- · Hebrew · Aramaic/Syriac · Akkadian · Sabaic

  • Quranic exegesisOn the basmala, al-Ṭabarī derives Allāh from aliha yaʾlahu ilāhatan, 'to worship'.plausible

    How the classical exegetes read the word in the Quran.

    On the basmala, al-Ṭabarī derives Allāh from aliha yaʾlahu ilāhatan, 'to worship'. He reports Ibn ʿAbbās glossing the name as the one possessing divinity and worship over all creation, and cites the ilāhataka reading of 7:127. Al-Zamakhsharī treats ilāh as a generic noun for any object of worship and Allāh as a name that became proper to the true God. He also reports the grammarians' view that the -mma of allāhumma (3:26, 5:114) replaces the vocative yā. Al-Rāzī sets out the competing derivations (worship, bewilderment, w-l-h) at length and gives serious weight to the view that Allāh is an underived proper name. In 2:133, Jacob's sons answer with 'your God and the God of your fathers … one God (ilāhan wāḥidan)', and the exegetes read the verse as a profession of tawḥīd.

    Draws on: al-Ṭabarī · al-Zamakhsharī · al-Rāzī · al-Rāghib

  • Philosophy & kalāmIn falsafa, al-ʿilm al-ilāhī ('the divine science') names metaphysics.plausible

    The word as a technical term in falsafa and theology.

    In falsafa, al-ʿilm al-ilāhī ('the divine science') names metaphysics. Avicenna's al-Ilāhiyyāt in the Shifāʾ treats being qua being and culminates in the Necessary Existent. In kalām, ulūhiyya ('divinity') was defined differently by different schools. Some defined it as being deserving of worship (istiḥqāq al-ʿibāda). Al-Ashʿarī, as reported by later heresiographers, took the most proper attribute of the ilāh to be power to originate (al-qudra ʿalā al-ikhtirāʿ).

    Draws on: Avicenna · kalām

  • Akbarian readingIn Faṣṣ Ādam, it belongs to the divine ruling (al-ḥukm al-ilāhī) that no locus is proportioned without receiving a divine spirit (rūḥ ilāhī).plausible

    The word in Ibn ʿArabī's text and terminology.

    In Faṣṣ Ādam, it belongs to the divine ruling (al-ḥukm al-ilāhī) that no locus is proportioned without receiving a divine spirit (rūḥ ilāhī). The Qurʾān calls this the inbreathing, and Ibn ʿArabī identifies it as the locus's attaining of preparedness (istiʿdād). The same chapter grounds Adam's worthiness (ahliyya) for every high rank in the divine comprehensiveness (al-jamʿiyya al-ilāhiyya) he holds, facing both the divine side and the Reality of Realities. Elsewhere Ibn ʿArabī treats ulūhiyya as a relation that requires something divinised (maʾlūh), in contrast to the Essence, which is independent of the worlds. He also treats Allāh as the name that comprises all the names. The Fuṣūṣ further speaks of the god created in beliefs, which each believer worships in the form of his own belief.

    Draws on: Faṣṣ Ādam · Fuṣūṣ · Futūḥāt

    • Ibn ʿArabī, Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam, Faṣṣ Ādam

Reference

Neighbouring rootsThe roots that share letters with this one, as a map you can open out