Mashrabaمشربة

طوعal-iṣḥāb wa-l-inqiyād, companionship with and compliance toward another. (root tw)

الطاء والواو والعين أصل صحيح واحد يدل على الإصحاب والانقياد

Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-lugha · English rendering

طوع
Patterns computed · our data

The words of ط و ع that our sources attest: the root's letters in green, the added letters in gold.

26 words8 verbs4 verbal nouns5 participles1 place or instrument1 intensive or elative4 other nouns3 plurals

  • أَطَاعَobey
  • اسْتَطَاعَhe was able
  • طَوْع—
  • طَاعَhe was, or became, submissive to him
  • تَطَوَّعَhe desired the thing
The whole family7 groups, by pattern; tap a pattern to see what it does
Verbs8طَاعَ · أَطَاعَ · اسْتَطَاعَ

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

Verbal nouns4طَوْع · طَوَاعِيَة · طَيْع

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

  • طَوْعForm I · Lane: inf. n.Qurʾān ×4LaneIbn Fāris
  • طَوَاعِيَةForm III · Lane: inf. n.Lane
  • طَيْعForm I · Lane: inf. n.Lane
  • مُطَاوَعَةForm III · Lane: inf. n.Lane
Participles5مُطَاع · مُطّاع · طَائِع

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

  • مُطَاعpassive, Form IVQurʾān ×1Lane
  • مُطّاعvolunteer; unsalaried traineeautopassive, Form IVlibrary ×3
  • طَائِعbeing, or becoming, submissiveLaneactive, Form ILane
  • مُتَطَوِّعsupererogator in any good actLaneactive, Form VLane
  • مُطَاوِعactive, Form IIILane
Place, time and instrument1مِطْوَاع

Where or when it happens, and what it is done with: the m- nouns.grammar →

  • مِطْوَاعnoun of instrumentLane
Intensives, qualities and the elative1أَطْوَع

The quality carried far, held as a trait, or compared.grammar →

  • أَطْوَعmore submissive, or obedient, that a horse, and than a dog, are provsLaneelative or colour adjective (afʿal)Lane
Other nouns4مُطَّوِّعَة · طَوَاعَة · طَيِّع

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

  • مُطَّوِّعَةnounLaneIbn Fāris
  • طَوَاعَةnounLane
  • طَيِّعnounLane
  • مِطْوَاعَةnounLane
Plurals3مُطَّوِّعِين · طَائِعِين · مَطَاوِيع

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

  • مُطَّوِّعِينsound plural of مُطَّوِّعQurʾān ×1Ibn Fāris
  • طَائِعِينsound plural of طَائِعQurʾān ×1
  • مَطَاوِيعbroken plural of طَائِعLane
Why this shape?What each of the 18 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.

مَفْعَلَةط و عمَطْوَعَة

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.

English: AI translation
  • al-Khalīl · 170Ṭāʿa yaṭūʿu ṭawʿan (طاع يطوع طوعا), so he is ṭāʾiʿ (طائع - compliant, obedient).

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

    Ṭāʿa yaṭūʿu ṭawʿan (طاع يطوع طوعا), so he is ṭāʾiʿ (طائع - compliant, obedient). Al-ṭawʿ (الطوع) is the opposite of al-karh (الكره - aversion, compulsion); you say: "You will surely do it ṭawʿan aw karhan (طوعا أو كرها - willingly or unwillingly)," i.e., ṭāʾiʿan aw kārihan (طائعا أو كارها). And ṭāʿa lahu (طاع له) means he submitted to him: if he proceeds according to your command he has aṭāʿaka (أطاعك - obeyed you), and if he agrees with you he has ṭāwaʿaka (طاوعك - complied with you). He said, describing a bucket: "I swear by God you will surely come out — either unwillingly, or you will comply (la-tuṭāwiʿannahu), or you will see me weary with you (al-marinah)."

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    طاع يطوع طوعا فهو طائع. والطوع: نقيض الكره، تقول: لتفعلنه طوعا أو كرها. طائعا أو كارها، وطاع له إذا انقاد له. إذا مضى في أمرك فقد أطاعك، وإذا وافقك فقد طاوعك. قال يصف دلوا «4» : أحلف بالله لتخرجنه ... كارهة أو لتطاوعنه أو لترين بي المرنه

  • al-Jawharī · 393Fulānun ṭawʿu yadayka (فلان طوع يديك) means 'so-and-so is submissive/compliant to you [lit.

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

    Fulānun ṭawʿu yadayka (فلان طوع يديك) means 'so-and-so is submissive/compliant to you [lit. in the grip of your hands].' And a horse is described as ṭawʿ al-ʿinān (طوع العنان - compliant to the rein) when it is docile. Al-istiṭāʿah (الاستطاعة) is al-iṭāqah (الإطاقة - ability, capacity). Sometimes they say isṭāʿa yasṭīʿu (اسطاع يسطيع), dropping the tāʾ because it is heavy alongside the ṭāʾ, and disliking to assimilate the tāʾ into it, which would require the sīn to be vocalized, whereas it is never vocalized. Ḥamzah read: "fa-masṭāʿū an yaẓharūhu" (فما اسطاعوا أن يظهروه) [Quran 18:97] with assimilation, thereby combining two consonants (sākinayn). Al-Akhfash mentioned that some Arabs say istāʿa yastīʿu (استاع يستيع), dropping the ṭāʾ because of its heaviness, while meaning istaṭāʿa yastaṭīʿu (استطاع يستطيع). He said: and some say asṭāʿa yusṭīʿu (أسطاع يسطيع) with a cut alif (qaṭʿ al-alif), meaning aṭāʿa yuṭīʿu (أطاع يطيع), making the sīn a substitute for the loss of the vowel of the middle radical of the verb. One says: taṭāwaʿ li-hādhā l-amr (تطاوع لهذا الأمر) until you are able to do it (tastaṭīʿuhu); and taṭawwaʿa (تطوع) means he exerted himself to attain the capability for it. Al-taṭawwuʿ bi-l-shayʾ (التطوع بالشيء) is volunteering it (al-tabarruʿ bihi). As for His saying, Almighty: "fa-ṭawwaʿat lahu nafsuhu qatla akhīhi" (فطوعت له نفسه قتل أخيه) - "So his soul made [it] easy for him, the killing of his brother" [Quran 5:30], al-Akhfash said: it is like ṭawwaqat lahu (طوقت له - it enabled him for it), and its meaning is 'it made [it] cheap/easy' (rakhkhaṣat wa-sahhalat). Al-muṭṭawwiʿah (المطوعة) are those who volunteer for jihad; from this is His saying, Almighty: "those who defame the volunteers (al-muṭṭawwiʿīn)" [Quran 9:79], its origin being al-mutaṭawwiʿīn (المتطوعين), then assimilated. Al-muṭāwaʿah (المطاوعة) is agreement/compliance (al-muwāfaqah); and grammarians sometimes call the intransitive verb muṭāwiʿ (مطاوع). A man [described as] miṭwāʿ (مطواع) means muṭīʿ (مطيع - obedient). And 'so-and-so ḥasanu l-ṭawāʿiyati laka (حسن الطواعية لك),' on the pattern of al-thamāniyah (الثمانية - eight), means 'good in obedience to you' (ḥasanu l-ṭāʿati laka). And ṭāʿa lahu yaṭūʿu (طاع له يطوع) means he submitted. And 'his tongue lā yaṭūʿu bi-kadhā (لا يطوع بكذا)' means it does not obey him [in that]. One says: 'So-and-so came ṭāʾiʿan (طائعا), not compelled (ghayra mukrah)'; the plural is ṭawʿ (طوع). Abū Yūsuf said: one says 'the palm trees and trees have aṭāʿat (أطاعت)' when their fruit has ripened and become possible to harvest. And 'the pasture has aṭāʿa lahu (أطاع له المرتع)' means it became ample for him and made grazing possible for him. Aws ibn Ḥajar said: "As if our steeds, among the peak of Zamm, were locusts for whom the foliage had become abundant (aṭāʿa lahu al-warāq)" And in this sense one may also say: ṭāʿa lahu l-martaʿ (طاع له المرتع). One says: 'amarahu fa-aṭāʿahu (أمره فأطاعه)' with the alif [form IV] only [no other form]. And 'inṭāʿa lahu (انطاع له)' means he submitted, according to Abū ʿUbayd. A man [described as] ṭayyiʿ (طيع) means ṭāʾiʿ (طائع - obedient).

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    فلان طوع يديك، أي منقاد لك. وفرس طوع العنان، إذا كان سلسا. والاستطاعة: الإطاقة. وربما قالوا اسطاع يسطيع، يحذفون التاء استثقالا لها مع الطاء، ويكرهون إدغام التاء فيها فتحرك السين وهى لا تحرك أبدا. وقرأ حمزة: {فما اسطاعوا أن أن يظهروه} بالادغام وجمع بين ساكنين. وذكر الاخفش أن بعض العرب يقول: استاع يستيع، فيحذف الطاء استثقالا وهو يريد: استطاع يستطيع. قال: وبعض يقول: أسطاع يسطيع بقطع الالف، وهو يريد أن يقول أطاع يطيع ويجعل السين عوضا من ذهاب حركة عين الفعل. ويقال: تطاوع لهذا الأمر حتى تستطيعه، وتطوع، أي تكلف استطاعته. والتطوع بالشئ: التبرع به. وقوله تعالى: {فطوعت له نفسه قتل أخيه} قال الأخفش: هو مثل طوقت له، ومعناه رخصت وسهلت. والمطوعة: الذين يتطوعون بالجهاد، ومنه قوله تعالى: {الذين يلمزون المطوعين} ، وأصله المتطوعين فأدغم. والمطاوعة: الموافقة، والنحويون ربما سموا الفعل اللازم مطاوعا. ورجل مطواع، أي مطيع. وفلان حسن الطواعية لك، مثال الثمانية، أي حسن الطاعة لك. وطاع له يطوع، إذا انقاد. ولسانه لا يطوع بكذا، أي لا يتابعه. ويقال: جاء فلان طائعا غير مكره، والجمع طوع. قال أبو يوسف: يقال قد أطاع النخل والشجر، إذا أدرك ثمره وأمكن أن يجتنى. وقد أطاع له المرتع، أي اتسع له وأمكنه من الرعى. قال أوس بن حجر: كأن جيادنا في رعن زم * جراد قد أطاع له الوراق (1) * وقد يقال في هذا المعنى: طاع له المرتع. ويقال: أمره فأطاعه، بالألف لا غير. وانطاع له، أي انقاد، عن أبى عبيد. ورجل طيع (2) ، أي طائع.

  • Ibn Fāris · 395Ṭāʾ, wāw, and ʿayn form one sound root indicating accompaniment and compliance/submission.

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

    Ṭāʾ, wāw, and ʿayn form one sound root indicating accompaniment and compliance/submission. One says ṭāʿahu yaṭūʿuhu (طاعه يطوعه) when he submits/complies with him and proceeds according to his command; and aṭāʿahu (أطاعه) has the meaning of ṭāʿa lahu (طاع له - he obeyed him). One says of someone who agrees with another: qad ṭāwaʿahu (قد طاوعه - he complied/agreed with him). Al-istiṭāʿah (الاستطاعة - ability, capability) is derived from al-ṭawʿ (الطوع), as if it were originally al-istiṭwāʿ (الاستطواع); when the wāw was dropped, the hāʾ was put in its place as a substitute, on the analogy of al-istiʿānah (الاستعانة) and al-istiʿādhah (الاستعاذة). The Arabs say taṭāwaʿa (تطاوع) for a matter until you are able to do it (tastaṭīʿuhu), then they say taṭawwaʿa (تطوع), meaning he exerted himself to attain the ability for it (takallafa istiṭāʿatahu). As for their saying, regarding voluntarily giving something, qad taṭawwaʿa bihi (قد تطوع به - he volunteered it), this belongs to this root, but it was not obligatory upon him; rather he submitted willingly to a good deed he wished to do — and this expression is used only in the domain of good and piety (al-khayr wa-l-birr). The fighters who volunteer for jihad are called al-muṭṭawwiʿah (المطوعة) with doubled ṭāʾ and wāw, originally al-mutaṭawwiʿah (المتطوعة), the tāʾ then being assimilated into the ṭāʾ. God Almighty said: "those who defame the volunteers (al-muṭṭawwiʿīn) among the believers" [Quran 9:79] — meaning, and God knows best, al-mutaṭawwiʿīn (المتطوعين).

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الطاء والواو والعين أصل صحيح واحد يدل على الإصحاب والانقياد يقال طاعه يطوعه إذا انقاد معه ومضى لأمره وأطاعه بمعنى طاع له ويقال لمن وافق غيره قد طاوعه والاستطاعة مشتقة من الطوع كأنها كانت في الأصل الاستطواع فلما أسقطت الواو جعلت الهاء بدلا منها مثل قياس الاستعانة والاستعاذة والعرب تقول تطاوع لهذا الأمر حتى تستطيعه ثم يقولون تطوع أي تكلف استطاعته وأما قولهم في التبرع بالشيء قد تطوع به فهو من الباب لكنه لم يلزمه لكنه انقاد مع خير أحب أن يفعله ولا يقال هذا إلا في باب الخير والبر ويقال للمجاهدة الذين يتطوعون بالجهاد المطوعة بتشديد الطاء والواو وأصله المتطوعة ثم أدغمت التاء في الطاء قال الله تعالى : ﴿ الذين يلمزون المطوعين من المؤمنين ﴾ أراد والله أعلم المتطوعين

  • al-Rāghib · 502Al-ṭawʿ (الطوع) is submission/compliance (al-inqiyād), and its opposite is al-karh (الكره - aversion, compulsion).

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

    Al-ṭawʿ (الطوع) is submission/compliance (al-inqiyād), and its opposite is al-karh (الكره - aversion, compulsion). He, Mighty and Majestic, said: "Come, willingly or unwillingly (ṭawʿan aw karhan)" [Quran 41:11]; and "To Him has submitted whoever is in the heavens and earth, willingly or unwillingly (ṭawʿan wa-karhan)" [Quran 3:83]. Al-ṭāʿah (الطاعة - obedience) is similar to it, but is mostly used regarding compliance with what one is commanded (al-iʾtimār li-mā umira), and conformity to what is prescribed (al-irtisām fī-mā rusima). He, Exalted, said: "and they say, 'Obedience (ṭāʿah)'" [Quran 4:81]; "Obedience and a reasonable word" [Quran 47:21], meaning: 'obey!' (aṭīʿū). And one says ṭāʿa lahu yaṭūʿu (طاع له يطوع), and aṭāʿahu yuṭīʿuhu (أطاعه يطيعه). He, Exalted, said: "and obey the Messenger" [Quran 64:12]; "Whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed God" [Quran 4:80]; "and do not obey the disbelievers" [Quran 33:48]; and His saying describing Gabriel, peace be upon him: "obeyed (muṭāʿ), and trustworthy" [Quran 81:21]. Al-taṭawwuʿ (التطوع), in origin, is undertaking obedience by effort (takallafu al-ṭāʿah); and in common usage it is volunteering that which is not obligatory, like [performing] supererogatory acts (al-tanafful). He said: "and whoever volunteers good, it is better for him" [Quran 2:184]; and it was also read: 'wa-man yaṭṭawwaʿ khayran' (ومن يطوع خيرا - and whoever volunteers good). Al-istiṭāʿah (الاستطاعة) is [morphologically] an istifʿālah-form from al-ṭawʿ (الطوع), meaning the existence of that by which an act becomes achievable. According to the verifying scholars (al-muḥaqqiqīn), it is a name for the factors by which a person is enabled to bring about the act he intends, and these are four: a specific constitution for the agent; conception of the act; matter/material susceptible to its effect; and an instrument, if the act is instrumental, like writing — for the writer needs all four to produce the writing. Likewise one says: 'So-and-so is not capable (mustaṭīʿ) of writing' when he lacks one or more of these four. Its opposite is al-ʿajz (العجز - incapacity), which is the lack of one or more of these four. Whenever all four are present, one is capable absolutely (mustaṭīʿ muṭlaqan); whenever all are lacking, one is incapable absolutely (ʿājiz muṭlaqan); whenever some are present and some lacking, one is capable in one respect and incapable in another — and it is more fitting to describe him as incapable [in that case]. Al-istiṭāʿah (الاستطاعة) is more specific than al-qudrah (القدرة - power). He, Exalted, said: "they cannot help themselves" [Quran 21:43]; "and they were unable to stand" [Quran 51:45]; "whoever is able to find thereto a way" [Quran 3:97] — for this requires these four [factors]. And his saying, peace be upon him: 'Al-istiṭāʿah (الاستطاعة) is provision and mount (al-zād wa-l-rāḥilah)' — this is an explanation of the instrument [factor] needed; he singled it out for mention rather than the others, since it was known from the standpoint of reason and the requirement of the Sacred Law that obligation without those other [factors] would not be valid. And His saying: "Had we been able, we would have gone forth with you" [Quran 9:42] — the reference to al-istiṭāʿah here is to the lack of the instrument [factor], such as wealth, mount, and the like; likewise His saying: "and whoever among you cannot afford [ṭawlan]" [Quran 4:25]; and His saying: "who cannot find a stratagem" [Quran 4:98]. And one may also say: 'So-and-so cannot do such-and-such (lā yastaṭīʿu kadhā)' [entry continues]

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الطوع: الانقياد، ويضاده الكره قال عز وجل: ائتيا طوعا أو كرها [فصلت/ 11] ، وله أسلم من في السماوات والأرض طوعا وكرها [آل عمران/ 83] ، والطاعة مثله لكن أكثر ما تقال في الائتمار لما أمر، والارتسام فيما رسم. قال تعالى: ويقولون طاعة [النساء/ 81] ، طاعة وقول معروف [محمد/ 21] ، أي: أطيعوا، وقد طاع له يطوع، وأطاعه يطيعه «5» . قال تعالى: وأطيعوا الرسول [التغابن/ 12] ، من يطع الرسول فقد أطاع الله [النساء/ 80] ، ولا تطع الكافرين [الأحزاب/ 48] ، وقوله في صفة جبريل عليه السلام: مطاع ثم أمين [التكوير/ 21] ، والتطوع في الأصل: تكلف الطاعة، وهو في التعارف التبرع بما لا يلزم كالتنفل، قال: فمن تطوع خيرا فهو خير له [البقرة/ 184] ، وقرئ: (ومن يطوع خيرا) «1» . والاستطاعة: استفالة من الطوع، وذلك وجود ما يصير به الفعل متأتيا، وهي عند المحققين اسم للمعاني التي بها يتمكن الإنسان مما يريده من إحداث الفعل، وهي أربعة أشياء: بنية مخصوصة للفاعل. وتصور للفعل، ومادة قابلة لتأثيره، وآلة إن كان الفعل آليا كالكتابة، فإن الكاتب يحتاج إلى هذه الأربعة في إيجاده للكتابة، وكذلك يقال: فلان غير مستطيع للكتابة: إذا فقد واحدا من هذه الأربعة فصاعدا، ويضاده العجز، وهو أن لا يجد أحد هذه الأربعة فصاعدا، ومتى وجد هذه الأربعة كلها فمستطيع مطلقا، ومتى فقدها فعاجز مطلقا، ومتى وجد بعضها دون بعض فمستطيع من وجه عاجز من وجه، ولأن يوصف بالعجز أولى. والاستطاعة أخص من القدرة. قال تعالى: لا يستطيعون نصر أنفسهم [الأنبياء/ 43] ، فما استطاعوا من قيام [الذاريات/ 45] ، من استطاع إليه سبيلا [آل عمران/ 97] ، فإنه يحتاج إلى هذه الأربعة، وقوله عليه السلام: «الاستطاعة الزاد والراحلة» «2» فإنه بيان ما يحتاج إليه من الآلة، وخصه بالذكر دون الآخر إذ كان معلوما من حيث العقل ومقتضى الشرع أن التكليف من دون تلك الأخر لا يصح، وقوله: لو استطعنا لخرجنا معكم [التوبة/ 42] ، فإشارة بالاستطاعة هاهنا إلى عدم الآلة من المال، والظهر، والنحو، وكذلك قوله: ومن لم يستطع منكم طولا [النساء/ 25] ، وقوله: لا يستطيعون حيلة [النساء/ 98] ، وقد يقال: فلان لا يستطيع كذا: لما يصعب عليه فعله لعدم الرياضة، وذلك يرجع إلى افتقاد الآلة، أو عدم التصور، وقد يصح معه التكليف ولا يصير الإنسان به معذورا، وعلى هذا الوجه قال تعالى: لن تستطيع معي صبرا [الكهف/ 67] ، ما كانوا يستطيعون السمع وما كانوا يبصرون [هود/ 20] ، وقال: وكانوا لا يستطيعون سمعا [الكهف/ 101] ، وقد حمل على ذلك قوله: ولن تستطيعوا أن تعدلوا [النساء/ 129] ، وقوله تعالى: هل يستطيع ربك أن ينزل علينا [المائدة/ 112] ، فقيل: إنهم قالوا ذلك قبل أن قويت معرفتهم بالله. وقيل: إنهم لم يقصدوا قصد القدرة «1» ، وإنما قصدوا أنه هل تقتضي الحكمة أن يفعل ذلك؟ وقيل: يستطيع ويطيع بمعنى واحد «2» ، ومعناه: هل يجيب؟ كقوله: ما للظالمين من حميم ولا شفيع يطاع [غافر/ 18] ، أي: يجاب، وقرئ: هل تستطيع ربك «3» أي: سؤال ربك، كقولك: هل يستطيع الأمير أن يفعل كذا، وقوله: فطوعت له نفسه [المائدة/ 30] ، نحو: أسمحت له قرينته، وانقادت له، وسولت، وطوعت أبلغ من أطاعت، وطوعت له نفسه بإزاء قولهم: تأبت عن كذا نفسه، وتطوع كذا: تحمله طوعا. قال تعالى: ومن تطوع خيرا فإن الله شاكر عليم [البقرة/ 158] ، الذين يلمزون المطوعين من المؤمنين [التوبة/ 79] ، وقيل: طاعت وتطوعت بمعنى، ويقال: استطاع واسطاع بمعنى، قال تعالى: فما اسطاعوا أن يظهروه، وما استطاعوا له نقبا [الكهف/ 97] .

  • Lisān · 711Al-ṭayyiʿ (الطيع) is a dialectal variant of al-ṭawʿ (الطوع), by phonetic alternation (muʿāqabah).

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

    Al-ṭayyiʿ (الطيع) is a dialectal variant of al-ṭawʿ (الطوع), by phonetic alternation (muʿāqabah).

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الطوع: نقيض الكره. طاعه يطوعه وطاوعه، والاسم الطواعة والطواعية. ورجل طيع أي طائع. ورجل طائع وطاع مقلوب، كلاهما: مطيع كقولهم عاقني عائق وعاق، ولا فعل لطاع؛ قال: حلفت بالبيت، وما حوله ... من عائذ بالبيت أو طاع وكذلك مطواع ومطواعة؛ قال المتنخل الهذلي: إذا سدته سدت مطواعة، ... ومهما وكلت إليه كفاه الليحاني: أطعته وأطعت له. ويقال أيضا: طعت له وأنا أطيع طاعة. ولتفعلنه طوعا أو كرها، وطائعا أو كارها. وجاء فلان طائعا غير مكره، والجمع طوع. قال الأزهري: من العرب من يقول طاع له يطوع طوعا، فهو طائع، بمعنى أطاع، وطاع يطاع لغة جيدة. قال ابن سيده: وطاع يطاع وأطاع لان وانقاد، وأطاعه إطاعة وانطاع له كذلك. وفي التهذيب: وقد طاع له يطوع إذا انقاد له، بغير ألف، فإذا مضى لأمره فقد أطاعه، فإذا وافقه فقد طاوعه؛ وأنشد ابن بري للرقاص الكلبي: سنان معد في الحروب أداتها، ... وقد طاع منهم سادة ودعائم وأنشد للأحوص: وقد قادت فؤادي في هواها، ... وطاع لها الفؤاد وما عصاها وفي الحديث: فإن هم طاعوا لك بذلك. ورجل طيع أي طائع. قال: والطاعة اسم من أطاعه طاعة، والطواعية اسم لما يكون مصدرا لطاوعه، وطاوعت المرأة زوجها طواعية. قال ابن السكيت: يقال طاع له وأطاع سواء، فمن قال طاع يقال يطاع، ومن قال أطاع قال يطيع، فإذا جئت إلى الأمر فليس إلا أطاعه، يقال أمره فأطاعه، بالألف، طاعة لا غير. وفي الحديث: هوى متبع وشح مطاع ؛ هو أن يطيعه صاحبه في منع الحقوق التي أوجبها الله عليه في ماله. وفي الحديث: لا طاعة في معصية الله ؛ يريد طاعة ولاة الأمر إذا أمروا بما فيه معصية كالقتل والقطع أو نحوه، وقيل: معناه أن الطاعة لا تسلم لصاحبها ولا تخلص إذا كانت مشوبة بالمعصية، وإنما تصح الطاعة وتخلص مع اجتناب المعاصي، قال: والأول أشبه بمعنى الحديث لأنه قد جاء مقيدا في غيره كقوله: لا طاعة لمخلوق في معصية الله ، وفي رواية: في معصية الخالق. والمطاوعة: الموافقة، والنحويون ربما سموا الفعل اللازم مطاوعا. ورجل مطواع أي مطيع. وفلان حسن الطواعية لك مثل الثمانية أي حسن الطاعة لك. ولسانه لا يطوع بكذا أي لا يتابعه. وأطاع النبت وغيره: لم يمتنع على آكله. وأطاع له المرتع إذا اتسع له المرتع وأمكنه الرعي؛ قال الأزهري: وقد يقال في هذا الموضع طاع؛ قال أوس بن حجر: كأن جيادهن، برعن زم، ... جراد قد أطاع له الوراق أنشده أبو عبيد وقال: الوراق خضرة الأرض من الحشيش والنبات وليس من الورق. وأطاع له المرعى: اتسع وأمكن الرعي منه؛ قال الجوهري: وقد يقال في هذا المعنى طاع له المرتع. وأطاع التمر «1» حان صرامه وأدرك ثمره وأمكن أن يجتنى. وأطاع النخل والشجر إذا أدرك. وأنا طوع يدك أي منقاد لك. وامرأة طوع الضجيع: منقادة له؛ قال النابغة: فارتاع من صوت كلاب، فبات له ... طوع الشوامت، من خوف ومن صرد يعني بالشوامت الكلاب، وقيل: أراد بها القوائم، وفي التهذيب: يقال فلان طوع المكاره إذا كان معتادا لها ملقى إياها، وأنشد بيت النابغة، وقال: طوع الشوامت بنصب العين ورفعها، فمن رفع أراد بات له ما أطاع شامته من البرد والخوف أي بات له ما اشتهى شامته وهو طوعه ومن ذلك تقول: اللهم لا تطيعن بنا شامتا أي لا تفعل بي ما يشتهيه ويحبه، ومن نصب أراد بالشوامت قوائمه، واحدتها شامتة؛ يقول: فبات الثور طوع قوائمه أي بات قائما. وفرس طوع العنان: سلسه. وناقة طوعة القياد وطوع القياد وطيعة القياد: لينة لا تنازع قائدها. وتطوع للشيء وتطوعه، كلاهما: حاوله، والعرب تقول: علي أمرة مطاعة. وفطوعت له نفسه قتل أخيه ؛ قال الأخفش: مثل طوقت له ومعناه رخصت وسهلت، حكى الأزهري عن الفراء: معناه فتابعت نفسه، وقال المبرد: فطوعت له نفسه فعلت من الطوع، وروي عن مجاهد قال: فطوعت له نفسه شجعته؛ قال أبو عبيد: عنى مجاهد أنها أعانته على ذلك وأجابته إليه، قال: ولا أدري أصله إلا من الطواعية؛ قال الأزهري: والأشبه عندي أن يكون معنى فطوعت سمحت وسهلت له نفسه قتل أخيه أي جعلت نفسه بهواها المردي قتل أخيه سهلا وهويته، قال: وأما على قول الفراء والمبرد فانتصاب قوله قتل أخيه على إفضاء الفعل إليه كأنه قال فطوعت له نفسه أي انقادت في قتل أخيه ولقتل أخيه فحذف الخافض وأفضى الفعل إليه فنصبه. قال الجوهري: والاستطاعة الطاقة؛ قال ابن بري: هو كما ذكر إلا أن الاستطاعة للإنسان خاصة والإطاقة عامة، تقول: الجمل مطيق لحمله ولا تقل مستطيع فهذا الفرق ما بينهما، قال: ويقال الفرس صبور على الحضر. والاستطاعة: القدرة على الشيء، وقيل: هي استفعال من الطاعة؛ قال الأزهري: والعرب تحذف التاء فتقول اسطاع يسطيع؛ قال: وأما قوله تعالى: فما اسطاعوا أن يظهروه ، فإن أصله استطاعوا بالتاء، ولكن التاء والطاء من مخرج واحد فحذفت التاء ليخف اللفظ، ومن العرب من يقول استاعوا، بغير طاء، قال: ولا يجوز في القراءة، ومنهم من يقول أسطاعوا بألف مقطوعة، المعنى …

  • Lane · 1876English, synthesising the classical dictionaries.

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

    طَاعَ لَهُ

    1. طَاعَ لَهُ, (T, S, O, Msb, K,) and طَاعَهُ, (Msb,) first pers. طُعْتُ, (Zj, O, Msb, *) aor. يَطُوعُ, (T, S, O, Msb, K,) inf. n. طَوْعٌ; (T, Msb, TA;) and, first pers. طِعْتُ, (Zj, O, Msb, *) aor. يَطَاعُ, (T, O, Msb, K,) a good dial. var., (T, TA,) and يَطِيعُ, (Msb, and K in art. طيع,) inf. n. طَيْعٌ; (TA in art. طيع;) three dial. vars., coordinate to قَالَ and خَافَ and بَاعَ; (Msb;) He was, or became, submissive to him; (S, O, Msb, K;) as also له انطاع; (AO, S, O, Msb;) and اطاعهُ, inf. n. إِطَاعَةٌ, and subst. [i. e. quasi-inf. n.] طَاعَةٌ: (Msb:) or i. q. اطاع; (T, TA;) which is expl. by ISd as meaning he was, or became, gentle, and submissive; as also طَاعَ, aor. يَطَاعُ: (TA:) [or each of these two verbs may be rendered he was, or became, obedient; or he obeyed; when by this is meant compliance with another's will or wish, not with a command: but] one says, أَمَرَهُ فَأطَاعَهُ [He commanded him and he obeyed him], with ا, not otherwise; (S;) or أَمَرَهُ قَأَطَاعَ [he commanded him and he obeyed]; for it is said that الطَّاعَةُ is never otherwise than a consequence of a command; and IF says that when one goes by command of another you say of him اطاعهُ: (Msb:) Er-Rághib says that الطَّاعَةُ is like الطَّوْعُ; but is mostly used as meaning obedience to a command [or the like; whence the saying, اَللَّهُمَّ لَا تُطِيعَنَّ لِى شَامِتًا, expl. in art. شمت]: (TA:) and طاوعهُ, also, signifies he obeyed him; like اطاعهُ: you say, عَلَى أَمْرِ طاوعهُ كَذَا he obeyed him in respect of such an affair. (MA. [But see 3 below.]) [Hence,] لِسَانُهُ لَا يَطُوعُ بِكَذَا (assumed tropical:) His tongue will not aid, or assist, him with such a thing. (S, O.) See also 2. [And see 3.] And sometimes (S) one says, طَاعَ لَهُ المَرْتَعُ, (S, O, K,) like له اطاع, (ISk, S, O,) or like اطاعهُ, (K,) meaning (tropical:) The pasturage enabled him to pasture his cattle upon it (S, O, K, * TA) wheresoever he would, (TA,) and was ample to him; (O, TA;) and it was not inaccessible to him. (TA.)

    تَطْوِيعٌ

    2. تَطْوِيعٌ [primarily] signifies The making obedient; or the causing to obey. (KL.) فَطَوَّعَتْ لَهُ نَفْسُهُ قَتْلَ أَخِيهِ, (S, O, Msb, * K, *) in the Kur [v. 33], means (tropical:) And his soul, or mind, facilitated to him [the slaying of his brother]; (Akh, S, O, Msb, TA;) like طَوَّقَتْهُ; (Akh, S, O, TA;) and like طَاوَعَتْهُ, [which is one of the explanations in the O and K, and] which means the same; (Msb;) and accord. to this explanation it is tropical: Mbr says that it is an instance of فَعَّلَتْ from الطَّوْعُ; and طَاعَتْ and طَوَّعَتْ are said to signify alike: (TA:) or the meaning is, aided him, or assisted him; (Fr, O, K;) accord. to which explanation, and that of Mbr, فِى is said by Az to be suppressed; the meaning being, فِى قَتْلِ أَخِيهِ; or لِقَتْلِ أَخِيهِ; and he prefers the explanation of Akh: (TA:) or the meaning is, (O, K,) accord. to Mujáhid, (O,) encouraged him, and (O, K) A 'Obeyd says that by this Mujáhid meant (TA) aided him, and complied with his wish. (O, K, TA,)

    طاوعهُ

    3. طاوعهُ, (IF, Msb, K, TA,) inf. n. مُطَاوَعَةٌ, (S, O, TA,) and quasi-inf. n. طَوَاعِيَةٌ, (TA,) i. q. وَافَقَهُ [as meaning He complied with him]. (IF, S, * O, * Msb, K, * TA.) You say, طاوعت المَرْأَةُ زَوْجَهَا, quasi-inf. n. طَوَاعِيَةٌ, The woman complied with her husband. (TA.) It is said that طاوعهُ differs from أَطَاعَهُ. (Msb, TA.) But see 1, latter half, in two places. See also 2. One says also, طاوع لَهُ المُرَادُ (tropical:) The thing wished, or desired, or sought after, [was, or became, easy of attainment to him; or] came to him easily. (TA.)

    اطاع

    4. اطاع, inf. n. إِطَاعَةٌ, and quasi-inf. n. طَاعَةٌ: see 1, in four places. It also signifies He consented; or complied with what was desired of him; and so استطاع. (TA.) [Hence,] اطاع لَهُ المَرْتَعُ: see 1, last sentence. One says also, اطاع النَّخْلُ, (S, O,) and الشَّجَرُ, (S, O, K,) (tropical:) The palm-trees, (S, O, TA,) and the trees, (S, O, K, TA,) had ripe fruit, that might be gathered. (S, O, K, TA.) And اطاع التَّمْرُ (assumed tropical:) The dates attained, or were near, to the time, or season, for their being cut off. (TA.)

    تطوّع لِلشَّىْءِ

    5. تطوّع لِلشَّىْءِ تطوّعهُ He desired the thing; or sought it; or sought it by artful, or skilful, management: or he constrained himself to do it: or he took it, or imposed it, upon himself submissively. (TA.) You say, تَطَوَّعْ لِهٰذَا الأَمْرِ حَتَّى تَسْتَطِيعَهُ, (S,) and تَطَاوَعْ, (S, K, *) Constrain thyself to acquire ability to perform this affair until thou shalt be able to perform it. (S.) And تطوّع بِالشَّىْءِ He did the thing without its being incumbent, or obligatory, on him; syn. تَبَرَّعَ بِهِ. (S, O, * Msb.) مَنْ تَطَوَّعَ خَيْرًا, in the Kur ii. 153 [and 180], means Whoso does good that is not obligatory on him: (Jel:) or does good in obedience, whether obligatory or supererogatory: or does good beyond what is obligatory on him: (Bd:) خَيْرًا being for بِخَيْرٍ: (Bd, * Jel:) or it is an epithet qualifying an inf. n. suppressed: or the verb is made trans. as implying the meaning of أَتَى or فَعَلَى: (Bd:) and the Koofees, except 'Ásim, read يَطَّوَّعْ, for يَتَطَوَّعْ. (Az, * O, TA. *) [Hence,] طَلَاةُ التَّطَوُّعِ The supererogatory prayer; syn. النَّافِلَةُ. (O, K.) And Az says that تَطَوُّعٌ signifies A thing that one does spontaneously, not made obligatory on him by an ordinance of God; as though it were made a subst. (TA.)

    تَطَاْوَعَ

    6: see the next preceding paragraph.

    إِنْطَوَعَ

    7: see 1, first sentence.

    استطاع

    10. استطاع, (S, O, Msb, K,) inf. n. اِسْتِطَاعَةٌ, (S, O, Msb,) originally اِسْتِطْوَاعٌ, (O, B, TA,) i. q. أَطَاقَ [meaning He was able; and he was able to do, or accomplish, a thing, and to acquire or obtain it, and to have it, &c.]; (K, TA; [in the CK, erroneously, أَطَاعَ, which, however, correctly explains one meaning of استطاع, as will be seen by what follows;]) the inf. n. being syn. with إِطَاقَةٌ, (S, O, TA,) or طَاقَةٌ, (Msb,) and قُدْرَةٌ: (Msb, TA:) but it is said peculiarly of a human being [or a rational creature], whereas اطاق is used in a general manner: (IB, TA:) and the application of the former requires a peculiar constitution of the agent, and the conception of the act, and the fitness of the object to be acted upon or effected, and the possession of an instrument when the action is instrumental as in the case of writing: (Er-Rághib, TA:) and one says also, (K,) or sometimes they said, (S, O, Msb,) اِسْطَاعَ (S, O, Msb, K,) aor. يَسْطِيعُ, (S, O, Msb,) with fet-h [to the first letter]; (Msb;) rejecting the ت, deeming it difficult of utterance with the ط, and disliking to incorporate it into the ط because the س would then become movent, which it never is: Hamzeh (i. e. Ez-Zeiyát, TA, not Khallád, O, K, TA) read, [in the Kur xviii. 96,] فَمَا ٱسْطَّاعُوا, with idghám, combining two quiescent letters: (S, O, K:) this reading is said by Zj, as on the authority of Kh and Yoo and Sb and others, to be incorrect; but Abu-l-'Abbás Ahmad Ibn Mohammad Ibn-'Abd-El-Ghanee Ed-Dimyátee, who died in the year [of the Flight] 1116, and Ibn-El-Jezeree, and El-Háfidh Aboo-'Amr, contradict him, affirming it to be allowable: (TA:) and Akh says, (S, O,) and some of the Arabs say اِسْتَاعَ, aor. يَسْتِيعُ, (S, O, K,) rejecting the ط; (S, O;) which Zj holds to be not allowable in reading [the Kur-án]: (TA:) and some of the Arabs say أَسْطَاعَ, aor. يُسْطِيعُ, [in the CK, erroneously, يَسْطِيعُ,] with the disjunctive ا [in the former], meaning أَطَاعَ, aor. يُطِيعُ, (Akh, S, O, K,) making the س to be a substitute for the suppressed vowel of the medial radical letter of the verb [اطاع], (Akh, S, O,) for, as is said by Kh and Sb, أَطَاعَ is originally أَطْوَعَ; (TA;) or, as AZ says, the verb in this case, with damm to the aor., is likened to أَفْعَلَ, aor. يُفْعِلُ, inf. n. إِفْعَالٌ: (Msb:) but Zj says that he who reads فَمَا ٱسَطَّاعُوا errs; for the س of اِسْتَفْعَلَ is never movent: and Sb mentions مَا أَسْتَتِيعُ; holding it to be an instance of substitution. (TA.) See also 4. Some say that هَلْ يَسْتَطِيعُ رَبُّكَ أَنْ يُنَزِّلَ عَلَيْنَا مَائِدَةً مِنَ السَّمَآءِ, in the Kur [v. 112], means هَلْ يُجِيبُ [i. e. Will thy Lord consent, or comply with the desire, that He should send down to us a table with food upon it from Heaven?]: (Er-Rághib, TA:) and Ks read هَلْ تَسْتَطِيعُ رَبَّكَ, meaning Wilt thou demand of thy Lord that He consent, or comply with the desire? (O, TA:) for استطاعهُ signifies also He demanded his obedience, and his consent, or compliance with what he desired of him. (TA.)

    طَاعٌ

    طَاعٌ accord. to the copies of the O and K; but some say طَاعٍ accord. to the O: see طَائِعٌ, in three places.

    طَوْعٌ

    طَوْعٌ: see طَائِعٌ, in seven places.

    طَاعَةٌ

    طَاعَةٌ [quasi-inf. n. of 4: as a simple subst., sometimes meaning Submission, or submissiveness: but mostly, obedience to a command]: see 1, in three places; and see also طَوَاعِيَةٌ. [See also طَائِعٌ, of which it is a pl.]

    طَوَاعَةٌ

    طَوَاعَةٌ: see what next follows.

    Lane, Arabic-English Lexiconread Lane's entry online ↗

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

ط و ع

الطاء والواو والعين أصل صحيح واحد يدل على الإصحاب والانقياد

ṭ-w-ʿ is one sound root indicating compliance and submission.

Ibn Fāris ↗Lisān ↗Lane ↗al-Khalīl: used ↗Quran ×129

an entry in Ibn Fārislater sources onlyin none of them

Do these six share one core meaning?

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.

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
How it is madeSībawayh and Ibn Jinnī · phonetics

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

ط

ومما بين طرف اللسان وأصول الثنايا مخرج الطاء، والدال، والتاء

From between the tip of the tongue and the roots of the front teeth is the place of the ṭāʾ, the dāl and the tāʾ. Sībawayh, line 26559 ↗

ومما بين طرف اللسان وأصول الثنايا، مخرج الطاء والدال والتاء

From between the tip of the tongue and the roots of the front teeth is the place of the ṭāʾ, the dāl and the tāʾ. Ibn Jinnī, line 982 ↗

و

ومما بين الشفتين مخرج الباء، والميم، والواو

From between the two lips is the place of the bāʾ, the mīm and the wāw. Sībawayh, line 26563 ↗

ومما بين الشفتين مخرج الباء والميم والواو

From between the two lips is the place of the bāʾ, the mīm and the wāw. Ibn Jinnī, line 986 ↗

ع

ومن أوسط الحلق مخرج العين والحاء

From the middle of the throat is the place of the ʿayn and the ḥāʾ. Sībawayh, lines 26548–26549 ↗

ومن وسط الحلق مخرج العين والحاء

From the middle of the throat is the place of the ʿayn and the ḥāʾ. Ibn Jinnī, line 970 ↗

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

ط

Level of existence: السماء السادسة · the sixth heaven

Divine Name: المحصي · the Enumerator (al-Muḥṣī)

Lunar mansion: الزبانا · al-Zubānā

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 64680

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

المرتبة العشرية فحروفها حارة يابسة

The tenfold rank: its letters are hot and dry.

Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2582

و

Level of existence: تعيين الرتب والمقامات والمنازل · the determination of ranks, stations and waystations

Divine Name: رفيع الدرجات · Rafīʿ al-Darajāt, Exalted in Degrees

Lunar mansion: الرشا · al-Rashāʾ

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 62121

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

المرتبة العشرية فحروفها حارة يابسة

The tenfold rank: its letters are hot and dry.

Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2582

ع

Level of existence: الطبيعة · Nature

Divine Name: الباطن · The Inward (al-Bāṭin)

Lunar mansion: الثريا · al-Thurayyā (the Pleiades)

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 63825

Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 9 line 2572 ↗

Meaning by vowelal-Dabbāgh · a visionary claim about a primordial “Syriac”, not historical Syriac

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

ط

فهي إشارة إلى الشيء الذي جنسه طاهر وصاف إلى النهاية، وهو في ذاته أيضا طاهر صاف إلى النهاية.

It is an indication of the thing whose genus is pure and clear to the utmost, and which is also, in itself, pure and clear to the utmost.

فهي إشارة إلى الخبيث إلى النهاية عكس الأول.

It is an indication of what is foul to the utmost, the reverse of the first.

فهي إشارة إلى الشيء الذي من طبعه السكون أو أمر بالسكون.

It is an indication of the thing whose nature is stillness, or which has been commanded to be still.

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

و

فهي الأشياء المشتبكة في الإنسان مثل العروق والأصابع وما أشبه ذلك.

It is the intertwined things in the human being, such as veins, fingers and the like.

فهي الأشياء المباينة لبني آدم مثل الأفلاك والجبال وما أشبه ذلك

It is things distinct from the children of Adam, such as the celestial spheres, mountains and the like.

فهي الأشياء المشتبكة المستقذرة أو المبغوضة كالأمعاء ونحوها.

It is intertwined things that are filthy or detested, such as the intestines and the like.

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

ع

فهي اسم لقدوم أو رحيل.

It is a name for arrival or departure.

فهي اسم للساكن في الذات التي تقوم به.

It is a name for that which dwells in the self and by which the self subsists.

فهي اسم لخبث الذات.

It is a name for the foulness of the self.

al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-Lamaṭī
Two-letter nucleus10 roots in Ibn Fāris’s chapterط و

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 18233 ↗

  • طوىالطاء والواو والياء أصل صحيح يدل على إدراج شيء حتى يدرج بعضه في بعض ثم يحمل عليه تشبيهاQ 5 · L18234
  • طوبالطاء والواو والباء ليس بأصل لأن الطوب فيما أحسب هذا الذي يسمى الآجر وما أظن العرب تعرفه وأما طوبى فليس من هذا وأصله الياء كأنها فعلى من الطيب فقلبت اL18248
  • طوحالطاء والواو والحاء ليس بأصل وكأنه من باب الإبدالL18251
  • طودالطاء والواو والدال أصل صحيح وفيه كلمة واحدة فالطود الجبل العظيمQ 1 · L18252
  • طورالطاء والواو والراء أصل صحيح يدل على معنى واحد وهو الامتداد في شيء من مكان أو زمانQ 11 · L18255
  • طوسالطاء والواو والسين ليس بأصل إنما فيه الذيL18262
  • طوعالطاء والواو والعين أصل صحيح واحد يدل على الإصحاب والانقيادQ 129 · L18266
  • طوفالطاء والواو والفاء أصل واحد صحيح يدل على دوران الشيء على الشيء وأن يحف به ثم يحمل عليهQ 41 · L18276
  • طوقالطاء والواو والقاف أصل صحيح يدل على مثل ما دل عليه الباب الذي قبله فكل ما استدار بشيء فهو طوق وسمي البناء طاقا لاستدارته إذا عقد والطيلسان طاق لأنه يQ 4 · L18294
  • طوطالطاء والواو والطاء كلمتان إن صحتا يقولون إن الطوط القطن والطوط الرجل الطويلL18314
In the sister scriptsHebrew ט ו עSyriac ܛ ܘ ܥ
Arabicط و ع
Hebrewט ו ע
Syriacܛ ܘ ܥ
Ancient South Arabian (musnad)𐩷 𐩥 𐩲
Phoenician𐤈 𐤅 𐤏

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.

  • Classical lexiconAl-Khalīl sets ṭāʿa yaṭūʿu ṭawʿan against karh, compulsion, and distinguishes ṭāʿaka, he went along with your command, from ṭāwaʿaka, he matched or concurred with you, a nuance of mutuality within compliance.well attested

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

    Al-Khalīl sets ṭāʿa yaṭūʿu ṭawʿan against karh, compulsion, and distinguishes ṭāʿaka, he went along with your command, from ṭāwaʿaka, he matched or concurred with you, a nuance of mutuality within compliance. Al-Jawharī records the idiom fulān ṭawʿu yadayka, he is entirely at your disposal, and discusses istiṭāʿa as iṭāqa, ability, noting the dialectal contraction yasṭīʿu for yastaṭīʿu and Ḥamza's reading with assimilation. Ibn Fāris fixes the single root-sense as companionship and compliance, derives istiṭāʿa from an original istiṭwāʿ with the wāw elided and hāʾ substituted, on the pattern of istiʿāna, and notes that tataṭawwaʿa narrows from general self-exertion toward capacity to specifically voluntary good works, whence al-muṭṭawwiʿa for volunteer fighters. Al-Rāghib separates ṭawʿ, plain compliance opposed to karh, citing Q3:83 and Q41:11, from ṭāʿa proper, compliance specifically with a command, imtithāl al-amr, citing Q4:81 and Q47:21. Ibn Manẓūr adds only that ṭayʿ is a dialectal variant of ṭawʿ by muʿāqaba, and Lane's entry, 'he was, or became, submissive to him,' with its three coordinate conjugations, confirms this settled sense across the tradition.

    Draws on: khalil_cayn · jawhari_sihah · ibnfaris_maqayis · raghib_mufradat · ibnmanzur_lisan · Lane

    • al-ʿAyn
    • al-Ṣiḥāḥ
    • Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lugha
    • al-Rāghib, al-Mufradāt
    • Lisān al-ʿArab
    • Lane, Arabic-English Lexicon
  • Letters & soundIn the tables supplied, ṭāʾ marks the sixth heaven and, for al-Dabbāgh, whatever is pure and clear in its genus and in itself;speculative

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

    In the tables supplied, ṭāʾ marks the sixth heaven and, for al-Dabbāgh, whatever is pure and clear in its genus and in itself; wāw marks the determination of ranks and waystations and, for al-Dabbāgh, the intertwined things in the human being such as veins and fingers; ʿayn marks Nature (al-Ṭabīʿa) and, for al-Dabbāgh, arrival or departure. Read through this scheme, ṭawʿ as compliance could be taken to signify a pure disposition (ṭāʾ) ranked and stationed (wāw) in relation to nature's turning toward or away (ʿayn), the soul aligning itself with a movement not its own. This reading follows the given letter-correspondences as an exercise in resonance; mainstream linguistics treats such symbolism as at most suggestive and does not accept it as evidence for the historical formation of the root.

    Draws on: ibnArabi_akbari198 · dabbagh_fatha

    • Ibn ʿArabī, letter correspondences (akbari198)
    • al-Dabbāgh, letter meanings (fatḥa series)
  • Root structureIbn Fāris marks several ṭ-w- entries as not genuine roots (ṭawb, ṭawḥ, ṭaws), leaving a cluster of physically encompassing senses around ṭawʿ: ṭawā, folding one thing into another;plausible

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

    Ibn Fāris marks several ṭ-w- entries as not genuine roots (ṭawb, ṭawḥ, ṭaws), leaving a cluster of physically encompassing senses around ṭawʿ: ṭawā, folding one thing into another; ṭawr, extension through space or time, a stage; ṭāf, circling around a thing; ṭawq, encircling, a collar. Set among these, ṭawʿ, going along with another's will, shares its consonantal shape with ṭāf and ṭawq, both verbs of circling or encompassing, suggesting compliance as a kind of following the arc of another's command. Among the permutations, ʿaṭw (ʿ-ṭ-w) is separately attested with the sense of reaching out or taking by hand, and the two roots share the letters ṭ and ʿ/w in different order; any link between the extended hand of ʿaṭw and the compliant following of ṭawʿ is a juxtaposition suggested by Ibn Jinnī's method of greater derivation, not an established derivation.

    Draws on: ibnfaris_nucleus · permutations

  • Semitic kin & loanwordsNo confident Semitic cognate for ṭ-w-ʿ in the sense 'to obey, comply' is identifiable from the standard comparative lexica.uncertain

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

    No confident Semitic cognate for ṭ-w-ʿ in the sense 'to obey, comply' is identifiable from the standard comparative lexica. Syriac preserves a root ṭ-ʿ-y with the sense of erring or wandering, which is not a semantic match and may in fact stand closer to an antonym than a cognate. The common Semitic terms for obedience run through other roots (e.g., š-m-ʿ, ʿ-b-d), so the Arabic development of ṭāʿa/ṭawʿ appears to be an inner-Arabic semantic specialization rather than a shared inherited sense, and the root is not a loanword.

    Draws on: no_cognate

  • Quranic exegesisAt Q3:83 and Q41:11, wa-lahu aslama man fī l-samāwāti wa-l-arḍi ṭawʿan wa-karhan, al-Ṭabarī reads ṭawʿ as the willing submission of believers and karh as the constrained submission of unbelievers, both falling under a single ontological submission of every created thing to God's power, distinct from the voluntary religious obedience commanded of moral agents.well attested

    How the classical exegetes read the word in the Quran.

    At Q3:83 and Q41:11, wa-lahu aslama man fī l-samāwāti wa-l-arḍi ṭawʿan wa-karhan, al-Ṭabarī reads ṭawʿ as the willing submission of believers and karh as the constrained submission of unbelievers, both falling under a single ontological submission of every created thing to God's power, distinct from the voluntary religious obedience commanded of moral agents. Al-Zamakhsharī highlights the rhetorical antithesis of ṭawʿan wa-karhan as covering the entire range of creation, animate and inanimate, willing and unwilling. Al-Rāzī takes the verse as proof that even the bodies and atoms of disbelievers submit to God's determination despite their hearts' rebellion, distinguishing this takwīnī submission from taklīfī obedience. On the frequently repeated aṭīʿū Llāha wa-aṭīʿū l-rasūl (e.g., Q4:59), the exegetes read a hierarchy in which obedience to the Messenger is obedience to God (Q4:80), and obedience to those in authority is conditioned on their own obedience to God; al-Rāghib's Mufradāt underlines that ṭāʿa proper means compliance with a command, imtithāl al-amr, sharper than the general ṭawʿ opposed to karh.

    Draws on: tabari · zamakhshari · razi · raghib

  • Philosophy & kalāmIstiṭāʿa, capacity for action, is a central term in kalām debates over qadar, free will and determination.well attested

    The word as a technical term in falsafa and theology.

    Istiṭāʿa, capacity for action, is a central term in kalām debates over qadar, free will and determination. The Baṣran Muʿtazila held that istiṭāʿa precedes the act and resides in the agent before acting, so that the agent genuinely originates the act and bears responsibility for it. The Ashʿarīs, following al-Ashʿarī, held that istiṭāʿa is created together with the act itself and does not precede it, so that the human agent does not independently originate the act but only 'acquires' it, the doctrine of kasb. This dispute over ṭ-w-ʿ vocabulary is worked out at length by al-Bāqillānī, al-Juwaynī, al-Ghazālī, and al-Rāzī as the locus classicus for the theological treatment of human agency.

    Draws on: kalam_qadar

  • Akbarian readingIn the same passage of Faṣṣ Ādam where Ibn ʿArabī speaks of complying with mā rusima lī, he adds that had he wished to exceed this, mā istaṭaʿtu, he would not have been able to, because the Presence (al-ḥaḍra) prevents it.plausible

    The word in Ibn ʿArabī's text and terminology.

    In the same passage of Faṣṣ Ādam where Ibn ʿArabī speaks of complying with mā rusima lī, he adds that had he wished to exceed this, mā istaṭaʿtu, he would not have been able to, because the Presence (al-ḥaḍra) prevents it. Here istiṭāʿa marks the boundary of a given receptivity before the Real, an ontological rather than a merely moral inability, the capacity itself being bounded by what the ḥaḍra allows rather than by the author's own choice. No separate Iṣṭilāḥ entry for ṭawʿ or istiṭāʿa appears in the corpus supplied, so this reading is drawn from usage in this single passage rather than from a formal definition.

    Draws on: fassAdam

    • Ibn ʿArabī, Faṣṣ Ḥikma Ādamiyya
Neighbouring rootsThe roots that share letters with this one, as a map you can open out