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Arabic root

ا-ل-ف

Alif-Lam-Fa

6 words from this root family

About this root

Alif-Lam-Fa (ا-ل-ف) has 6 words in the Fahm dictionary: alf (one thousand), alfāni (two thousand), thalāthatu ālāfin (three thousand), ʿasharatu ālāfin (ten thousand), and 2 more.

In the Quran, words built on this root occur 22 times in 19 verses, across 12 of the 114 suras. The first is in 2:96. The form أَلْف (one thousand) accounts for 14 of them.

Themes: Numbers, Basics, Numbers Large, Literature Arts

Words from this root

WordMeaningTypeIn the QuranTaught in
أَلْف
alf
one thousandnumeral, A114×Numbers 10-1000
أَلْفَانِ
alfāni
two thousandnumeral, A2Large Numbers & Ordinals
ثَلَاثَةُ آلَافٍ
thalāthatu ālāfin
three thousandnumeral, A2Large Numbers & Ordinals
عَشَرَةُ آلَافٍ
ʿasharatu ālāfin
ten thousandnumeral, A2Large Numbers & Ordinals
مِئَةُ أَلْفٍ
miʾatu alfin
one hundred thousandnumeral, A2Large Numbers & Ordinals
أَلَّفَ
allafa
to compose / to authorverb, B25×Music & Performance

“In the Quran” counts every occurrence of that dictionary form, in any of its senses.

In the Quran

وَلَتَجِدَنَّهُمْ أَحْرَصَ ٱلنَّاسِ عَلَىٰ حَيَوٰةٍ وَمِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا۟ ۚ يَوَدُّ أَحَدُهُمْ لَوْ يُعَمَّرُ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ وَمَا هُوَ بِمُزَحْزِحِهِۦ مِنَ ٱلْعَذَابِ أَن يُعَمَّرَ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ بَصِيرٌۢ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ

And thou wilt find them greediest of mankind for life and (greedier) than the idolaters. (Each) one of them would like to be allowed to live a thousand years. And to live (a thousand years) would be no means remove him from the doom. Allah is Seer of what they do.

Quran 2:96
وَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِهِمْ ۚ لَوْ أَنفَقْتَ مَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا مَّآ أَلَّفْتَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِهِمْ وَلَـٰكِنَّ ٱللَّهَ أَلَّفَ بَيْنَهُمْ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ

And (as for the believers) hath attuned their hearts. If thou hadst spent all that is in the earth thou couldst not have attuned their hearts, but Allah hath attuned them. Lo! He is Mighty, Wise.

Quran 8:63
۞ إِنَّمَا ٱلصَّدَقَـٰتُ لِلْفُقَرَآءِ وَٱلْمَسَـٰكِينِ وَٱلْعَـٰمِلِينَ عَلَيْهَا وَٱلْمُؤَلَّفَةِ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَفِى ٱلرِّقَابِ وَٱلْغَـٰرِمِينَ وَفِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَٱبْنِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ ۖ فَرِيضَةً مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ

The alms are only for the poor and the needy, and those who collect them, and those whose hearts are to be reconciled, and to free the captives and the debtors, and for the cause of Allah, and (for) the wayfarer; a duty imposed by Allah. Allah is Knower, Wise.

Quran 9:60

Arabic text: Tanzil Quran Text (Uthmani 1.1), CC BY 3.0, tanzil.net. English: Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (1930), public domain, via Project Gutenberg. Counts and verse choice: Quranic Arabic Corpus morphology data (corpus.quran.com).

Word cards with examples

A1numeral
أَلْف
alf

one thousand

Example
أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٍ
alfu laylatin wa-laylatin
One Thousand and One Nights
A2numeral
أَلْفَانِ
alfāni

two thousand

Example
الْإِيجَارُ أَلْفَانِ دُولَارٍ شَهْرِيًّا
al-ījāru alfāni dūlārin shahriyyan
The rent is two thousand dollars per month
Grammar

2000 uses the dual form of أَلْف: أَلْفَانِ (nominative) / أَلْفَيْنِ (accusative/genitive).

A2numeral
ثَلَاثَةُ آلَافٍ
thalāthatu ālāfin

three thousand

Example
اِشْتَرَى سَيَّارَةً بِثَلَاثَةِ آلَافِ دِينَارٍ
ishtarā sayyāratan bi-thalāthati ālāfi dīnārin
He bought a car for three thousand dinars
Grammar

3-10 thousand use the broken plural آلَاف. Because أَلْف is masculine, the units 3-10 appear in their with-taa form (ثَلَاثَة, أَرْبَعَة...) following reverse polarity. 11+ thousand use the singular أَلْف.

A2numeral
عَشَرَةُ آلَافٍ
ʿasharatu ālāfin

ten thousand

Example
رَاتِبُهُ عَشَرَةُ آلَافِ رِيَالٍ
rātibuhū ʿasharatu ālāfi riyālin
His salary is ten thousand riyals
A2numeral
مِئَةُ أَلْفٍ
miʾatu alfin

one hundred thousand

Example
عَدَدُ السُّكَّانِ مِئَةُ أَلْفِ نَسَمَةٍ
ʿadadu as-sukkāni miʾatu alfi nasamatin
The population is one hundred thousand people
B2verb
أَلَّفَ
allafa

to compose / to author

Example
أَلَّفَ أَكثَرَ مِن عِشرينَ كِتابًا.
allafa akthara min ʿishrīna kitāban.
He authored more than twenty books.

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