Arabic root

ا-س-و

Alif-Sin-Waw

2 words from this root family

About this root

Alif-Sin-Waw (ا-س-و) has 2 words in the Fahm dictionary: uswah (example / model / role model), maʾsāh (tragedy).

In the Quran, words built on this root occur 7 times in 7 verses, across 5 of the 114 suras. The first is in 5:26. The form أُسْوَةٌ (example / model / role model) accounts for 3 of them.

Themes: Quranic, Literature Arts

Words from this root

Word	Meaning	Type	In the Quran	Taught in
أُسْوَةٌ uswah	example / model / role model	noun, B1	3×	Character, Community, and Worship
مَأْسَاة maʾsāh	tragedy	noun, B2		Cultural Movements

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

In the Quran

قَالَ فَإِنَّهَا مُحَرَّمَةٌ عَلَيْهِمْ ۛ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً ۛ يَتِيهُونَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ فَلَا تَأْسَ عَلَى ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْفَـٰسِقِينَ

(Their Lord) said: For this the land will surely be forbidden them for forty years that they will wander in the earth, bewildered. So grieve not over the wrongdoing folk.

Quran 5:26

فَتَوَلَّىٰ عَنْهُمْ وَقَالَ يَـٰقَوْمِ لَقَدْ أَبْلَغْتُكُمْ رِسَـٰلَـٰتِ رَبِّى وَنَصَحْتُ لَكُمْ ۖ فَكَيْفَ ءَاسَىٰ عَلَىٰ قَوْمٍ كَـٰفِرِينَ

So he turned from them and said: O my people! I delivered my Lord's messages unto you and gave you good advice; then how can I sorrow for a people that rejected (truth)?

Quran 7:93

لَّقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِى رَسُولِ ٱللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱلْيَوْمَ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَ وَذَكَرَ ٱللَّهَ كَثِيرًا

Verily in the messenger of Allah ye have a good example for him who looketh unto Allah and the Last Day, and remembereth Allah much.

Quran 33:21

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

B1noun

أُسْوَةٌ

uswah

example / model / role model

Example

لَقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ

laqad kāna lakum fī rasūli Allāhi uswatun ḥasanah

There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent example (33:21)

Root: أ-س-و Quranic

Grammar

Feminine noun. Also written قُدْوَةٌ (qudwah) in some dialects. أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ (excellent example) is a key Quranic phrase.

Culture

This verse establishes the Prophet ﷺ as the living model of Quranic ethics - his Sunnah (practice) is the practical application of Quranic principles.

B2noun

مَأْسَاة

maʾsāh