Arabic root

ع-ب-د

Ayn-Ba-Dal

2 words from this root family

About this root

Ayn-Ba-Dal (ع-ب-د) has 2 words in the Fahm dictionary: ʿabd (servant / slave (of God)), ʿibādah (worship / devotion).

In the Quran, words built on this root occur 275 times in 251 verses, across 57 of the 114 suras. The first is in 1:5. The form عَبْدٌ (servant / slave (of God)) accounts for 131 of them.

Themes: Quranic

Words from this root

Word	Meaning	Type	In the Quran	Taught in
عَبْدٌ ʿabd	servant / slave (of God)	noun, A1	131×	The Most Frequent Words (Part 3)
عِبَادَةٌ ʿibādah	worship / devotion	noun, A2		Guidance and Knowledge

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

In the Quran

إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ

Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help.

Quran 1:5

وَإِن كُنتُمْ فِى رَيْبٍ مِّمَّا نَزَّلْنَا عَلَىٰ عَبْدِنَا فَأْتُوا۟ بِسُورَةٍ مِّن مِّثْلِهِۦ وَٱدْعُوا۟ شُهَدَآءَكُم مِّن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ إِن كُنتُمْ صَـٰدِقِينَ

And if ye are in doubt concerning that which We reveal unto Our slave (Muhammad), then produce a surah of the like thereof, and call your witness beside Allah if ye are truthful.

Quran 2:23

صِبْغَةَ ٱللَّهِ ۖ وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ صِبْغَةً ۖ وَنَحْنُ لَهُۥ عَـٰبِدُونَ

(We take our) colour from Allah, and who is better than Allah at colouring. We are His worshippers.

Quran 2:138

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

A1noun

عَبْدٌ

ʿabd

servant / slave (of God)

Example

سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَى بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلًا

subḥāna alladhī asrā biʿabdihī laylan

Exalted is He who took His Servant by night (17:1)

Root: ع-ب-د Quranic

Grammar

Masculine noun. Plural: عِبَادٌ (ʿibād) or عَبِيدٌ (ʿabīd). Related: عِبَادَةٌ (worship), عَابِدٌ (worshipper). Common in names: عَبْدُ اللَّهِ (Abdullah).

Culture

Being called 'abd Allāh' (servant of God) is the highest honor in Islam. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is referred to here as God's servant during the Night Journey (al-Isrāʾ).

A2noun

عِبَادَةٌ

ʿibādah

worship / devotion

Example

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ

wa-mā khalaqtu al-jinna wal-insa illā liyaʿbudūn

And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me (51:56)

Root: ع-ب-د Quranic

Grammar

Feminine verbal noun (maṣdar). Related: عَبْدٌ (servant), عَابِدٌ (worshipper), مَعْبُودٌ (the one worshipped). The verb عَبَدَ means 'to worship/serve.'

Culture

ʿIbādah in Islam is comprehensive: it includes prayer, fasting, and charity, but also honesty, kindness, and fulfilling one's duties - any act done seeking God's pleasure.