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Arabic root

د-ن-و

Dal-Nun-Waw

1 word from this root family

About this root

Dal-Nun-Waw (د-ن-و) has 1 word in the Fahm dictionary: dunyā (worldly life / this world).

In the Quran, words built on this root occur 133 times in 128 verses, across 46 of the 114 suras. The first is in 2:61. The form دُنْيَا (worldly life / this world) accounts for 115 of them.

Themes: Quranic

Words from this root

WordMeaningTypeIn the QuranTaught in
دُنْيَا
dunyā
worldly life / this worldnoun, A2115×The Hereafter

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

In the Quran

أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱشْتَرَوُا۟ ٱلْحَيَوٰةَ ٱلدُّنْيَا بِٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ ۖ فَلَا يُخَفَّفُ عَنْهُمُ ٱلْعَذَابُ وَلَا هُمْ يُنصَرُونَ

Such are those who buy the life of the world at the price of the Hereafter. Their punishment will not be lightened, neither will they have support.

Quran 2:86
وَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا تُقْسِطُوا۟ فِى ٱلْيَتَـٰمَىٰ فَٱنكِحُوا۟ مَا طَابَ لَكُم مِّنَ ٱلنِّسَآءِ مَثْنَىٰ وَثُلَـٰثَ وَرُبَـٰعَ ۖ فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا۟ فَوَٰحِدَةً أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَـٰنُكُمْ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ أَدْنَىٰٓ أَلَّا تَعُولُوا۟

And if ye fear that ye will not deal fairly by the orphans, marry of the women, who seem good to you, two or three or four; and if ye fear that ye cannot do justice (to so many) then one (only) or (the captives) that your right hands possess. Thus it is more likely that ye will not do injustice.

Quran 4:3
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّبِىُّ قُل لِّأَزْوَٰجِكَ وَبَنَاتِكَ وَنِسَآءِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِن جَلَـٰبِيبِهِنَّ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ أَدْنَىٰٓ أَن يُعْرَفْنَ فَلَا يُؤْذَيْنَ ۗ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا

O Prophet! Tell thy wives and thy daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close round them (when they go abroad). That will be better, so that they may be recognised and not annoyed. Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful.

Quran 33:59

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

A2noun
دُنْيَا
dunyā

worldly life / this world

Example
وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا مَتَاعُ الْغُرُورِ
wa-mā al-ḥayātu ad-dunyā illā matāʿu al-ghurūr
And the worldly life is nothing but the enjoyment of delusion (3:185)
Grammar

Feminine noun (originally an adjective meaning 'nearer/lower'). From دَنَا (to be near/low). Called dunyā because it is the 'nearer' life (compared to the ākhirah) and 'lower' in rank.

Culture

The etymology reveals the Quranic worldview: this life is both 'near' (temporary, at hand) and 'low' (less valuable than the eternal Hereafter).

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