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Arabic root

ش-ف-ع

Shin-Fa-Ayn

1 word from this root family

About this root

Shin-Fa-Ayn (ش-ف-ع) has 1 word in the Fahm dictionary: shafāʿah (intercession).

In the Quran, words built on this root occur 31 times in 26 verses, across 19 of the 114 suras. The first is in 2:48. The form شَفَاعَةٌ (intercession) accounts for 13 of them.

Themes: Quranic

Words from this root

WordMeaningTypeIn the QuranTaught in
شَفَاعَةٌ
shafāʿah
intercessionnoun, B113×Community and Society

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

In the Quran

وَٱتَّقُوا۟ يَوْمًا لَّا تَجْزِى نَفْسٌ عَن نَّفْسٍ شَيْـًٔا وَلَا يُقْبَلُ مِنْهَا شَفَـٰعَةٌ وَلَا يُؤْخَذُ مِنْهَا عَدْلٌ وَلَا هُمْ يُنصَرُونَ

And guard yourselves against a day when no soul will in aught avail another, nor will intercession be accepted from it, nor will compensation be received from it, nor will they be helped.

Quran 2:48
مَّن يَشْفَعْ شَفَـٰعَةً حَسَنَةً يَكُن لَّهُۥ نَصِيبٌ مِّنْهَا ۖ وَمَن يَشْفَعْ شَفَـٰعَةً سَيِّئَةً يَكُن لَّهُۥ كِفْلٌ مِّنْهَا ۗ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ مُّقِيتًا

Whoso interveneth in a good cause will have the reward thereof, and whoso interveneth in an evil cause will bear the consequence thereof. Allah overseeth all things.

Quran 4:85
وَأَنذِرْ بِهِ ٱلَّذِينَ يَخَافُونَ أَن يُحْشَرُوٓا۟ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ ۙ لَيْسَ لَهُم مِّن دُونِهِۦ وَلِىٌّ وَلَا شَفِيعٌ لَّعَلَّهُمْ يَتَّقُونَ

Warn hereby those who fear (because they know) that they will be gathered unto their Lord, for whom there is no protecting ally nor intercessor beside Him, that they may ward off (evil).

Quran 6:51

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
شَفَاعَةٌ
shafāʿah

intercession

Example
مَنْ ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِنْدَهُ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ
man dhā alladhī yashfaʿu ʿindahū illā bi-idhnihī
Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? (2:255)
Grammar

Feminine verbal noun (maṣdar) of شَفَعَ (to intercede). Related: شَافِعٌ (intercessor), شَفِيعٌ (intercessor). The root also means 'even number' (paired), as intercession 'pairs' the intercessor with the one being interceded for.

Culture

From Āyat al-Kursī. Intercession on the Day of Judgment is only possible with God's permission. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is believed to hold the station of greatest intercession (ash-shafāʿah al-ʿuẓmā).

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