knife
Can be masculine or feminine in Arabic
Sin-Kaf-Nun
4 words from this root family
Sin-Kaf-Nun (س-ك-ن) has 4 words in the Fahm dictionary: sikkīn (knife), miskīn (poor person / needy / destitute), sakīnah (tranquility / divine calm / serenity), sakana (to live / to reside).
In the Quran, words built on this root occur 69 times in 66 verses, across 40 of the 114 suras. The first is in 2:35. The form مِسْكِينٌ (poor person / needy / destitute) accounts for 23 of them.
| Word | Meaning | Type | In the Quran | Taught in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
سِكِّين sikkīn | knife | noun, A1 | 1× | At the Restaurant - Part 2 |
مِسْكِينٌ miskīn | poor person / needy / destitute | noun, A2 | 23× | Life, Death, and the Hereafter |
سَكِينَةٌ sakīnah | tranquility / divine calm / serenity | noun, B1 | 6× | Character, Community, and Worship |
سَكَنَ sakana | to live / to reside | verb, A1 | 15× | Action Verbs - Work & Study |
“In the Quran” counts every occurrence of that dictionary form, in any of its senses.
وَقُلْنَا يَـٰٓـَٔادَمُ ٱسْكُنْ أَنتَ وَزَوْجُكَ ٱلْجَنَّةَ وَكُلَا مِنْهَا رَغَدًا حَيْثُ شِئْتُمَا وَلَا تَقْرَبَا هَـٰذِهِ ٱلشَّجَرَةَ فَتَكُونَا مِنَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَAnd We said: O Adam! Dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden, and eat ye freely (of the fruits) thereof where ye will; but come not nigh this tree lest ye become wrong-doers.
يَسْـَٔلُونَكَ مَاذَا يُنفِقُونَ ۖ قُلْ مَآ أَنفَقْتُم مِّنْ خَيْرٍ فَلِلْوَٰلِدَيْنِ وَٱلْأَقْرَبِينَ وَٱلْيَتَـٰمَىٰ وَٱلْمَسَـٰكِينِ وَٱبْنِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ ۗ وَمَا تَفْعَلُوا۟ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ بِهِۦ عَلِيمٌThey ask thee, (O Muhammad), what they shall spend. Say: that which ye spend for good (must go) to parents and near kindred and orphans and the needy and the wayfarer. And whatsoever good ye do, lo! Allah is Aware of it.
ثُمَّ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ سَكِينَتَهُۥ عَلَىٰ رَسُولِهِۦ وَعَلَى ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَأَنزَلَ جُنُودًا لَّمْ تَرَوْهَا وَعَذَّبَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ ۚ وَذَٰلِكَ جَزَآءُ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَThen Allah sent His peace of reassurance down upon His messenger and upon the believers, and sent down hosts ye could not see, and punished those who disbelieved. Such is the reward of disbelievers.
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).
Can be masculine or feminine in Arabic
Masculine noun (mifʿīl pattern). Plural: مَسَاكِينُ (masākīn). Distinguished from فَقِيرٌ (poor) - miskīn implies greater deprivation and helplessness.
Feeding the poor is repeatedly emphasized in the Quran as a mark of righteousness. The miskīn has a designated share in zakāh.
Feminine noun. From سَكَنَ (to be still/calm). Related: سَكَنٌ (dwelling/comfort). God 'sends down' sakīnah - it is a divine gift, not a human achievement.
Sakīnah is a special divine gift of inner peace sent to believers during trials. It descended on the Prophet ﷺ in the cave during the Hijrah (9:40).
Form I verb. Past: sakana, Present: yaskunu. Takes fī (في) for place of residence.