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Arabic root

و-ح-ي

Waw-Ha-Ya

2 words from this root family

About this root

Waw-Ha-Ya (و-ح-ي) has 2 words in the Fahm dictionary: waḥy (revelation / divine inspiration), awḥā (he revealed / he inspired).

In the Quran, words built on this root occur 78 times in 70 verses, across 33 of the 114 suras. The first is in 3:44. The form أَوْحَى (he revealed / he inspired) accounts for 72 of them.

Themes: Quranic

Words from this root

WordMeaningTypeIn the QuranTaught in
وَحْيٌ
waḥy
revelation / divine inspirationnoun, B16×Advanced Quranic Vocabulary
أَوْحَى
awḥā
he revealed / he inspiredverb, A272×Quranic Verbs of Action

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

In the Quran

ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ أَنۢبَآءِ ٱلْغَيْبِ نُوحِيهِ إِلَيْكَ ۚ وَمَا كُنتَ لَدَيْهِمْ إِذْ يُلْقُونَ أَقْلَـٰمَهُمْ أَيُّهُمْ يَكْفُلُ مَرْيَمَ وَمَا كُنتَ لَدَيْهِمْ إِذْ يَخْتَصِمُونَ

This is of the tidings of things hidden. We reveal it unto thee (Muhammad). Thou wast not present with them when they threw their pens (to know) which of them should be the guardian of Mary, nor wast thou present with them when they quarrelled (thereupon).

Quran 3:44
۞ إِنَّآ أَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَيْكَ كَمَآ أَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَىٰ نُوحٍ وَٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ مِنۢ بَعْدِهِۦ ۚ وَأَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَىٰٓ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ وَإِسْمَـٰعِيلَ وَإِسْحَـٰقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ وَٱلْأَسْبَاطِ وَعِيسَىٰ وَأَيُّوبَ وَيُونُسَ وَهَـٰرُونَ وَسُلَيْمَـٰنَ ۚ وَءَاتَيْنَا دَاوُۥدَ زَبُورًا

Lo! We inspire thee as We inspired Noah and the prophets after him, as We inspired Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and Jesus and Job and Jonah and Aaron and Solomon, and as We imparted unto David the Psalms;

Quran 4:163
وَٱصْنَعِ ٱلْفُلْكَ بِأَعْيُنِنَا وَوَحْيِنَا وَلَا تُخَـٰطِبْنِى فِى ٱلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّهُم مُّغْرَقُونَ

Build the ship under Our eyes and by Our inspiration, and speak not unto Me on behalf of those who do wrong. Lo! they will be drowned.

Quran 11:37

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
وَحْيٌ
waḥy

revelation / divine inspiration

Example
وَمَا يَنْطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَى إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْيٌ يُوحَى
wa-mā yanṭiqu ʿani al-hawā in huwa illā waḥyun yūḥā
Nor does he speak from his own desire. It is only a revelation revealed (53:3-4)
Grammar

Masculine verbal noun (maṣdar) of أَوْحَى (Form IV). Related: أَوْحَى (to reveal/inspire), يُوحَى (it is revealed). Waḥy can range from divine scripture to natural instinct (as with bees, 16:68).

Culture

Waḥy is the means by which God communicates with prophets. It came to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in various forms: through the angel Jibrīl, as the ringing of a bell, or as direct divine speech.

A2verb
أَوْحَى
awḥā

he revealed / he inspired

Example
وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَىٰ مُوسَىٰ أَنْ أَلْقِ عَصَاكَ
wa-awḥaynā ilā Mūsā an alqi ʿaṣāk
And We inspired to Moses: Throw your staff (7:117)
Grammar

Form IV verb (أَفْعَلَ). Related to وَحْيٌ (revelation, already q143). Used for divine revelation to prophets and inspired communication.

Culture

Waḥy (revelation) is the mechanism through which God communicated the Quran to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ through the Angel Jibrīl.

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