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Arabic root

ز-خ-ر-ف

Zay-Kha-Ra-Fa

2 words from this root family

About this root

Zay-Kha-Ra-Fa (ز-خ-ر-ف) has 2 words in the Fahm dictionary: zukhruf (adornment / gilding / glitter), zakhrafa (ornamentation / decoration).

In the Quran, words built on this root occur 4 times in 4 verses, across 4 of the 114 suras. The first is in 6:112. The form زُخْرُفٌ (adornment / gilding / glitter) accounts for all of them.

Themes: Quranic, Literature Arts

Words from this root

WordMeaningTypeIn the QuranTaught in
زُخْرُفٌ
zukhruf
adornment / gilding / glitternoun, B24×Advanced Quranic & Islamic Terminology
زَخْرَفَة
zakhrafa
ornamentation / decorationnoun, B2Visual Arts & Architecture

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

In the Quran

وَكَذَٰلِكَ جَعَلْنَا لِكُلِّ نَبِىٍّ عَدُوًّا شَيَـٰطِينَ ٱلْإِنسِ وَٱلْجِنِّ يُوحِى بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَىٰ بَعْضٍ زُخْرُفَ ٱلْقَوْلِ غُرُورًا ۚ وَلَوْ شَآءَ رَبُّكَ مَا فَعَلُوهُ ۖ فَذَرْهُمْ وَمَا يَفْتَرُونَ

Thus have We appointed unto every prophet an adversary - devils of humankind and jinn who inspire in one another plausible discourse through guile. If thy Lord willed, they would not do so; so leave them alone with their devising;

Quran 6:112
أَوْ يَكُونَ لَكَ بَيْتٌ مِّن زُخْرُفٍ أَوْ تَرْقَىٰ فِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَلَن نُّؤْمِنَ لِرُقِيِّكَ حَتَّىٰ تُنَزِّلَ عَلَيْنَا كِتَـٰبًا نَّقْرَؤُهُۥ ۗ قُلْ سُبْحَانَ رَبِّى هَلْ كُنتُ إِلَّا بَشَرًا رَّسُولًا

Or thou have a house of gold; or thou ascend up into heaven, and even then we will put no faith in thine ascension till thou bring down for us a book that we can read. Say (O Muhammad): My Lord be Glorified! Am I aught save a mortal messenger?

Quran 17:93
وَزُخْرُفًا ۚ وَإِن كُلُّ ذَٰلِكَ لَمَّا مَتَـٰعُ ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا ۚ وَٱلْـَٔاخِرَةُ عِندَ رَبِّكَ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ

And ornaments of gold. Yet all that would have been but a provision of the life of the world. And the Hereafter with your Lord would have been for those who keep from evil.

Quran 43:35

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

B2noun
زُخْرُفٌ
zukhruf

adornment / gilding / glitter

Example
حَتَّىٰ إِذَا أَخَذَتِ الْأَرْضُ زُخْرُفَهَا وَازَّيَّنَتْ
ḥattā idhā akhadhati al-arḍu zukhrufahā wazzayyanat
Until when the earth has taken on its adornment and is beautified (10:24)
Grammar

Masculine noun. Quadriliteral root (rare in Arabic). Also the name of Surah 43 (az-Zukhruf). Can mean gold ornaments or deceptive embellishment.

Culture

Surah az-Zukhruf uses this word to critique worldly materialism - the glitter of this life is temporary compared to the Hereafter.

B2noun
زَخْرَفَة
zakhrafa

ornamentation / decoration

Example
تَزَيَّنَ المَسجِدُ بِزَخرَفاتٍ إسلامِيَّةٍ رائِعَة.
tazayyana l-masjidu bi-zakhrafātin islāmiyyatin rāʾiʿa.
The mosque is adorned with exquisite Islamic ornamentation.

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