Quranic root
شفع
sh · f · ʿ
The root centers on joining two things, pairing what was single, and becoming an accompanying counterpart.
From pairing and making even come extensions to joining oneself to another as an ally or petitioner, interceding, supporting another's action, and acquiring adjoining property by pre-emption.
- Maqāyīs · row 2664
- Mufradāt · row 776
- 5
- Quran-attested forms
- 8
- Quran senses
- 31
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
شَفَعَ
shafaʿa
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- Quran occurrences
- 5 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
To intercede or plead for another, joining oneself to that person before an authority in order to seek benefit or avert harm.
Used with constructions such as شَفَعَ لَهُ إِلَى فُلَانٍ, شَفَعَ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ, and شَفَعَ فِي الأَمْرِ. The interceding party is often of higher standing than the person aided.
- Lane · entry 38839
- Mufradāt · row 776
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:255word 23
“can intercede”
Quran 21:28word 8
“they (can) intercede”
To join oneself to another as an aider, strengthening or sharing in an action or course, whether beneficial or harmful.
In the Quranic construction شَفَاعَةً حَسَنَةً or شَفَاعَةً سَيِّئَةً, the joining may involve supporting another's good or evil deed, or initiating a course that others follow and thereby sharing its consequences.
- Lane · entry 38839
- Mufradāt · row 776
Selected Quran examples
Quran 4:85word 2
“intercedes”
Quran 4:85word 10
“intercedes”
To pray or supplicate before another.
This is an explicitly reported interpretation of the Quranic construction يَشْفَعُ عِنْدَهُ; it is distinct from pleading for another as an intercessor.
- Lane · entry 38839
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:255word 23
“can intercede”
شَافِع
shāfiʿ
- Part of speech
- Active participle
- Quran occurrences
- 2 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Those who intercede or advocate for others.
The Quranic plural denotes agents who join themselves to others in intercession; its form is the active participle of شَفَعَ.
- Mufradāt · row 776
Selected Quran examples
Quran 26:100word 4
“intercessors”
Quran 74:48word 4
“(of) the intercessors”
شَفَاعَة
shafāʿah
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 13 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Intercession or advocacy: joining oneself to another as a supporter and petitioner in order to seek benefit or avert harm.
It commonly describes the intervention of one with greater standing on behalf of another, including intercession before God; its acceptance is subject to the permission or approval stated in the surrounding Quranic construction.
- Lane · entry 38839
- Mufradāt · row 776
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:48word 12
“any intercession”
Quran 20:109word 4
“the intercession”
Supportive participation in another's action or course, strengthening it and sharing its benefit or harm.
This construction is exemplified by the Quranic good and evil intercessions in 4:85, where joining another may support a beneficial or harmful deed or establish a course that others follow.
- Lane · entry 38839
- Mufradāt · row 776
Selected Quran examples
Quran 4:85word 3
“an intercession”
شَفِيع
shafīʿ
- Part of speech
- Noun / adjective
- Quran occurrences
- 10 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
An intercessor or advocate who joins himself to another on that person's behalf.
The Quranic singular and plural forms refer to an interceding agent; such intercession is not effective independently of the relevant divine permission or approval.
- Lane · entry 38848
- Mufradāt · row 776
Selected Quran examples
Quran 6:51word 15
“any intercessor”
Quran 10:3word 19
“(is) any intercessor”
Quran 39:43word 6
“intercessors”
شَفْع
shafʿ
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 1 occurrence
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
The even, a pair, or one thing joined to another as its counterpart.
In وَالشَّفْعِ وَالْوَتْرِ, the word denotes the paired or even counterpart of the odd or single. Classical interpretation applies the verse variously to paired creatures, paired days, Adam's descendants, or even-numbered prayers, without changing the basic lexical notion of pairing or evenness.
- Lane · entry 38843
- Mufradāt · row 776
Selected Quran examples
Quran 89:3word 1
“And the even”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:48شَفَـٰعَةٌۭany intercession
- 2:123شَفَـٰعَةٌۭany intercession
- 2:254شَفَـٰعَةٌۭ ۗintercession
- 2:255يَشْفَعُcan intercede
- 4:85يَشْفَعْintercedes
Broader Classical Arabic meanings
Recorded for this root in the Classical lexicons beyond its Quran usage. These are secondary to the Quran senses above.
Show 28 Classical meanings
شَفَعَ
To make a single thing into a pair or couple; to join or couple it with another, including making a single prayer unit two or causing an object to appear doubled.
This is the concrete pairing branch from which several derived uses develop.
- Lane · entry 38839
شَفَعَ
Of a female camel, ewe, or she-goat: to become accompanied by its young, thereby becoming one of a pair.
The pairing is explained through the female and her young being together.
- Lane · entry 38839
شَفَعَ
To claim or demand the right of pre-emption in a house or piece of land being sold.
The claimant seeks to couple the property sold with property already possessed, as a partner or adjoining neighbour.
- Lane · entry 38839
شَفَعَ
To be or become tall or high.
- Lane · entry 38839
شُفِعَ
To be struck by the evil eye.
This is a separately reported passive use and is connected in the source with the disputed terminology of شُفْعَةٌ.
- Lane · entry 38839
شَفَّعَ
To accept or grant someone's intercession.
The object is the person whose intercession is answered or accepted.
- Lane · entry 38840
تَشَفَّعَ
To become a pair or couple, or to become joined to another as a counterpart.
This is the Form V reflexive or quasi-passive development of pairing.
- Lane · entry 38841
تَشَفَّعَ
To have intercession granted or accepted.
This reported quasi-passive interpretation is textually uncertain in the cited entry.
- Lane · entry 38841
- Mufradāt · row 776
شَافِعِيّ
A follower of the legal school of Imam al-Shafi‘i.
This is identified as post-classical usage.
- Lane · entry 38841
اِسْتَشْفَعَ
To ask someone to intercede for oneself, or to seek intercession through someone.
The construction may specify the authority to whom intercession is sought or the person used as its means.
- Lane · entry 38842
- Mufradāt · row 776
شُفْعَة
The right or exercise of pre-emption: acquiring a house or land being sold by coupling it with one's adjoining or jointly owned property.
In legal usage it may denote the entitlement, the demand, or the acquisition itself, commonly against a recent purchaser and for the purchase price.
- Lane · entry 38845
شُفْعَةُ الضُّحَى
The two prayer units performed during the forenoon prayer period.
This is a conventional expression for the two rakʿahs of the duha prayer.
- Lane · entry 38845
شُفْعَة
Diabolical or demoniacal possession, madness, or insanity.
This is a rare lexical use, also described as an affliction perceptible in the face.
- Lane · entry 38845
شُفْعَة
An affliction attributed to the evil eye.
The report is explicitly doubtful and may involve confusion with a form written with the unpointed س.
- Lane · entry 38845
شَفُوع
A she-camel that fills two milking vessels in a single milking.
- Lane · entry 38847
شَفِيع
A person entitled to or claiming the right of pre-emption in a house or piece of land.
The person claims preference as a partner or neighbour over a more remote purchaser.
- Lane · entry 38848
شَفَائِع
Kinds of pasture or herbage that grow in pairs, or twin plants.
This plural noun is applied to paired growths of vegetation.
- Lane · entry 38849
شَافِع
A female camel, ewe, or she-goat accompanied by its young, or having another young one in the belly.
The designation refers to the female being one of a pair with its young.
- Lane · entry 38850
شَافِع
A he-goat or ram, especially one said to sire twins.
This is a livestock-specific use of the active-participle form.
- Lane · entry 38850
عَيْنٌ شَافِعَةٌ
An eye that makes objects appear doubled.
The expression describes double vision rather than ordinary pairing of physical objects.
- Lane · entry 38850
شَافِع
An ally or helper who joins another in acting against an opponent.
This is a figurative extension in which the helper becomes the other person's accompanying supporter in enmity.
- Lane · entry 38850
أَشْفَع
Tall or high.
- Lane · entry 38851
مُشْفِع
A ewe or she-goat that suckles another animal.
- Lane · entry 38852
مُشَفَّع
One whose intercession is accepted.
The expression is reported as an epithet for the Quran in a saying about its accepted intercession.
- Lane · entry 38853
مُشَفِع
One who accepts intercession.
- Lane · entry 38854
مَشْفُوع
A possession, such as a house or piece of land, coupled by purchase with another possession already held.
The term belongs to the property and pre-emption branch of the root.
- Lane · entry 38855
مَشْفُوع
Affected by demoniacal possession, madness, or insanity.
This is a rare passive-participial use; a variant with the unpointed س is also reported.
- Lane · entry 38855
مَشْفُوعَة
A woman said to be afflicted by the evil eye.
The source reports this use specifically in the feminine and notes that the masculine is not used with this meaning.
- Lane · entry 38855
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic expression وَالشَّفْعِ وَالْوَتْرِ has several reported exegetical applications; the entry records the lexical notion of pairing or evenness without selecting one interpretation.
The reported Form V quasi-passive sense meaning that intercession was granted is textually uncertain in the cited lexical discussion.
The evil-eye senses attached to شُفْعَة and مَشْفُوعَة are rare and explicitly reported with doubts about the consonantal reading.