Quranic root
شفق
sh · f · q
The root centers on delicacy or thinness, extending to sensitive apprehension and solicitous concern, and to the delicate residual light of twilight.
From the notion of something fine or delicate, the lexicon develops cautious fear and compassionate concern; the noun شَفَقٌ also denotes the faint, colored light remaining after sunset.
- Maqāyīs · row 2665
- Mufradāt · row 777
- Lane · entry 38859
- 3
- Quran-attested forms
- 4
- Quran senses
- 11
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
أَشْفَقَ
ʾashfaqa
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form IV
- Form
- IV
- 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.
To fear, be apprehensive, or be cautious about something.
In the Quranic occurrences, the construction expresses apprehension about bearing a burden or undertaking an action; with مِنْ or an أنْ-clause, the fear aspect is prominent.
- Lane · entry 38858
- Mufradāt · row 777
Selected Quran examples
Quran 33:72word 11
“and they feared”
Quran 58:13word 1
“Are you afraid”
شَفَقٌ
shafaqun
- 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.
Twilight: the mingling of fading daylight with the darkness of night after sunset, commonly the reddish glow in the western sky.
In the Quranic oath, the noun denotes the residual twilight after sunset. Classical descriptions differ over whether the specific referent is the red afterglow or the remaining white light, so the sense is presented neutrally as twilight.
- Lane · entry 38859
- Mufradāt · row 777
Selected Quran examples
Quran 84:16word 3
“by the twilight glow”
مُشْفِقٌ
mushfiqun
- Part of speech
- Active participle
- Quran occurrences
- 8 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.
Fearful, apprehensive, or filled with awe before a feared consequence or authority.
With مِنْ, the fear aspect is especially prominent; Quranic uses include apprehension concerning the Resurrection, divine punishment, one's deeds, or a reckoning.
- Lane · entry 38863
- Mufradāt · row 777
Selected Quran examples
Quran 21:49word 8
“(are) afraid”
Quran 42:22word 3
“fearful”
Solicitously concerned, with care and fear for the welfare of another or the avoidance of harm.
In the construction with فِي, care or solicitude is more prominent than simple fear, as in concern for one's family.
- Lane · entry 38863
- Mufradāt · row 777
Selected Quran examples
Quran 52:26word 7
“fearful”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 18:49مُشْفِقِينَfearful
- 21:28مُشْفِقُونَstand in awe
- 21:49مُشْفِقُونَ(are) afraid
- 23:57مُّشْفِقُونَ(are) cautious
- 33:72وَأَشْفَقْنَand they feared
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 13 Classical meanings
شَفِقَ
To be niggardly of something and withhold or stint it.
Used with عَلَيْهِ in a classical construction.
- Lane · entry 38856
تَشْفِيقٌ
To make a gift or other thing scanty or small in amount or quantity.
A causative or intensive Form II usage concerning limited quantity.
- Lane · entry 38857
تَشْفِيقٌ
To weave badly or with scanty, unsubstantial yarn.
Applied to cloth or its weaving.
- Lane · entry 38857
أَشْفَقَ
To show solicitous affection, kindness, compassion, or favourable inclination toward someone, with concern that harm may befall them.
With عَلَى, care and solicitude are more prominent than fear; this contrasts with the fear-dominant مِنْ construction.
- Lane · entry 38858
أَشْفَقَ
To be impatient of someone or something.
A classical use with مِنْ distinct from the ordinary fear or caution sense.
- Lane · entry 38858
أَشْفَقَ
To enter upon or arrive during the time of twilight.
Used in a temporal construction with شَفَقٌ.
- Lane · entry 38858
شَفَقٌ
Fear or solicitous concern, especially the concern of one giving earnest advice for the person advised.
This emotional noun can include compassion, tenderness, and an effort to protect or reform the person concerned.
- Lane · entry 38859
شَفَقٌ
A garment or piece of cloth dyed red.
A figurative use based on the color of twilight.
- Lane · entry 38859
شَفَقٌ
Daylight or day.
A reported classical lexical use distinct from the usual twilight sense.
- Lane · entry 38859
شَفَقٌ
A side, quarter, or remote region.
The plural is أَشْفَاقٌ; the expression can describe being apart or on the outskirts of an affair.
- Lane · entry 38859
شَفَقٌ
A bad, poor, or thin thing, especially a poor or insubstantial garment.
An evaluative use concerning inferior quality or thinness.
- Lane · entry 38859
شَفِيقٌ
A compassionate or affectionate person; in a conventional use, one who gives sincere advice and strives to reform another.
It may function as an intensive epithet for compassionate concern and is explicitly related lexically to مُشْفِقٌ.
- Lane · entry 38863
مُشَفَّقٌ
Made scanty or small in amount, especially of a gift.
A figurative passive Form II usage describing limited quantity.
- Lane · entry 38866
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The emotional meanings distinguish fear-dominant مِنْ constructions from care-dominant عَلَى or فِي constructions.
For شَفَقٌ, classical authorities differ over whether the specific twilight referent is the red afterglow or the remaining white light; the Quranic entry therefore uses the broader term twilight.
The unattributed claim that مُشْفَقٌ independently means fear is retained as unresolved evidence rather than used as a separate meaning.
Unassigned or ambiguous evidence
lane-unit:$fq:38864:g2:main reports, without a named supporting authority, that مُشْفَقٌ means fear; the claim cannot be assigned confidently beyond the independently supported entries.