Quranic root
أفك
ʾ · f · k
A single root principle of turning something over or diverting it from its proper direction.
The root develops from physical or directional turning to diverting people from truth, falsehood in speech, impaired judgment, overturned settlements, and winds that depart from their normal quarters. These developments are kept distinct from the lexical meanings of individual Quranic forms.
- Maqāyīs · row 116
- Mufradāt · row 44
- Lane · entry 6920
- Lane · entry 6934
- 4
- Quran-attested forms
- 7
- Quran senses
- 30
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
أَفَكَ
ʾafaka
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- Quran occurrences
- 16 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 turn or divert someone or something from its proper direction, especially from truth; in the passive, to be turned away or deluded.
The construction with عَنْ identifies what a person or thing is turned away from. Quranic usage includes diversion from truth in belief, judgment, or conduct, and an active attempt to turn people away from a deity or other object of commitment.
- Lane · entry 6920
- Mufradāt · row 44
Selected Quran examples
Quran 46:22word 3
“to turn us away”
To lie, utter falsehood, or falsify.
The active Quranic occurrences describe the production or assertion of falsehood; the sense is understood as speech turned away from truth rather than merely a change of direction.
- Lane · entry 6920
- Mufradāt · row 44
Selected Quran examples
Quran 7:117word 11
“they (were) falsifying”
To be weak in intellect or judgment, so as to be turned away from the truth.
This is a reported interpretation of the passive expression in 51:9 and is not a blanket restriction on every passive occurrence of the verb.
- Lane · entry 6920
Selected Quran examples
Quran 51:9word 4
“is deluded”
إِفْك
ʾifk
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 9 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.
A lie or falsehood: something turned away from truth or what is proper.
In the construction of 37:86, the alleged deities may themselves be characterized as falsehood, or as objects produced by falsehood, rather than the noun referring only to a spoken lie. The noun also appears for a specifically circulated false allegation.
- Lane · entry 6924
- Mufradāt · row 44
Selected Quran examples
Quran 24:11word 4
“the lie”
Quran 37:86word 1
“Is it falsehood”
أَفَّاك
ʾaffāk
- Part of speech
- Intensive 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.
A habitual or gross liar; one who persistently utters falsehood.
The intensive pattern presents the person as characterized by repeated or emphatic lying, rather than by a single false statement.
- Lane · entry 6931
- Mufradāt · row 44
Selected Quran examples
Quran 26:222word 4
“liar”
مُؤْتَفِكَة
muʾtafikah
- Part of speech
- Active participle · Form VIII
- Quran occurrences
- 3 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 overturned or subverted town or city, especially a settlement destroyed together with its inhabitants.
The Quranic plural refers to the overturned towns associated especially with the people of Lot. The public headword is the singular feminine citation form underlying the supplied inflected and plural occurrences.
- Lane · entry 6934
- Mufradāt · row 44
Selected Quran examples
Quran 53:53word 1
“And the overturned cities”
Quran 69:9word 5
“and the overturned cities”
A wind that departs from its normal quarter or blows from differing directions.
This is a distinct lexical use of the same active-participle form, explicitly connected in the Quran-focused discussion with the cited Quranic expression; the supplied QAC contextual glosses, however, render the listed occurrences as overturned towns.
- Lane · entry 6934
- Mufradāt · row 44
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 5:75يُؤْفَكُونَthey are deluded
- 6:95تُؤْفَكُونَare you deluded
- 7:117يَأْفِكُونَthey (were) falsifying
- 9:30يُؤْفَكُونَdeluded are they
- 9:70وَٱلْمُؤْتَفِكَـٰتِ ۚand the towns overturned
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 10 Classical meanings
أَفَكَ
To make someone lie or say what is untrue.
A transitive construction in which the subject causes another person to utter falsehood.
- Lane · entry 6920
أَفَكَ
Of a place, to receive no rain and have no vegetation or herbage.
A rare tropical use describing a place or land rather than a person's speech or judgment.
- Lane · entry 6920
اِئْتَفَكَتْ
Of a land, district, or town, to be submerged together with its inhabitants.
A figurative extension of overturning or subversion, recorded of Basrah.
- Lane · entry 6923
اِئْتَفَكَتْ
Of land, to be burned up or ruined by drought.
A tropical use referring to land affected by severe drought.
- Lane · entry 6923
افكة
A divine punishment in which a people's dwellings are overturned.
A rare noun reported in a tradition concerning the people of Lot; the source leaves its vocalization somewhat uncertain.
- Lane · entry 6925
أَفِكَةٌ
A year of drought or sterility.
A feminine descriptive noun for a year lacking productive rain.
- Lane · entry 6926
أَفِيكٌ
One whose judgment or opinion has been turned from its proper course, especially through deceit or guile.
The meaning belongs to the derived personal noun أَفِيكٌ and is not simply another citation form of the Quranic verb.
- Lane · entry 6928
- Lane · entry 6933
أَفِيكٌ
One lacking strength, ability, prudence, or practical resourcefulness.
A related personal description emphasizing weakness of intellect, judgment, or capacity.
- Lane · entry 6928
- Lane · entry 6933
أُفَيِّكَةٌ
A severe or distressing calamity.
A diminutive-form noun used with an augmentative or emphatic force in this lexical report.
- Lane · entry 6929
أَفِيكٌ
A place or land not rained upon and lacking vegetation or herbage.
An adjectival use applied to a place or tract of land.
- Lane · entry 6933
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The passive and active Quranic verb translations vary between being turned away, being deluded, and falsifying; these reflect related constructions and lexical branches rather than one uniform English equivalent.
Printed Arabic lexicon citations use historical conventions; Quran examples here use only the independently supplied QAC locations.
The wind interpretation of مُؤْتَفِكَة is lexically explicit, but the supplied contextual glosses identify the listed QAC occurrences as overturned towns, so no individual QAC occurrence is assigned to the wind sense.
The rare headword افكة is reported with uncertain vocalization in the lexical evidence.
Unassigned or ambiguous evidence
The wind sense of مُؤْتَفِكَة is assigned to the public form from explicit lexical discussion, but the packet does not independently establish that any particular supplied QAC occurrence should be glossed as wind rather than overturned towns.