Quranic root
أله
ʾ · l · h
The root's central semantic orientation is worship, devotion, and taking a being as an object of worship; إِلٰهٌ is therefore a deity or object of worship, while اللّٰهُ is the proper name of the one true God.
The lexical system develops from worship and devotional practice to the deity or divinity associated with worship. Lane also records branches of seeking refuge, protection, and remaining in a place; the confusion and perplexity branch is explicitly related to وَلِهَ and is treated separately by the root evidence.
- Maqāyīs · row 137
- Mufradāt · row 51
- 3
- Quran-attested forms
- 4
- Quran senses
- 2,851
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
إِلَٰه
ʾilāh
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 147 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 deity or object of worship; a god, including a claimed or false god and, in the plural, a group of gods or idols.
Used for whatever is treated as an object of worship. The plural آلهة is used for multiple deities and is often applied polemically to idols or other rejected objects of worship.
- Lane · entry 7094
- Mufradāt · row 51
Selected Quran examples
Quran 17:42word 5
“gods”
Quran 27:60word 21
“Is there any god”
The God, the one true deity.
Used in constructions that identify God as the sole deity, including expressions such as “your God,” “our God,” and “there is no deity but Him.” This sense is a contextual specification of the deity notion rather than a separate inflectional form.
- Lane · entry 7094
- Mufradāt · row 51
Selected Quran examples
Quran 16:22word 2
“(is) God”
Quran 18:110word 9
“your God”
ٱللَّه
alllah
- Part of speech
- Proper noun
- Quran occurrences
- 2,699 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.
Allah; the proper name of the one true God.
The name is used as a proper name and is not restricted by case or by the prepositions and particles that precede it. In the Quranic formula إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ, it expresses belonging to God and eventual return to Him, especially in response to affliction.
- Lane · entry 7101
- Mufradāt · row 51
Selected Quran examples
Quran 104:6word 2
“Allah”
Quran 2:156word 7
“belong to Allah”
ٱللَّهُمَّ
alllahumma
- Part of speech
- Proper noun · vocative
- 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.
O Allah; a fixed vocative form used in addressing God.
This form functions as a vocative and is distinct from ordinary case-inflected uses of ٱللَّه.
- Lane · entry 7101
- Mufradāt · row 51
Selected Quran examples
Quran 10:10word 4
“O Allah”
Quran 39:46word 2
“O Allah”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
View all 2,851 occurrencesBroader Classical Arabic meanings
Recorded for this root in the Classical lexicons beyond its Quran usage. These are secondary to the Quran senses above.
Show 19 Classical meanings
إِلَاهَة
Service, worship, or adoration.
A verbal-noun usage. A reported Quranic variant at 7:127 reads إِلَاهَتَكَ, “your worship or service,” rather than the canonical reading آلهتك, “your gods.”
- Lane · entry 7090
- Mufradāt · row 51
أَلِهَ
To become confounded or perplexed and unable to see the right course.
This branch is reported as originally related to وَلِهَ and is distinguished from the worship branch in the root-level evidence.
- Lane · entry 7090
أَلِهَ عَلَى
To become vehemently impatient or grieved on account of someone, or to manifest intense grief and agitation.
Occurs with عَلَى in the construction أَلِهَ عَلَى فُلَانٍ.
- Lane · entry 7090
أَلِهَ إِلَى
To seek refuge, protection, aid, or succour from someone; to have recourse to someone for preservation.
Occurs with إِلَى in the construction أَلِهَ إِلَيْهِ.
- Lane · entry 7090
أَلِهَ بِالْمَكَانِ
To remain, stay, abide, or dwell in a place.
Occurs with بِ in the construction أَلِهَ بِالْمَكَانِ.
- Lane · entry 7090
أَلَهَهُ
To protect, shelter, preserve, rescue, aid, or deliver someone from harm; to render someone safe.
A causative transitive construction describing the granting of refuge or security.
- Lane · entry 7090
تَأْلِيه
Making someone serve or worship; enslaving or subjecting someone to service.
A Form II verbal noun associated with causing service, worship, or enslavement.
- Lane · entry 7091
تَأْلِيه
To reckon someone among the gods, regard someone as a god, or make someone a god.
A reported additional use of the Form II verbal noun.
- Lane · entry 7091
تَأَلَّهَ
To devote oneself to religious services or exercises and apply oneself to acts of devotion.
A Form V devotional usage describing sustained religious practice.
- Lane · entry 7092
إِلَاهَة
Godship, divinity, or the state of being divine.
An abstract noun denoting divinity or godship, distinct from the action of worship itself.
- Lane · entry 7097
إِلَاهَة
A goddess; in particular, a serpent or great serpent in an archaic lexical usage.
A feminine lexical branch associated with objects once treated as objects of worship.
- Lane · entry 7094
إِلَاهَة
The moon or the new moon, when termed هِلَال.
An archaic usage connected with the worship or veneration of the heavenly body.
- Lane · entry 7094
إِلَاهَة
The sun, including the hot sun.
An archaic usage connected with the honor or worship accorded to the sun.
- Lane · entry 7094
إِلَهِيّ
Divine, theological, or relating to God or a god.
An attributive adjective used of matters belonging to divinity or theology.
- Lane · entry 7099
الإِلَهِيَّة
Theology: the study of God's being and attributes and of religious doctrines.
A technical abstract noun for the theological discipline.
- Lane · entry 7100
ٱللَّه
God, invoked in an oath: “by God.”
Occurs in oath formulas such as ٱللَّهِ لَأَفْعَلَنَّ and related elliptical constructions.
- Lane · entry 7101
لِلَّهِ
An expression attributing excellence or a praiseworthy deed to God, hence expressing admiration: “how excellent” or “divinely gifted.”
Occurs in formulas such as لِلَّهِ دَرُّكَ and لِلَّهِ أَنْتَ.
- Lane · entry 7101
ٱللَّهُمَّ
An emphatic expression meaning “unless indeed” or “unless possibly.”
A conventional use of اللهمَّ in an exception or qualification.
- Lane · entry 7101
ٱللَّهُمَّ
An emphatic expression meaning “yes indeed” or “yea, verily.”
Used as a corroborative response to an interrogative, especially in the formula اللهمَّ نَعَمْ.
- Lane · entry 7101
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The reported reading إِلَاهَتَكَ at 7:127 means “your worship or service”; the canonical QAC occurrence is the common reading آلهتك, “your gods.” The variant is therefore preserved as a distinct lexical item rather than silently assigned to the public headword إِلَٰه.
The derivation and historical analysis of ٱللَّه are disputed in the lexical sources; the Quranic form is presented securely as a proper name regardless of that derivational disagreement.
The confusion and perplexity branch is explicitly associated with وَلِهَ in the supplied evidence and should not be treated as the root's central worship meaning.