Quranic root
أسف
ʾ · s · f
A root oriented to loss and the yearning or anguish it produces, extending into grief, regret, and anger.
The core notion of something being missed or lost develops into intense lamentation or regret. The same aroused emotion may appear as grief when directed upward and anger when directed toward an inferior; related extensions describe barren land and a person or animal that does not gain weight.
- Maqāyīs · row 89
- Mufradāt · row 36
- 3
- Quran-attested forms
- 5
- Quran senses
- 5
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
آسَفَ
ʾāsafa
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form IV
- Form
- IV
- 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.
To anger; to provoke to anger.
Causative Form IV; in the Quranic occurrence, the verb takes an object and denotes causing anger rather than experiencing grief oneself.
- Lane · entry 6716
- Mufradāt · row 36
Selected Quran examples
Quran 43:55word 2
“they angered Us”
أَسَفٌ
ʾasafun
- Part of speech
- Noun
- 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.
Grief, lamentation, or regret, especially intense sorrow over something lost or missed.
Used as a noun of emotional distress; the Quranic occurrences include lament over a lost person and grief at people’s refusal to believe.
- Lane · entry 6715
- Mufradāt · row 36
Selected Quran examples
Quran 12:84word 4
“Alas, my grief”
Quran 18:6word 11
“(in) grief”
Anger or intense anger.
A Quran-attested interpretive value of أَسَفًا in one of its Quranic constructions; grief and anger are closely related but distinct realizations of the term.
- Lane · entry 6715
- Mufradāt · row 36
Selected Quran examples
Quran 18:6word 11
“(in) grief”
أَسِفٌ
ʾasifun
- Part of speech
- Adjective
- 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.
Grieving, sorrowful, or lamenting; deeply affected by loss.
An adjective describing an intensely sorrowful emotional state; grief may coexist with anger in the broader emotional range of the root.
- Lane · entry 6723
Selected Quran examples
Quran 7:150word 7
“and grieved”
Quran 20:86word 6
“(and) sorrowful”
Angry; intensely angry.
The adjective can express anger with or alongside grief, as in the Quranic description of Moses.
- Lane · entry 6719
- Mufradāt · row 36
Selected Quran examples
Quran 7:150word 7
“and grieved”
Quran 20:86word 6
“(and) sorrowful”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 7:150أَسِفًۭاand grieved
- 12:84يَـٰٓأَسَفَىٰAlas, my grief
- 18:6أَسَفًا(in) grief
- 20:86أَسِفًۭا ۚ(and) sorrowful
- 43:55ءَاسَفُونَاthey angered Us
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 14 Classical meanings
أَسِفَ
To grieve, lament, or regret intensely, especially over something that has escaped or been lost.
Form I verb; commonly construed with عَلَى or عَلَيْهِ for the object or occasion of grief.
- Lane · entry 6715
أَسِفَ
To be angry with someone or at something.
Form I verb; a distinct anger construction alongside the use meaning to grieve or regret.
- Lane · entry 6715
آسَفَ
To cause someone to grieve, lament, or sorrow.
Form IV causative use, distinct from the Quran-attested Form IV use meaning to anger.
- Lane · entry 6716
تَأَسَّفَ
In an idiomatic expression of a hand, to become bruised, mangled, cracked, or chapped.
An idiomatic, extended use associated specifically with the hand.
- Lane · entry 6717
إِسَافٌ
The name of an idol associated with Quraysh and the Kaabah sanctuary.
A proper-name or cultic use, with variant accounts concerning the idol’s origin.
- Lane · entry 6721
أَسِيفٌ
Deeply grieving, lamenting, or regretting over something lost; readily affected by grief and tender-hearted. It may also be angry while grieving.
An emotional adjective distinct in form from أَسِفٌ; the emotional states may overlap.
- Lane · entry 6723
أَسِيفٌ
A slave, hired man, or socially insignificant person in a condition of subjection.
A transferred social-status use associated with abasement, service, or being scarcely accounted for.
- Lane · entry 6723
- Mufradāt · row 36
أَسِيفٌ
A captive.
A conventional status designation for one held in subjection.
- Lane · entry 6723
أَسِيفٌ
A very old man.
An archaic personal-description use, also recorded in a traditional report.
- Lane · entry 6723
أَسِيفٌ
One who scarcely, or never, becomes fat.
A descriptive use of the adjective without a restriction to a particular kind of person or animal.
- Lane · entry 6723
أَسِيفٌ
Of land or a region: barren, thin-soiled, or scarcely producing vegetation.
An extended or figurative application to unproductive land.
- Lane · entry 6723
أَسَافَةٌ
Grief, lamentation, regret, or anger, especially in an excessive or intense degree.
A deverbal noun from أَسِفَ, lexically distinct from the Quranic noun citation أَسَفٌ.
- Lane · entry 6724
أَسَافَةٌ
The state or condition of a slave or hired man.
A noun naming the condition of abasement or subjection.
- Lane · entry 6724
أَسَافَةٌ
The condition of land that scarcely, or never, produces vegetation.
An extended or figurative noun use applied to unproductive land.
- Lane · entry 6724
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
أَسَفٌ and أَسِفٌ cover an overlapping emotional range in which grief, lamentation, regret, and anger may be distinguished by context or interpretation; translations therefore vary.
The Quranic Form IV occurrence is specifically attested with the causative meaning “to anger,” while the related Form IV meaning “to cause grief” is broader Classical Arabic evidence.