Quranic root
حلف
ḥ · l · f
The root centers on persistent attachment or binding adherence, expressed in remaining committed to an oath or agreement.
From the idea of adherence, the root develops meanings of sworn commitment, alliance and compact, and figurative clinging; the Quranic forms specifically attest oath-taking and habitual swearing.
- Maqāyīs · row 1436
- Mufradāt · row 351
- 2
- Quran-attested forms
- 2
- Quran senses
- 13
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
حَلَفَ
ḥalafa
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- Quran occurrences
- 12 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 swear or take an oath.
Used for oath-taking, including swearing by God or affirming, denying, or undertaking a matter. Perfect and imperfect Quranic forms represent the same lexical sense.
- Lane · entry 15386
- Mufradāt · row 351
Selected Quran examples
Quran 5:89word 36
“you have sworn”
Quran 9:62word 1
“They swear”
حَلَّاف
ḥallāf
- Part of speech
- Noun · intensive form
- 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.
A habitual or frequent swearer.
An intensive nominal describing one who swears repeatedly or often, rather than someone who has merely taken a single oath.
- Mufradāt · row 351
- Lane · entry 15404
Selected Quran examples
Quran 68:10word 4
“habitual swearer”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 4:62يَحْلِفُونَswearing
- 5:89حَلَفْتُمْ ۚyou have sworn
- 9:42وَسَيَحْلِفُونَAnd they will swear
- 9:56وَيَحْلِفُونَAnd they swear
- 9:62يَحْلِفُونَThey swear
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 23 Classical meanings
حِلْفٌ
An alliance, confederacy, league, compact, or covenant between persons; by extension, sincere friendship founded on such attachment.
A relationship or agreement traditionally associated with mutual oaths.
- Lane · entry 15386
- Lane · entry 15393
حَلِيفٌ
A confederate, ally, or friend bound to another by a pledge of fidelity.
Used of a person joined to another in an alliance or loyal companionship.
- Lane · entry 15393
حَالَفَ، تَحَالَفَ
To swear with another concerning a matter or undertaking; to swear mutually.
A reciprocal oath-taking construction between two or more parties.
- Lane · entry 15388
- Lane · entry 15390
حَالَفَ، تَحَالَفَ
To unite in a confederacy, league, compact, or covenant.
May describe an alliance for making the parties’ interests one, including mutual aid and defense.
- Lane · entry 15388
- Lane · entry 15390
حَالَفَ
To cling, adhere, or hold fast to something; figuratively, to remain attached to grief or sorrow.
The figurative application extends attachment from a person or thing to an emotional state.
- Lane · entry 15388
مُحَالَفَةٌ
The establishing of brotherhood between people.
A conventional extension of alliance-making to the creation of a bond of brotherhood.
- Lane · entry 15388
أَحْلَفَ
To make or require another to swear; to adjure or conjure someone.
A causative construction, including the language of requiring an oath before a judge or by God.
- Lane · entry 15389
أَحْلَفَ الغُلَامُ
Of a boy, to have nearly reached puberty.
The usage is reported with disagreement about whether it denotes near attainment of puberty or the uncertainty that prompts people to swear about his status.
- Lane · entry 15389
أَحْلَفَتِ الحَلْفَاءُ
Of the ḥalfāʾ grass, to reach maturity.
A specialized botanical use, distinct from the puberty-related application.
- Lane · entry 15389
حَلْفَةٌ
An oath.
A noun for the act or utterance of swearing an oath.
- Lane · entry 15395
أَرْضٌ حَلِفَةٌ
Land abounding in, or producing, ḥalfāʾ grass.
An attributive description of land characterized by this vegetation.
- Lane · entry 15397
حَلْفَاء
A tall, coarse grass, especially the plant known as ḥalfāʾ, commonly growing near water or in valley bottoms.
The word is treated as a collective plant name in some grammatical analyses and also has singular and plural uses.
- Lane · entry 15398
فِي الحَلْفَاءِ، أَخُو الحَلْفَاءِ
A figurative epithet for a lion.
The expression alludes to the lion’s resort to places where ḥalfāʾ grass grows.
- Lane · entry 15398
حَلْفَاء
A clamorous female slave.
A separate lexical use from the plant name.
- Lane · entry 15398
حَلِيفٌ
Anything that clings, adheres, or holds fast to another thing; figuratively, one persistently devoted to a quality or state.
Used in expressions such as one who is constant in generosity or sleeplessness.
- Lane · entry 15399
حَلِيفُ اللِّسَانِ
Sharp-tongued, or chaste and eloquent in speech.
A figurative expression likening fluent or incisive speech to confederation with words.
- Lane · entry 15399
حَلِيفُ الغَرْبِ
A sharp spearhead or spear with a sharp point.
A figurative designation of sharpness, associated with the cutting points of ḥalfāʾ grass.
- Lane · entry 15399
حَلِيفُ الغَرْبِ
A brisk, lively, or sprightly horse.
An alternative lexical interpretation of the same expression.
- Lane · entry 15399
حَلَافَةٌ
Sharpness in anything.
A general abstract noun for the quality of being sharp.
- Lane · entry 15400
وَادٍ حُلَافِيٌّ
A valley that produces ḥalfāʾ grass.
A nisbah-based description of a place associated with that plant.
- Lane · entry 15401
حَالِفٌ
One who swears, especially one who swears much or often.
An active-participial description, less intensive in form than حَلَّاف.
- Lane · entry 15404
مَا أَحْلَفَ لِسَانَهُ
How sharp-tongued or eloquent he is.
An exclamatory expression praising incisive or refined speech.
- Lane · entry 15405
مُحْلِفٌ
A person, animal, object, or circumstance whose uncertain status or quality causes people to swear about it.
Applications include a boy of doubtful puberty, stars said to occasion swearing, an animal of uncertain color or fatness, and anything else about which observers disagree.
- Lane · entry 15407
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic verb is normalized to the classical citation form حَلَفَ even though the supplied Quran lemma identity is the inflected form حَلَفْ. The classical evidence also contains separate botanical, figurative, and idiomatic branches that are not Quranic senses.