Quranic root
صفف
ṣ · f · f
The root conveys even alignment: things made level with one another or set side by side in a common row or position.
From the idea of levelness and equal placement develop meanings for rows and formations, places where ranks are drawn up, aligned bodily movement, and several specialized uses involving things placed together.
- Maqāyīs · row 2800
- 3
- Quran-attested forms
- 5
- Quran senses
- 14
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
صَافٌّ
ṣāffun
- Part of speech
- Active participle
- 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.
Standing or arranged in a row or in ranks.
Used of people, angels, and other beings or things placed in an orderly formation; صَوَافّ in the Qur'anic description of sacrificial camels denotes them set or standing in a row.
- Lane · entry 26054
- Lane · entry 26048
- Mufradāt · row 837
Selected Quran examples
Quran 37:1word 1
“By those lined”
Quran 37:165word 3
“stand in rows”
Quran 22:36word 14
“(when) lined up”
Holding or spreading the wings outstretched while flying, without flapping them.
A specialized description of birds in flight; the construction contrasts this wing-spreading with repeated wing-beating.
- Lane · entry 26054
Selected Quran examples
Quran 24:41word 12
“(with) wings outspread”
Quran 67:19word 6
“spreading (their wings)”
صَفٌّ
ṣaffun
- Part of speech
- Verbal noun
- Quran occurrences
- 7 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 row, rank, or line; the arranging or standing of people or things in such alignment.
The verbal noun can denote an orderly formation or the state of standing in ranks, including a company or military force drawn up side by side.
- Lane · entry 26048
- Lane · entry 26041
- Mufradāt · row 837
Selected Quran examples
Quran 18:48word 4
“(in) rows”
Quran 20:64word 5
“(in) a line”
Quran 61:4word 8
“(in) a row”
Quran 89:22word 4
“rank”
A place of assembly or prayer where people stand in rows.
Reported as an interpretation of صَفًّا in 20:64; the same passage is also interpreted adverbially as meaning that the people come standing in ranks.
- Lane · entry 26048
Selected Quran examples
Quran 20:64word 5
“(in) a line”
مَصْفُوفٌ
maṣfūfun
- Part of speech
- Passive 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.
Set or arranged in an orderly row or rows.
A passive participle describing objects placed side by side in an aligned arrangement.
- Mufradāt · row 837
- Lane · entry 26041
Selected Quran examples
Quran 52:20word 4
“lined up”
Quran 88:15word 2
“lined up”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 18:48صَفًّۭا(in) rows
- 20:64صَفًّۭا ۚ(in) a line
- 22:36صَوَآفَّ ۖ(when) lined up
- 24:41صَـٰٓفَّـٰتٍۢ ۖ(with) wings outspread
- 37:1وَٱلصَّـٰٓفَّـٰتِBy those lined
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 31 Classical meanings
صَفَّ
Of a she-camel, to set the forelegs evenly side by side when being milked.
A specialized usage describing the animal's stance during milking.
- Lane · entry 26041
صَفَّ
To milk a she-camel into two or three vessels at one milking, combining the vessels.
The expression refers to the abundance of milk or to the arrangement of the milking vessels.
- Lane · entry 26041
صَفَّ
To cut flesh into broad or thin strips or slices and lay it out for roasting or drying.
The flesh may be placed on live coals, pebbles, or in the sun; the sources describe related cutting and cooking practices.
- Lane · entry 26041
صَفَّ
To fit a صُفَّة, or saddle appendage, to a horse or other riding animal.
A specialized, figurative usage concerning the equipment of a saddle.
- Lane · entry 26041
صَافَّ
To confront or fight an opposing group while drawn up in ranks.
The construction describes two sides extending themselves in formation against one another.
- Lane · entry 26043
صَافَّ
To have one's house porch or covered frontage directly facing another's.
A conventional expression based on one صُفَّة being opposite another.
- Lane · entry 26043
تَصَافَّ
To collect or assemble together in a row, rank, or line.
The expression may describe people gathering in formation or gathering together at a water source.
- Lane · entry 26045
اصْطَفَّ
To stand, become, or place oneself in a row, rank, or line.
A derived reciprocal or reflexive formation verb, including standing in several ranks.
- Lane · entry 26046
صَفْصَفَ
To travel or become alone in a level, open tract of land.
The reported reading varies between journeying and becoming solitary in the level tract.
- Lane · entry 26047
صَفْصَفَ
To pasture upon trees called صَفْصَاف.
A specialized verb associated with grazing on the tree known as ṣafṣāf.
- Lane · entry 26047
صَفْصَفَةٌ
The cry or chirping sound of a sparrow.
Reported as a verbal noun or simple noun in some dialectal usage.
- Lane · entry 26047
صَفٌّ
A pair of bowls set together, especially bowls filled at one milking.
The meaning is attributed to the vessels being placed together.
- Lane · entry 26048
صَفٌّ
A medicament used to whiten the teeth.
A specialized nominal meaning.
- Lane · entry 26048
صُفَّةٌ
A covered appurtenance of a house or building, such as a porch, portico, or sheltered vestibule.
The same term underlies the designation Ahl al-Ṣuffa for people housed in the covered area of the Prophet's mosque; related uses include a roofed shelter over or before a doorway.
- Lane · entry 26049
صُفَّةٌ
The covering or fitted appendage of a horse or camel saddle.
It is the part between or around the saddle's structural pieces, comparable to a saddle cushion or cover.
- Lane · entry 26049
صُفَّةٌ
A long period of time.
A figurative temporal usage in the expression 'we lived a ṣuffa of time.'
- Lane · entry 26049
صُفَّةٌ
The quantity of grain that can be placed on the palm of the hand.
A small measured quantity, contrasted in the cited expression with a morsel of food.
- Lane · entry 26049
صَفَفٌ
A garment worn beneath a coat of mail in battle.
A specialized item of military clothing.
- Lane · entry 26050
صَفُوفٌ
A she-camel that fills several milking vessels at one milking or sets her forelegs evenly while being milked.
The term is associated with abundant milk and with the camel's aligned stance.
- Lane · entry 26051
صَفِيفٌ
Meat cut into strips or broad slices and then roasted, dried, or otherwise prepared in that form.
Reported preparations include meat laid on coals, pebbles, or in the sun; the exact preparation varies among authorities.
- Lane · entry 26052
الصُّفِّيَّةُ
The Ṣūfiyya, a designation associated with the people of the ṣuffa.
A derived designation rather than a direct physical meaning of صفّ.
- Lane · entry 26053
صَافٌّ
Of a bird, spreading its wings and holding them extended without flapping.
This is the bird-specific lexical use underlying the Quranic wing description, retained here only as the broader headword's classical branch.
- Lane · entry 26054
صَفْصَفٌ
A level, smooth, even, or barren tract of land; a desert or waterless plain.
This lexical item is also explicitly discussed in connection with Qur'an 20:106, although no corresponding QAC form group is supplied in the packet.
- Lane · entry 26055
- Mufradāt · row 837
صَفْصَفٌ
The ridge, brow, or ledge of a mountain.
A specialized topographical meaning.
- Lane · entry 26055
صُفْصُفٌ
A sparrow.
Reported in one or more dialects.
- Lane · entry 26056
صَفْصَفَةٌ
A dish or serving of a food known as سِكْبَاجَة.
A dialectal variant is also reported; this meaning is separate from the feminine form of صَفْصَفٌ.
- Lane · entry 26057
صَفْصَفَةٌ
A small insect identified with the weevil called سِيسَك.
The word is explicitly described as adventitious to Arabic and associated with Persian naming.
- Lane · entry 26057
صَفْصَافٌ
A willow or willow-like tree, including the tree called خِلَاف.
The precise botanical identification varies by region and species.
- Lane · entry 26058
صَفْصَافَةٌ
A single willow or willow-like tree.
A feminine singulative form of صَفْصَافٌ.
- Lane · entry 26059
مَصَفٌّ
A station or place where ranks are drawn up for war or battle.
Its plural is مَصَافٌّ.
- Lane · entry 26060
مُصَافِّي
A person whose house porch or covered frontage faces another person's porch.
A conventional relational expression derived from opposing or facing ṣuffas.
- Lane · entry 26061
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The interpretation of صَفًّا in 20:64 is reported both as standing in ranks and, by another interpretation, as a place of prayer or assembly.
The Qur'anic use of صَفْصَفٌ in 20:106 is explicitly discussed by the supplied lexical evidence, but the QAC form groups supplied for this packet do not include a corresponding صفصف lemma; it is therefore retained among the broader lexical meanings rather than assigned to a Quranic form.
The three active-participle QAC groups are presented under the normalized citation headword صَافٌّ; their distinct plural forms and Quranic constructions remain visible in the occurrence coverage and senses.