Quranic root
طوع
ṭ · w · ʿ
The root centers on yielding, accompanying another, and complying with a will or direction.
From the basic idea of submission and compliance develop obedience, voluntary undertaking, mutual accommodation, and the ability or practical feasibility to carry something out. The Form X verb is explained as historically related to an original form meaning the acquisition of capacity.
- Maqāyīs · row 3084
- Mufradāt · row 918
- 10
- Quran-attested forms
- 11
- Quran senses
- 129
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
طَاعَ
ṭāʿa
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- 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.
To be obeyed; to have one's command or will complied with.
The supplied Quran occurrences are passive imperfect forms and describe a person whose direction is obeyed or an intercessor whose word is heeded.
- Lane · entry 11941
- Mufradāt · row 918
Selected Quran examples
Quran 4:64word 6
“to be obeyed”
Quran 40:18word 15
“(who) is obeyed”
طَوَّعَ
ṭawwaʿa
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form II
- Form
- II
- 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 make an act acceptable or easy to oneself; to induce, prompt, or encourage oneself to undertake it.
In the Quranic construction with the soul or mind, the verb describes inward yielding that facilitates or prompts the contemplated act, rather than ordinary obedience to a command.
- Lane · entry 11942
- Mufradāt · row 918
Selected Quran examples
Quran 5:30word 1
“Then prompted”
أَطَاعَ
ʾaṭāʿa
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form IV
- Form
- IV
- Quran occurrences
- 72 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 obey; to comply with another's command, direction, or will.
The Quran uses this verb for carrying out the direction of God, the Messenger, a prophet, or another person; it may also describe compliance with a desired course of action.
- Lane · entry 11944
- Lane · entry 11941
- Mufradāt · row 918
Selected Quran examples
Quran 4:80word 5
“he obeyed”
Quran 26:108word 3
“and obey me”
تَطَوَّعَ
taṭawwaʿa
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form V
- Form
- V
- 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.
To undertake a good act voluntarily, especially an act not made obligatory.
The Quranic usage concerns voluntary or supererogatory good; the form conveys willing self-commitment rather than merely being commanded to act.
- Lane · entry 11945
- Mufradāt · row 918
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:158word 19
“voluntarily does”
Quran 2:184word 21
“volunteers”
اِسْتَطَاعَ
āistaṭāʿa
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form X
- Form
- X
- Quran occurrences
- 42 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 be able or capable of doing, accomplishing, obtaining, or possessing something; to have the practical means for it.
The verb commonly concerns practical feasibility rather than unrestricted power. The lexical discussion associates it with the agent's constitution and conception of the act, the suitability of what is acted upon, and an instrument when one is required.
- Lane · entry 11948
- Mufradāt · row 918
Selected Quran examples
Quran 3:97word 16
“is able”
To consent to, comply with, or answer a request.
This is an explicitly reported interpretation of the Quranic question about sending down a table from heaven in 5:112; it is distinct from the ordinary capacity sense and should not be generalized to every occurrence.
- Lane · entry 11948
- Mufradāt · row 918
Selected Quran examples
Quran 5:112word 8
“able”
طَاعَة
ṭāʿah
- Part of speech
- Verbal noun
- 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.
Obedience or submission; compliance with what is commanded.
The noun is especially used for carrying out a command, though it can also denote submission more generally.
- Lane · entry 11951
- Mufradāt · row 918
Selected Quran examples
Quran 4:81word 2
“(We pledge) obedience”
Quran 47:21word 1
“(Is) obedience”
طَائِع
ṭāʾiʿ
- Part of speech
- Active participle
- 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.
Willingly yielding or complying; acting without compulsion.
In the Quranic plural expression, the participle describes willing submission to a directive, in contrast with being forced.
- Lane · entry 11954
- Mufradāt · row 918
Selected Quran examples
Quran 41:11word 16
“willingly”
طَوْع
ṭawʿ
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 4 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.
Willingly, voluntarily, or in willing submission.
The noun is used adverbially in opposition to coercion or unwillingness.
- Mufradāt · row 918
- Lane · entry 11954
Selected Quran examples
Quran 3:83word 11
“willingly”
Quran 41:11word 11
“willingly”
مُتَطَوِّع
mutaṭawwiʿ
- Part of speech
- Active participle
- 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.
One who volunteers a good act or contribution beyond what is obligatory.
The Quranic plural refers to people who undertake good or charitable action voluntarily, beyond the required minimum; the form appears in an assimilated Quranic shape مُطَّوِّعِين.
- Lane · entry 11962
- Mufradāt · row 918
Selected Quran examples
Quran 9:79word 3
“the ones who give willingly”
مُطَاع
muṭāʿ
- Part of speech
- Passive participle
- 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.
One who is obeyed; obeyed or heeded by others.
The Quranic adjective describes a person whose direction is followed.
- Lane · entry 11957
- Mufradāt · row 918
Selected Quran examples
Quran 81:21word 1
“One to be obeyed”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:158تَطَوَّعَvoluntarily does
- 2:184تَطَوَّعَvolunteers
- 2:217ٱسْتَطَـٰعُوا۟ ۚthey are able
- 2:273يَسْتَطِيعُونَthey are able
- 2:282يَسْتَطِيعُcapable
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
طَاعَ
To be or become submissive, yielding, or compliant with another's will.
This is the basic Form I active use, distinguished from obedience specifically resulting from a command.
- Lane · entry 11941
طَاعَ لِسَانُهُ
To aid or assist someone in expressing or accomplishing something.
A figurative construction, as in a tongue assisting its speaker with a particular expression.
- Lane · entry 11941
طَاعَ لَهُ الْمَرْتَعُ
For pasturage to be accessible and ample for someone to pasture his cattle wherever he wishes.
A conventional construction describing the ease and availability of pasture.
- Lane · entry 11941
تَطْوِيع
Making someone obedient or causing someone to obey.
This is the direct causative sense of the Form II verbal noun, separate from the Quranic construction in which a soul facilitates an act for itself.
- Lane · entry 11942
طَاوَعَ
To comply with another or accommodate another's wish.
The Form III verb expresses relational or mutual compliance; it can be used of one person complying with another.
- Lane · entry 11943
طَاوَعَ لَهُ الْمُرَادُ
For what is desired or sought to become easy of attainment.
A figurative construction describing an intended result that comes readily to someone.
- Lane · entry 11943
أَطَاعَ النَّخْلُ
For palm trees or other trees to have fruit that is ripe and ready to be gathered; for dates to approach the season for cutting.
A figurative Form IV use applied to vegetation and dates.
- Lane · entry 11944
تَطَوَّعَ
To seek or undertake something through self-imposed effort, or to constrain oneself to do it.
This broader Classical use includes deliberately taking an undertaking upon oneself or striving to acquire the ability to perform it.
- Lane · entry 11945
طَائِع
Submissive or obedient, including a person who readily yields to another's direction.
The adjective may also be graded to mean more or most submissive or obedient.
- Lane · entry 11954
طَائِع
Tractable or readily yielding to handling, control, or circumstance.
Used of a person, animal, or other subject in relation to a handler, bedfellow, hand, rein, misfortune, or comparable circumstance.
- Lane · entry 11954
طَائِعُ اللِّسَان
Chaste or eloquent in speech.
A figurative expression describing speech that readily conforms to the speaker's intended meaning.
- Lane · entry 11954
شُحٌّ مُطَاعٌ
Niggardliness that is followed by the person characterized by it, leading him to withhold obligatory rights or dues.
A fixed idiomatic expression describing stinginess that governs a person's conduct.
- Lane · entry 11957
الْمُطَاع
An honorific for one whose prayer is answered or whose intercession is accepted.
A specialized honorific usage of the passive participle.
- Lane · entry 11957
مُطَاوِع
In grammar, a verb whose subject receives the effect produced by the subject of another verb; a quasi-passive or responsive verb.
This is a technical grammatical term, not an ordinary lexical meaning of obedience.
- Lane · entry 11960
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Form I public headword is normalized to طَاعَ although the supplied Quran occurrences are passive imperfect forms يُطَاعُ and يُطَاعَ.
The Form X usage in 5:112 has explicitly reported competing interpretations: ordinary ability, seeking or receiving consent, and answering a request. The latter is recorded as a distinct but restricted Quranic sense.
The Quranic form مُطَّوِّعِين is presented under the singular dictionary citation form مُتَطَوِّع; the doubled طاء reflects assimilation in the Quranic form.