Quranic root
بدل
b · d · l
The root centers on one thing taking the place of another, extending to substitution, exchange, and change or alteration even when no replacement is supplied.
The evidence distinguishes alteration without replacement from supplying or taking a substitute. From the same orientation develop reciprocal exchange, becoming changed, and technical or occupational uses involving substitution.
- Maqāyīs · row 716
- Mufradāt · row 104
- Lane · entry 35809
- Lane · entry 35812
- 8
- Quran-attested forms
- 9
- Quran senses
- 44
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
بَدَّلَ
baddala
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form II
- Form
- II
- Quran occurrences
- 23 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 change or alter a thing—its wording, form, quality, condition, or state—without necessarily replacing its substance.
Transitive; may describe alteration of a statement, form, quality, or condition while the underlying thing remains. The result may be expressed as a changed state or wording.
- Lane · entry 35809
- Mufradāt · row 104
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:59word 1
“But changed”
Quran 4:56word 11
“We will change their”
To replace one thing with another, putting the latter in its place; to give or change one thing for another.
Used with constructions meaning into, for, in place of, or in exchange for. It may be doubly transitive when both the replaced item and the replacement or resulting state are specified.
- Lane · entry 35809
- Mufradāt · row 104
Selected Quran examples
Quran 16:101word 2
“We substitute”
Quran 25:70word 9
“Allah will replace”
Quran 24:55word 22
“and surely He will change for them”
أَبْدَلَ
ʾabdala
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form IV
- Form
- IV
- 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.
To provide or put a substitute in place of something; to replace or give one thing in exchange for another.
Typically takes the item replaced and the substitute or replacement; the construction may express giving someone a different person or thing in place of the former.
- Lane · entry 35809
- Mufradāt · row 104
Selected Quran examples
Quran 18:81word 3
“would change for them”
Quran 66:5word 6
“He will substitute for him”
Quran 68:32word 4
“will substitute for us”
تَبَدَّلَ
tabaddala
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form V
- Form
- V
- 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.
To exchange or adopt one thing in place of another.
The reciprocal or reflexive form is used for exchanging, taking one thing instead of another, or adopting a replacement; the relevant object may be expressed directly or with a preposition.
- Mufradāt · row 104
Selected Quran examples
اِسْتَبْدَلَ
āistabdala
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form X
- Form
- X
- 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.
To take a substitute or replacement for one thing; to exchange it for another or take another in its place.
Commonly construed with بِـ, بِهِ, or مَكَانَ to identify the replacement or the thing whose place is taken.
- Lane · entry 35814
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:61word 24
“Would you exchange”
Quran 9:39word 6
“and will replace you”
Quran 47:38word 23
“He will replace you”
بَدَلٌ
badalun
- Part of speech
- Noun · substitute
- 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 substitute, replacement, or thing put, given, or received instead of another; an exchange or compensation.
Denotes what stands in the place of another thing or person, including what is accepted in lieu of it.
- Lane · entry 35816
Selected Quran examples
Quran 18:50word 26
“(is) the exchange”
مُبَدِّلٌ
mubaddilun
- Part of speech
- Active participle
- 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.
One who changes or alters a thing.
An active participle of Form II; in Quranic usage it refers to an agent capable of altering an established word or decree.
- Lane · entry 35809
Selected Quran examples
تَبْدِيلٌ
tabdīlun
- 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.
Changing or altering; an alteration of a thing from one state, form, or condition to another.
A verbal noun of Form II. In Quranic usage it commonly occurs in negated or restricted constructions concerning divine words, creation, established practice, or a settled order.
- Lane · entry 35809
- Mufradāt · row 104
Selected Quran examples
Quran 10:64word 9
“change”
Quran 30:30word 12
“change”
Quran 33:62word 12
“any change”
Quran 76:28word 9
“(with) a change”
اِسْتِبْدَالٌ
āistibdālun
- Part of speech
- Verbal noun
- 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.
Taking a substitute; replacing or exchanging one thing for another.
A verbal noun of Form X, denoting the act of taking something in place of something else.
- Lane · entry 35814
Selected Quran examples
Quran 4:20word 3
“replacing”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:59فَبَدَّلَBut changed
- 2:61أَتَسْتَبْدِلُونَWould you exchange
- 2:108يَتَبَدَّلِexchanges
- 2:181بَدَّلَهُۥchanges it
- 2:181يُبَدِّلُونَهُۥٓ ۚalter it
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 7 Classical meanings
تَبْدِيلٌ
Exchange or substitution: making one thing a substitute for another.
A Classical extension of the verbal noun that specifically emphasizes removal of the first substance and putting another in its place, rather than alteration without replacement.
- Lane · entry 35809
مُبَادَلَةٌ
Reciprocal exchange, in which each party gives the other the like of what it takes or receives.
Used for an exchange with another person or group, including exchanging equivalent garments, goods, or persons.
- Lane · entry 35810
تَبَدَّلَ
To become changed or altered.
An inchoative use describing a thing that undergoes change, rather than the Quranic exchange construction represented under the Form V entry.
- Lane · entry 35812
أَبْدَالٌ
The “substitutes”: a class of righteous persons regarded as taking the place of others who have passed away.
A technical religious usage reported in Classical Arabic lexicography; the singular is related to بَدَلٌ.
- Lane · entry 35816
حُرُوفُ البَدَلِ
Letters of substitution: letters used in place of other letters.
A grammatical and orthographic technical term, excluding letters changed merely through assimilation.
- Lane · entry 35816
بَدَلٌ
Generous and noble, when applied to a man.
An adjectival use that lexicographers connect with the idea of a substitute or one who takes another’s place.
- Lane · entry 35816
بَدَّالٌ
A dealer who continually exchanges one commodity or possession for another; specifically, a seller of provisions of various kinds.
The term is explained through changing one sale for another and may also describe someone whose limited property is successively sold and exchanged for new goods.
- Lane · entry 35818
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic uses of بَدَّلَ and تَبْدِيلٌ preserve a distinction between alteration and replacement, although English translations may render both with “change.” The construction and whether a replacement is supplied determine the more specific sense.