Quranic root
بتل
b · t · l
The root centers on separating one thing from another, whether by cutting it off, making it independent, or decisively severing a connection.
From physical separation it develops meanings of independence or isolation, irrevocable finality, and exclusive devotional withdrawal. The Quranic devotional use presents separation from worldly preoccupations as wholehearted dedication to God.
- Maqāyīs · row 678
- Mufradāt · row 92
- 2
- Quran-attested forms
- 2
- Quran senses
- 2
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
تَبَتَّلَ
tabattala
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form V
- Form
- V
- 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 detach oneself from worldly preoccupations and devote oneself exclusively to God with sincere intention.
In the Quranic construction تَبَتَّلْ إِلَيْهِ, it denotes wholehearted devotional withdrawal and dedication.
- Lane · entry 35516
- Mufradāt · row 92
Selected Quran examples
Quran 73:8word 4
“and devote yourself”
تَبْتِيلٌ
tabtīlun
- 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.
Exclusive devotional withdrawal and sincere dedication to God.
Used in the Quranic expression تَبَتَّلْ إِلَيْهِ تَبْتِيلًا to express the act or state of devoting oneself wholly to God.
- Lane · entry 35516
- Mufradāt · row 92
Selected Quran examples
Quran 73:8word 6
“(with) devotion”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
View all 2 occurrencesBroader Classical Arabic meanings
Recorded for this root in the Classical lexicons beyond its Quran usage. These are secondary to the Quran senses above.
Show 26 Classical meanings
بَتَلَ
To cut off, sever, or separate one thing from another.
Basic transitive usage; بَتْلٌ and تَبْتِيلٌ are given as verbal nouns in this branch.
- Lane · entry 35514
بَتَلَ
To make an ʿumrah, or an ʿumrā endowment, binding independently.
A specialized ritual or endowment construction in which the act is made obligatory by itself.
- Lane · entry 35514
بَتِلَ
To be or become broad between the shoulders.
Applied to a man.
- Lane · entry 35514
تَبَتَّلَ
To be or become alone.
A classical Form V use distinct from the Quranic devotional construction.
- Lane · entry 35516
تَبَتَّلَ
To withdraw from women or abstain from sexual intercourse.
A classical use associated with separation from marriage or sexual relations; it is distinct from the Quranic construction of exclusive devotion.
- Lane · entry 35516
تَبَتَّلَ
Of a woman, to adorn and beautify herself.
A specialized usage explicitly applied to a woman.
- Lane · entry 35516
اِنْبَتَلَ
To be or become cut off or severed.
Intransitive Form VII usage, including the separation of a palm shoot from its mother tree.
- Lane · entry 35517
اِنْبَتَلَ
To exert oneself and make much progress in travelling or pacing.
Used of strenuous progress in journeying.
- Lane · entry 35517
بَتْلٌ
A gift or act made irrevocable or decisively severed; a gift after which no like gift is given, an alms cut off from its giver or property for God's cause, and, by extension, a decisive divorce or oath.
Appears in fixed expressions for irrevocable gifts, devoted alms, separating divorce, and a decisive oath.
- Lane · entry 35520
بَتْلٌ
Truth or what is true; truly or in truth.
Also used adverbially in بَتْلًا.
- Lane · entry 35520
بَتُولٌ
A palm shoot or offset cut off from its mother tree and independent of it.
A nominal usage for the detached, independent shoot.
- Lane · entry 35521
بَتُولٌ
A virgin or a woman detached from men, husbands, or worldly things; hence, a woman devoted to God.
With the definite article it may be used as an epithet for Mary and for Fatimah; the devotional sense is a classical epithet usage, not the Quranic Form V verb sense.
- Lane · entry 35521
بَتِيلٌ
Slender.
Applied especially to a waist.
- Lane · entry 35522
بَتِيلٌ
A tree having pendulous racemes.
A botanical usage.
- Lane · entry 35522
بَتِيلٌ
A watercourse in the lower part of a valley.
The plural is بُتُلٌ.
- Lane · entry 35522
بَتِيلَةٌ
A limb or member with its flesh, separated from the other members or standing by itself.
The plural is بَتَائِلُ.
- Lane · entry 35523
بَتِيلَةٌ
The posteriors.
A dialectal usage explained by their being distinct from the back.
- Lane · entry 35523
بَتِيلَةٌ
An irrevocable determination or resolution.
Used in the expression مَرَّ عَلَى بَتِيلَةٍ مِنْ رَأْيِهِ and its variant.
- Lane · entry 35523
أَبْتَلُ
Of an ʿumrah, not conjoined with another.
A specialized adjective for an independently performed minor pilgrimage.
- Lane · entry 35524
أَبْتَلُ
Broad between the shoulders.
Applied to a man.
- Lane · entry 35524
مُبْتِلٌ
A palm tree having a shoot or offset cut off from it and independent of it.
The form may also be used collectively or as a plural for such palms.
- Lane · entry 35525
مُبْتِلٌ
Solitary or isolated.
An adjectival use recorded independently of the palm-tree description.
- Lane · entry 35525
مُبْتِلٌ
Having pendulous racemes.
A botanical adjectival use.
- Lane · entry 35525
مُبَتَّلٌ
Beautiful, elegant, or perfectly proportioned, with each part distinct and well formed.
Applied to a woman and also to a camel; the source specifically excludes its use as an epithet for a man.
- Lane · entry 35526
مُنْبَتِلٌ
Cut off or severed.
A passive-result adjectival usage.
- Lane · entry 35527
مُنْبَتِلٌ
Irrevocable, of a determination or resolution.
Used of a decision that has been decisively fixed.
- Lane · entry 35527
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic Form V construction تَبَتَّلْ إِلَيْهِ is represented with the devotional meaning explicitly supported for 73:8. The abstention-from-marriage meaning is retained as a broader Classical Arabic use rather than assigned to that Quranic occurrence.