Quranic root
بول
b · w · l
The root has two principal semantic orientations: liquid flowing or being discharged, and the inner state or apprehension of the mind.
The liquid-discharge branch includes urine, urination, flowing, melting, and extensions to semen, offspring, and abundance. The mental branch develops into state or condition, care and concern, and what occurs in the heart or mind.
- Maqāyīs · row 883
- 1
- Quran-attested forms
- 1
- Quran senses
- 4
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
بَالٌ
bālun
- 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.
A person's or group's state, condition, case, or affairs.
In ما بالُ ... it asks about someone's case or state; in أَصْلَحَ بَالَهُمْ it denotes the condition or affairs that are set right. The Quranic occurrences attest this state-or-condition use.
- Lane · entry 37489
- Mufradāt · row 89
Selected Quran examples
Quran 12:50word 14
“(is the) case”
Quran 20:51word 3
“(is the) case”
Quran 47:2word 18
“their condition”
Quran 47:5word 3
“their condition”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 12:50بَالُ(is the) case
- 20:51بَالُ(is the) case
- 47:2بَالَهُمْtheir condition
- 47:5بَالَهُمْtheir condition
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 34 Classical meanings
بَالَ
To urinate, discharge urine, or stale.
Used of a man, beast, and other animals.
- Lane · entry 37484
بَالَ
To beget offspring resembling the parent in form and natural disposition.
A metaphorical use of the verb.
- Lane · entry 37484
بَالَ
In a poetic metaphor of Canopus, to “urinate” in a beverage made from unripe dates, causing it to spoil.
A figurative poetic construction referring to the seasonal rising of Canopus.
- Lane · entry 37484
بَوْلٌ
The venting or flowing forth of a liquid.
Applied, for example, to a wine-skin from which liquid runs out.
- Lane · entry 37484
بَالَ
To melt or dissolve.
Reported of fat.
- Lane · entry 37484
بَوَّلَ
To urinate at the root or stem of a tree.
A traditional agricultural practice said to increase the abundance of the tree's fruit.
- Lane · entry 37485
لَا أُبَاوِلُهُ
To cause a person or thing to occur to one's mind.
Attested specifically in the expression لَا أُبَاوِلُهُ, “I do not cause him or it to come to mind.”
- Lane · entry 37486
أَبَالَ
To make horses urinate, or to stop them for the purpose of urinating.
Used with horses and also in a threatening expression about making horses urinate in someone's courtyards.
- Lane · entry 37487
اِسْتَبَالَ
To desire or require to urinate.
A Form X use.
- Lane · entry 37488
اِسْتَبَالَ
To seek or receive urine from another source.
Attested in a poetic expression about receiving the urine of lions.
- Lane · entry 37488
بَالٌ
Care, concern, or importance; something regarded as worth caring about.
Occurs in expressions such as مَا بَالَيْتُ بِكَذَا, “I did not care about such a thing,” and كُلُّ أَمْرٍ ذِي بَالٍ, an affair of importance.
- Lane · entry 37489
بَالٌ
The heart or mind; an idea or affair occurring to one's mind; attention or mental regard.
Occurs in expressions such as خَطَرَ بِبَالِي, “it occurred to my mind,” and أَعْطِنِي بَالَكَ, “give me your attention.”
- Lane · entry 37489
بَالٌ
A whale or other very large sea fish.
This sense is identified as a non-Arabic or arabicized word in the lexical evidence.
- Lane · entry 37489
بَالٌ
A spade used for working land planted with seed crops.
A specialized agricultural implement sense.
- Lane · entry 37489
بَوْلٌ
Urine; the act or discharge of urinating.
The noun is originally described as a verbal noun and has the plural أَبْوَالٌ.
- Lane · entry 37490
بَوْلٌ
The seminal fluid of mules; by comparison, a mirage, and a name for a road in Yemen.
The mirage sense is based on the perceived fruitlessness of mule seminal fluid; the Yemeni road name is a further lexical application.
- Lane · entry 37490
بَوْلٌ
Cow's milk.
A metaphorical usage.
- Lane · entry 37490
بَوْلٌ
Offspring or progeny.
A metaphorical usage.
- Lane · entry 37490
بَوْلٌ
A large number or multitude.
A metaphorical usage.
- Lane · entry 37490
بَالَةٌ
A flask or bottle; also a bag or receptacle for mush or perfume.
The container sense is reported as an arabicized term with varying container applications.
- Lane · entry 37491
بَالَةٌ
An odour or smell.
A reported usage attributed to a particular authority, with a proposed association to بَلَوْتُهُ, “I smelled or tested it.”
- Lane · entry 37491
بَالَةٌ
A staff tipped with iron, used by hunters to throw at game.
A specialized hunting implement.
- Lane · entry 37491
بَالَةٌ
A small elongated sword.
A usage attributed to popular speech.
- Lane · entry 37491
بَوْلَةٌ
The origin or daughter of a man.
The lexical evidence reports variant interpretations, “origin” and “daughter.”
- Lane · entry 37492
بِيلَةٌ
A mode or manner of urinating.
A verbal-noun formation from بَالَ; as in حَسَنُ البِيلَةِ, “having a good manner of urinating.”
- Lane · entry 37493
بُوَلَةٌ
A person or animal that urinates much.
Applied to a man or an animal such as a camel.
- Lane · entry 37494
بَوَالٌ
A disease causing excessive or frequent urination.
Reported especially as a disease of sheep or goats that may continue until death.
- Lane · entry 37495
بَوَّالٌ
A wine-skin from which liquid runs out.
A figurative application based on the flow of liquid.
- Lane · entry 37496
بَوَّالٌ
A piece of fat that melts or dissolves quickly.
A figurative intensive description.
- Lane · entry 37496
أَبْوَلُ
More frequent in urination than another, conventionally compared with a dog.
Used in the comparative expression أَبْوَلُ مِنْ كَلْبٍ.
- Lane · entry 37497
أَبْوَلُ
More abundant in offspring.
An alternative interpretation of the same comparative expression.
- Lane · entry 37497
مَبَالٌ
The place of urination or urinary discharge; the pudendum of a man or woman.
An anatomical and locative noun.
- Lane · entry 37498
مَبْوَلَةٌ
A diuretic or substance that provokes urination.
Much drinking is given as an example of something having this effect.
- Lane · entry 37499
مِبْوَلَةٌ
A urinal or vessel in which one urinates.
A purpose-specific container noun.
- Lane · entry 37500
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic form is normalized as بَالٌ and means state, condition, case, or affairs in the supplied occurrences; the physical-urination and other homographic senses are separate Classical Arabic entries.
The large-sea-fish meaning is explicitly described in the lexical evidence as non-Arabic or arabicized.
Historical Quran citation notation in the lexical evidence has not been converted into additional modern verse locations; the listed Quran examples use only the supplied QAC locations.