Quranic root
فلق
f · l · q
The root centers on opening, splitting, and separating something so that what is within or beyond it becomes exposed; it also has a distinct branch for something astonishing or overwhelming.
The basic idea of cleaving extends to fissures, separated pieces, gaps between elevated things, the emergence of dawn, and the bringing forth of growth from grain and date-stones. A secondary lexical branch describes extraordinary things and great calamities.
- Maqāyīs · row 3647
- 3
- Quran-attested forms
- 6
- 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.
اِنْفَلَقَ
āinfalaqa
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form VII
- Form
- VII
- 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 split, cleave, or divide lengthwise; to become parted asunder.
In the Quran, said of the sea becoming cleft apart.
- Lane · entry 34915
- Mufradāt · row 1133
Selected Quran examples
Quran 26:63word 8
“So it parted”
فَالِق
fāliq
- Part of speech
- Active 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.
One who splits or cleaves; specifically, the one who cleaves the grain and date-stones so that they produce green growth.
Used in فَالِقُ الْحَبِّ وَالنَّوَى in 6:95. The action may be understood as cleaving the covering to bring forth what grows within.
- Lane · entry 34936
- Mufradāt · row 1133
Selected Quran examples
Quran 6:95word 3
“(is the) Cleaver”
One who causes the dawn to break or appear.
Used in فَالِقُ الْإِصْبَاحِ in 6:96, with dawn presented as emerging or spreading into view.
- Lane · entry 34936
- Mufradāt · row 1133
Selected Quran examples
Quran 6:96word 1
“(He is the) Cleaver”
The creator or bringer-into-being of the grain, date-stones, or dawn.
A reported Quranic interpretation of the constructions in 6:95–96; this is an agentive interpretation distinct from the more concrete image of cleaving.
- Lane · entry 34936
Selected Quran examples
Quran 6:95word 3
“(is the) Cleaver”
Quran 6:96word 1
“(He is the) Cleaver”
فَلَق
falaq
- Part of speech
- 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.
The dawn or daybreak; the light that breaks through and spreads.
The principal supplied lexical interpretation of الْفَلَقِ in 113:1. The Quran-focused discussion also records reported interpretations of this word as the rivers mentioned in 27:61 or as the utterance by which Moses was enabled to split the sea.
- Lane · entry 34920
- Mufradāt · row 1133
Selected Quran examples
Quran 113:1word 4
“(of) the dawn”
The whole of creation, or all created beings.
A reported interpretation of الْفَلَقِ in 113:1, presenting creation as brought forth or made manifest.
- Lane · entry 34920
Selected Quran examples
Quran 113:1word 4
“(of) the dawn”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 6:95فَالِقُ(is the) Cleaver
- 6:96فَالِقُ(He is the) Cleaver
- 26:63فَٱنفَلَقَSo it parted
- 113:1ٱلْفَلَقِ(of) the dawn
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 37 Classical meanings
فَلَقَ
To split, cleave, or divide something lengthwise.
The basic transitive Form I verb; the intensive Form II is referred to the same lexical action.
- Lane · entry 34911
فَلَقَ
To cause the dawn or daybreak to break and appear.
Said of God in the construction فَلَقَ الصُّبْحَ or فَلَقَ الْفَجْرَ.
- Lane · entry 34911
فَلَقَ
For a palm tree, to split open so as to disclose the spathe.
An intransitive use describing the palm's opening growth.
- Lane · entry 34911
- Lane · entry 34936
فَلَقَ فِي الْأَرْضِ
To penetrate or travel far into the land.
A specialized Form I usage, compared in the source with غَلَقَ.
- Lane · entry 34911
فَلْقٌ
The plucking of wool from a hide after it has become foul-smelling.
A specialized verbal-noun usage in the expression فَلَقَ صُوفَ الْجِلْدِ.
- Lane · entry 34911
أَفْلَقَ / مُفْلِق
To do or utter something remarkable or admirable; a مُفْلِق is a poet who composes remarkably.
Used especially of a person's performance or poetry.
- Lane · entry 34913
- Lane · entry 34940
أَفْلَقَ / فِلْقٌ
A calamity, misfortune, or exceptionally astonishing event.
The expressions may describe either a great misfortune or something so extraordinary that it provokes astonishment.
- Lane · entry 34913
- Lane · entry 34919
أَفْلَقَ فِي الْأَمْرِ
To become skilled or proficient in an affair.
A specialized Form IV construction.
- Lane · entry 34913
تَفَلَّقَ
To crack or split in several places, or to become divided into fragments.
Used of an egg or similar object that has cracked extensively; the same derived form is also used of milk becoming separated or curdled.
- Lane · entry 34914
اِنْفَلَقَ الصُّبْحُ
For the dawn, to break or appear.
An intransitive dawn construction; it is lexically distinct from the Quranic Form VII use for the sea only in its object and context.
- Lane · entry 34915
- Lane · entry 34914
تَفَلَّقَ / فُلَاقٌ / فِلَاقٌ
For milk, to become curdled, thickened, or separated into curds and whey.
The usage describes milk becoming disunited through sourness or heat.
- Lane · entry 34914
- Lane · entry 34928
- Lane · entry 34929
اِفْتَلَقَ
To run with such force or vehemence as to excite wonder.
Used of a person's remarkable exertion in running.
- Lane · entry 34916
تَفَيْلَقَ
For a boy, to become large, bulky, and plump.
A specialized colloquial or rare Form Q.Q usage.
- Lane · entry 34917
فَلْقٌ
A split, fissure, cleft, or longitudinal division; also a cleft or ravine in a mountain.
The word can describe a fissure in a physical object, a mountain cleft, a gap in the mouth, or the line separating the hair at the middle of the head.
- Lane · entry 34918
- Mufradāt · row 1133
فِلْقٌ
A half or split section of a rod or branch, especially wood split for making a bow; also a bow made from such split wood.
The technical object is defined by the prior splitting of its wood into two or more pieces.
- Lane · entry 34919
فَلَقٌ / فَالِقٌ
A low or open tract, gap, or passage between elevated areas such as hills, mountains, sand tracts, or camel humps.
The term may describe a geographical depression or an intervening space between raised features.
- Lane · entry 34920
- Lane · entry 34936
- Mufradāt · row 1133
فَلَقٌ
Hell, or a particular well within Hell.
A rare noun usage attributed to specified authorities.
- Lane · entry 34920
فَلَقٌ
The milk remaining at the bottom of a bowl.
Occurs in an expression of reproach for a person associated with drinking such residue.
- Lane · entry 34920
فَلَقٌ / فَلَقَةٌ
A wooden stock or restraint with holes that hold prisoners' legs in a row; also the thick staff used with a rope to secure a person's legs during flogging.
The noun refers to a prisoner's restraint apparatus and related wooden implements.
- Lane · entry 34920
- Lane · entry 34924
فَلْقَةٌ
A ring-shaped brand beneath a camel's ear, marked by a perpendicular division.
A specialized camel-marking term.
- Lane · entry 34922
فِلْقَةٌ / فُلَاقَةٌ
A piece, fragment, or portion split off from something, including part of a bowl, bread, or a baked brick.
It may refer to one of divided halves or to a broken-off fragment.
- Lane · entry 34923
- Lane · entry 34932
- Mufradāt · row 1133
فَلْقَاءُ الضَّرَّةِ
A ewe or she-goat with a broad or ample udder.
A specialized descriptive expression for livestock.
- Lane · entry 34926
فُلْقَانٌ
A sheer, unmixed lie.
A rare nominal usage.
- Lane · entry 34927
فَلِيقٌ
The depressed or cleft part in the inner neck of a camel, around the passage of the windpipe.
The term is specifically applied to the camel in the supplied evidence, not to a human anatomical feature.
- Lane · entry 34931
فَلِيقٌ / فَالِقٌ
A vein, including a cephalic vein in the upper arm or a vein that swells in the neck; فَوَالِقُ are branching veins.
A specialized anatomical usage.
- Lane · entry 34931
- Lane · entry 34936
فَلِيقَةٌ
A collected quantity, or a small quantity, of hair.
The evidence records variation in the transmitted explanation between a collected and a small quantity.
- Lane · entry 34933
فَلِيقَةٌ
A broth or pottage into which fragments of bread are crumbled.
A regional culinary term; one cited authority gives a different form for the word.
- Lane · entry 34933
فَيْلَقٌ
An army or military force, especially a great or formidable troop.
This is identified as the primary meaning of فَيْلَقٌ in the supplied evidence.
- Lane · entry 34937
فَيْلَقٌ
A large, big, or imposing person.
A rare personal epithet distinct from the military noun.
- Lane · entry 34937
فَيْلَقٌ
A woman characterized as cunning, evil, and clamorous.
A specialized epithet in the expression فَيْلَقٌ applied to a woman or wife.
- Lane · entry 34937
فَيْلَقٌ
The cocoon of the silkworm, from which silk is obtained.
An Arabicized technical word according to the cited lexical discussion.
- Lane · entry 34937
أَفْلَقَ
Exceptionally severe, violent, or far-reaching.
Used of an especially harsh slaughter and of a journey remarkable for its extent.
- Lane · entry 34939
مُفَلَّقٌ
Of a peach, apricot, or similar fruit, splitting around its stone; in one vocalization, becoming dry as it splits.
A specialized descriptive participle for fruit whose flesh opens around the stone.
- Lane · entry 34942
مِفْلَاقٌ
A low, ignoble, poor, or propertyless man.
The term can also be applied figuratively to one lacking knowledge or understanding of a juridical ruling.
- Lane · entry 34943
مِفْلَاقٌ
A person who does or utters evil, disliked, or hateful things.
A separate evaluative use of the same nominal form.
- Lane · entry 34943
مَفْلُوقٌ
A camel bearing the فَلْقَة brand.
A specialized passive-participial designation for a branded camel.
- Lane · entry 34944
فَلَقٌ
The clear appearance of truth after it had been doubtful.
A figurative use describing truth becoming manifest after uncertainty.
- Lane · entry 34920
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The active participle فَالِق in 6:95–96 supports both concrete cleaving and reported creator-oriented interpretations; these are kept as separate senses.