Quranic root
غيب
gh · y · b
The root centers on something being concealed from sight or otherwise absent from perception.
From concealment and absence, the root develops meanings for the unseen and unknown, departure and hidden places, concealment, and speech about someone in their absence.
- Maqāyīs · row 3483
- Mufradāt · row 1078
- 4
- Quran-attested forms
- 5
- Quran senses
- 60
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
اغْتَابَ
āghtāba
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form VIII
- Form
- VIII
- 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 speak of a person in their absence in a way that would distress them, especially by mentioning a real fault.
The Quranic usage is the conventional sense of backbiting. A false attribution is distinguished in the lexical tradition as buhtān.
- Lane · entry 30200
- Mufradāt · row 1078
Selected Quran examples
Quran 49:12word 15
“backbite”
غَائِبٌ
ghāʾibun
- Part of speech
- Active participle
- 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.
Absent, not present, or hidden and unapparent.
Used as an active participle for people or things; the feminine form غائبة in 27:75 refers to something hidden or absent from human perception.
- Lane · entry 30211
- Mufradāt · row 1078
Selected Quran examples
Quran 7:7word 6
“absent”
Quran 27:75word 3
“hidden”
غَيَابَةٌ
ghayābahun
- Part of speech
- Noun
- 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.
A concealed hollow or depressed place, especially the hidden bottom of a well.
In the Quranic construction غَيَابَةُ الْجُبِّ, it denotes the concealed bottom or interior of the well; the word can also denote a depressed place or hollow more generally.
- Lane · entry 30210
- Mufradāt · row 1078
Selected Quran examples
Quran 12:10word 9
“the bottom”
Quran 12:15word 8
“(the) bottom”
غَيْبٌ
ghaybun
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 53 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.
What is absent from human perception or knowledge; the unseen and hidden realm or matters.
The term is relative to human beings, not to God, and can include matters known through divine revelation, such as future events and the realities of resurrection, Paradise, and Hell. The plural غُيُوب refers to multiple unseen matters.
- Lane · entry 30202
- Mufradāt · row 1078
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:3word 3
“in the unseen”
Quran 34:48word 7
“(of) the unseen”
Absence from an observer, or concealment from people; hence conduct or action carried out in another’s absence or secretly.
In constructions such as بِالْغَيْبِ and لِلْغَيْبِ, the context may emphasize being unseen by others or acting in a person’s absence rather than the unseen realm as such.
- Lane · entry 30202
- Mufradāt · row 1078
Selected Quran examples
Quran 4:34word 18
“in the unseen”
Quran 12:52word 6
“in secret”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:3بِٱلْغَيْبِin the unseen
- 2:33غَيْبَ(the) unseen
- 3:44ٱلْغَيْبِ(of) the unseen
- 3:179ٱلْغَيْبِthe unseen
- 4:34لِّلْغَيْبِin the unseen
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 28 Classical meanings
غَابَ
To be absent, distant, remote, or hidden; to depart or go away.
Used with عَنْ for being absent or concealed from someone, and also of a thing being hidden within another thing.
- Lane · entry 30194
غَابَ
To become absent-minded or withdrawn from ordinary awareness.
A figurative use for the mind being wholly occupied, especially by contemplation of divine matters.
- Lane · entry 30194
غَابَ
To be unacquainted with or unfamiliar with something; not to be a stranger to it.
An idiomatic, figurative use attested in traditional expression.
- Lane · entry 30194
غَابَ
To set, of the sun, moon, or another celestial body.
Used of a celestial body disappearing below the horizon.
- Lane · entry 30194
غَيَّبَ
To cause someone or something to become absent or disappear; to hide or conceal it.
The object is made absent or concealed from another person.
- Lane · entry 30195
مُغَايَبَةٌ
Mutual absence, or communication conducted with someone who is absent.
The communication may take place by letter or through a messenger rather than face to face.
- Lane · entry 30196
أَغَابَتْ
For a woman to have her husband or a family member absent from her.
A specialized expression for the state of having a close household member away.
- Lane · entry 30197
تَغَيَّبَ
To absent oneself, withdraw, or stay away.
A derived reflexive or intransitive use related to becoming absent.
- Lane · entry 30198
تَغَيُّبٌ
The sale of a stray slave whose owner is unknown.
A specialized legal usage in the context of a sale contract.
- Lane · entry 30198
اغْتَابَ
To speak about someone by imputing good or evil, a fault, or another quality; by extension, to express a disparaging opinion of someone.
Broader Classical usage can extend beyond literal absence and beyond a true report, including certain face-to-face or gestural expressions. The Quranic backbiting sense is listed separately.
- Lane · entry 30200
غَيْبٌ
Doubt, or something doubted.
A disputed or figurative Classical usage; some authorities reject or restrict this sense.
- Lane · entry 30202
غَيْبٌ
A concealed hollow or depression in the ground, especially a place whose interior or far side cannot be seen.
The word can denote a low place that hides what is in it or behind it.
- Lane · entry 30202
غَيْبٌ
A hidden or unobserved setting invoked in the expression of speaking from memory.
In عَنْ ظَهْرِ غَيْبٍ, it means speaking from memory or without consulting a book or similar source.
- Lane · entry 30202
غَيْبٌ
The unknown subject of conjectural or unsupported speech.
In expressions such as رَجَمَ بِالْغَيْبِ and قَالَ رَجْمًا بِالْغَيْبِ, it refers to speaking without knowledge or proof.
- Lane · entry 30202
غَيْبٌ
A depression beside or at the place of an animal’s kidney.
An anatomical term for a pit that becomes prominent as the animal grows heavy in the belly.
- Lane · entry 30202
غَيْبٌ
The concealed fat of the omentum of a sheep or goat.
So called because it is hidden from sight.
- Lane · entry 30202
غَابَةٌ
A low or depressed place, or a hollow in the ground, with an eminence before it or along its approach.
A topographical use distinct from the sense of a wooded thicket.
- Lane · entry 30204
غَابَةٌ
A bed of reeds or canes; a dense thicket, wood, or forest.
The vegetation is densely disposed and conceals what is within it.
- Lane · entry 30204
غَابَةٌ
A long spear or an assemblage of numerous, dense, or quivering spears.
A figurative extension comparing the spears with a dense thicket or forest.
- Lane · entry 30204
غَابَةٌ
A company or congregated body of men.
A collective use of the noun.
- Lane · entry 30204
غَيْبَةٌ
A low or depressed piece of land or ground.
Used in expressions describing falling into or reaching such a depression.
- Lane · entry 30205
غِيبَةٌ
Backbiting or evil speech about a person in their absence, especially mentioning a fault that would distress them.
A false accusation is distinguished as buhtān in the cited lexical tradition.
- Lane · entry 30206
غَيِبَانٌ
Roots of trees or plants hidden from sight or untouched by sunlight.
The term is also used for herbage concealed from the sun.
- Lane · entry 30207
غَيَابٌ
A thing that hides or conceals; hence a grave.
In an imprecation, غَيَابُهُ refers to being buried in his grave.
- Lane · entry 30209
غَيَابَةٌ
The part of something that veils or conceals it; a covert or place of concealment.
The word can denote a concealed place, including a covert used by birds, apart from its Quranic use for the hollow of a well.
- Lane · entry 30210
غَائِبٌ
A run in which a horse reserves some of its strength for a time of need.
A specialized equestrian term.
- Lane · entry 30211
مَغِيبٌ
The setting of the sun, moon, or another celestial body; the place or time of setting.
A verbal noun and a noun of place or time.
- Lane · entry 30212
مُغِيبٌ
A woman whose husband or a member of her family is absent.
A specialized descriptive noun, with feminine variants also recorded.
- Lane · entry 30213
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The expression بِالْغَيْبِ can emphasize the unseen realm or, in some Quranic contexts, conduct in a person's absence; both readings are lexically attested.
The Classical sense غَيْبٌ meaning doubt is reported as disputed or figurative and is kept separate from the Quranic sense of the unseen.