Quranic root
هرب
h · r · b
The root centers on fleeing or moving away, especially escaping from danger or pursuit.
From the basic idea of fleeing, Classical Arabic develops causative and reciprocal flight, refuge and places of refuge, and several specialized extensions. These broader developments are kept distinct from the Quranic noun.
- Maqāyīs · row 4865
- Lane · entry 10394
- Lane · entry 10395
- Lane · entry 10397
- Lane · entry 10400
- 1
- Quran-attested forms
- 1
- Quran senses
- 1
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
هَرَبٌ
harabun
- 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.
Flight; fleeing or escape.
A nominal/verbal-noun use denoting the act or means of fleeing; in the Quranic occurrence, flight is presented as a possible means of escape.
- Lane · entry 10394
Selected Quran examples
Quran 72:12word 11
“(by) flight”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 72:12هَرَبًۭا(by) flight
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 13 Classical meanings
هَرَبَ
To flee to a refuge or seek refuge by fleeing.
A directional refuge construction, exemplified by fleeing to God for refuge from punishment.
- Lane · entry 10394
هَرَبَ
To disappear into or be swallowed by the ground.
A specialized usage describing part of an object disappearing into the ground; the cited example concerns half of a peg or stake.
- Lane · entry 10394
هَرِبَ
To become extremely old, weak, or decrepit.
A dialectal form equated with هَرِمَ.
- Lane · entry 10394
هَرَّبَ / أَهْرَبَ
To make, cause, force, or compel someone to flee.
Causative transitive usage of the derived forms.
- Lane · entry 10395
- Lane · entry 10396
أَهْرَبَ
Of wind: to raise and carry away dust, causing dust or dry herbage to accumulate on the ground.
A specialized intransitive usage with the wind as subject.
- Lane · entry 10396
أَهْرَبَ
To exert oneself intensely in going away or in an undertaking; to immerse oneself in an affair.
Used for strenuous departure or flight and, in an affair, for taking extraordinary pains.
- Lane · entry 10396
أَهْرَبَ
To go or travel far into or through the land.
A locative usage referring to extensive travel through the country.
- Lane · entry 10396
تَهَارَبَ
To flee from one another.
Reciprocal usage in which the parties flee mutually or from one another.
- Lane · entry 10397
هُرْبٌ
The thin layer or caul of fat covering the stomach and intestines.
A dialectal anatomical term, equated with ثَرْبُ البَطْنِ.
- Lane · entry 10398
هَارِبٌ
In the expression مَا لَهُ هَارِبٌ وَلَا قَارِبٌ, one returning from water; the idiom may consequently mean having nothing or no people, or having no one who flees from or approaches him, hence being insignificant.
A fixed idiom contrasting هَارِبٌ, one returning from water, with قَارِبٌ, one going to it; alternative idiomatic interpretations are attested.
- Lane · entry 10399
مَهْرَبٌ
A place to which one flees; a place of refuge; figuratively, a person who serves as a refuge.
The personal-refuge usage is explicitly figurative.
- Lane · entry 10400
مُهْرِبٌ
One who strives or exerts himself in an affair; in another reported usage, one who comes fleeing in fright.
Attested in the expression جاء مُهْرِبًا, with an alternative interpretation referring to fleeing fearfully.
- Lane · entry 10401
مِهْرَبٌ
A wooden implement drawn back and forth over the soil after sowing.
An agricultural implement, described as a piece of wood or a trunk section dragged over the ground.
- Lane · entry 10402
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic occurrence is the nominal accusative هَرَبًا; the public headword is normalized to the citation form هَرَبٌ. The dialectal هَرِبَ meaning “to become decrepit” is kept separate from this Quranic noun.