Quranic root
نفر
n · f · r
A root of separation and drawing away: something recoils, withdraws, or moves off from its place.
The physical idea of moving away extends to fright, aversion, and withdrawal; movement away also yields departure and the collective terms for people who go forth, mobilize, or support an undertaking. Swelling is explained as flesh or skin drawing away from an affected part.
- Maqāyīs · row 4707
- Mufradāt · row 1468
- 5
- Quran-attested forms
- 6
- Quran senses
- 18
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
نَفَرَ
nafara
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- Quran occurrences
- 8 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.
To go forth, depart, or advance, especially to go to war or undertake an affair.
In the Quranic Form I occurrences, the subject is commanded or described as going forth, commonly in the context of collective mobilization; the imperative, imperfect, and perfect forms are grammatical variants of this use.
- Lane · entry 44170
- Mufradāt · row 1468
Selected Quran examples
مُسْتَنْفِرٌ
mustanfirun
- Part of speech
- Active participle / adjective · with a passive Quranic reading
- 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.
Taking fright and fleeing.
The active reading of the Quranic participle presents the subjects as themselves fleeing in alarm.
- Lane · entry 44190
- Mufradāt · row 1468
Selected Quran examples
Quran 74:50word 3
“frightened”
Made to take fright; scared away.
A reported passive reading of the same Quranic form understands it as describing something frightened or driven into flight.
- Lane · entry 44190
- Mufradāt · row 1468
Selected Quran examples
Quran 74:50word 3
“frightened”
نَفَرٌ
nafarun
- Part of speech
- Noun · collective
- Quran occurrences
- 3 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 group or party, especially a small group able to go forth.
A collective or quasi-plural noun. Classical descriptions often specify a small number of men, while the Quranic occurrences also use it for a group of jinn; the exact numerical range is not uniform in the lexical evidence.
- Lane · entry 44179
- Mufradāt · row 1468
Selected Quran examples
نَفِيرٌ
nafīrun
- Part of speech
- Noun · collective
- 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.
A company or force going forth for an undertaking, especially war; a mobilized host.
A collective noun for people assembled or hastening to act. In its Quranic occurrence, the surrounding expression presents the force as numerous.
- Lane · entry 44187
- Mufradāt · row 1468
Selected Quran examples
Quran 17:6word 11
“numerous”
نُفُورٌ
nufūrun
- Part of speech
- Verbal noun
- Quran occurrences
- 5 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.
Aversion, recoil, or turning away from something.
A verbal noun denoting a response of shrinking or withdrawing, including aversion from a message, truth, or other object.
- Lane · entry 44170
- Mufradāt · row 1468
Selected Quran examples
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 4:71فَٱنفِرُوا۟and advance
- 4:71ٱنفِرُوا۟advance
- 9:38ٱنفِرُوا۟go forth
- 9:39تَنفِرُوا۟you go forth
- 9:41ٱنفِرُوا۟Go forth
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 21 Classical meanings
نَفَرَ
Of an animal or other beast: to take fright, flee, or run away erratically; to become refractory and go off.
Used especially of wild animals, camels, and beasts of carriage.
- Lane · entry 44170
نَفَرَ
To recede, withdraw, or become remote or aloof from something.
A transitive or intransitive construction describing separation from a thing or place.
- Lane · entry 44170
نَفَرَ
To become swollen, as skin, flesh, an eye, or a wound.
The swelling is explained as the flesh or skin drawing away from the affected part.
- Lane · entry 44170
نَفَرَ إِلَى
To flee or betake oneself to God through fear, seeking protection.
A fixed construction with إِلَى and a motive of fear or refuge-seeking.
- Lane · entry 44170
نَفَرَ
To become separated or dispersed.
Describes members of a group or animals becoming divided and going apart.
- Lane · entry 44170
يَوْمُ النَّفْرِ
The day of departure from Minā by the pilgrims.
A specialized pilgrimage expression; the first and last days of departure may be distinguished.
- Lane · entry 44170
نَفَرَ
To go forth to aid or succour someone; when called upon, to comply by going forth in support.
A support or relief construction related to going forth for another's assistance.
- Lane · entry 44170
نَفَّرَ
To make someone or an animal take fright and flee; to scare away or drive away.
Used literally of animals, including driving camels or livestock from pasture, and figuratively of conduct that drives people away through roughness or violence.
- Lane · entry 44171
نَفَّرَ عَنْهُ
To give a child a disliked nickname or name of reproach as a means of warding off the evil eye or spirits.
A protective naming custom, not ordinary naming terminology.
- Lane · entry 44171
نَافَرَ، تَنَافَرَ
To shun or avoid one another and regard one another with aversion.
The reciprocal construction is reported as possibly post-Classical.
- Lane · entry 44172
- Lane · entry 44175
نَافَرَ، تَنَافَرَ
To be incongruous or discordant with one another.
A figurative reciprocal use, also reported as possibly post-Classical.
- Lane · entry 44172
- Lane · entry 44175
أَنْفَرَ
Of camels: to take fright, run away erratically, and become separated or dispersed.
An intransitive Form IV usage recorded for camels.
- Lane · entry 44173
اِسْتَنْفَرَ
To incite, summon, or invite people to go forth, especially to war; to demand or seek their aid.
May also express imposing the duty of going forth on people of differing circumstances or capacities.
- Lane · entry 44176
نَفَرٌ
Aversion or shrinking from something.
A nominal use distinct from نَفَرٌ meaning a group or party.
- Lane · entry 44170
- Lane · entry 44179
نَفَرَةٌ، نُفُورَةٌ
A man's near kinsmen or household group who go with him to war or support him in a crisis.
Refers to close relations acting collectively on behalf of one of their members.
- Lane · entry 44179
- Lane · entry 44181
نُفْرَةٌ
An object hung upon a child to repel or ward off the evil eye.
A protective charm or amulet.
- Lane · entry 44182
نِفْرٌ
An imitative form denoting corroboration or strengthening.
A lexicalized echo-form associated with other expressions of corroboration.
- Lane · entry 44178
نِفَارٌ
A disposition or tendency of an animal to take fright and flee.
Used of a beast that is prone to sudden flight.
- Lane · entry 44185
نَفِيرٌ
A supporting company, auxiliaries, or people accompanying someone to fight.
Focuses on the people who provide support or accompany a leader, rather than simply on departure itself.
- Lane · entry 44187
نَافِرٌ
Averse, shrinking from, or avoiding something.
A participial adjective used of a person or disposition; the lexical evidence does not restrict the object to any particular gender or class.
- Lane · entry 44190
مُنَفِّرٌ
One who drives people away or makes them averse through roughness or violence.
An active participle of Form II, used for conduct that provokes flight or aversion.
- Lane · entry 44193
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic form مُسْتَنْفِرٌ is tagged as an active participle in the supplied morphology, while the lexical evidence records both active and passive readings; both are therefore shown as senses of the Quranic form.
The supplied QAC occurrences include Form I نَفَرَ but no Form X occurrence; اِسْتَنْفَرَ is retained as a broader lexical meaning even though Lane relates it to the Quranic mobilization context.
The exact numerical range traditionally associated with نَفَرٌ varies in the lexical evidence, so the Quranic noun is defined generally as a group or party.