Quranic root
نفس
n · f · s
The root centers on breath or the issuing of air, and by extension on the animating self, vitality, relief, and what is highly valued.
The basic image is the خروج النسيم, the emergence of breath or air. From it develop meanings connected with breathing, the soul sustained by breath, relief as an easing of constraint, extension or spaciousness, and precious things pursued by emulation.
- Maqāyīs · row 4709
- Mufradāt · row 1469
- 4
- Quran-attested forms
- 8
- Quran senses
- 298
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
تَنَفَّسَ
tanaffasa
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form V
- Form
- V
- 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.
Of dawn or morning, to emerge, spread, and brighten as it becomes clear.
Used in the Quranic construction وَالصُّبْحِ إِذَا تَنَفَّسَ, describing the dawn's appearing and expansion rather than literal animal respiration.
- Lane · entry 44208
- Mufradāt · row 1469
Selected Quran examples
Quran 81:18word 3
“it breathes”
تَنَافَسَ
tanāfasa
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form VI
- Form
- VI
- 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 vie or aspire with one another for something desirable; to strive emulously to attain it.
A reciprocal construction involving emulation and pursuit of excellence; the Quran-focused explanation emphasizes striving without harming the other party.
- Lane · entry 44206
- Lane · entry 44209
- Mufradāt · row 1469
Selected Quran examples
Quran 83:26word 5
“let aspire”
مُتَنَافِسٌ
mutanāfisun
- Part of speech
- Active participle
- 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.
One who vies or aspires with others for a desirable good; an aspirer or competitor.
Active participle of تَنَافَسَ, used of those who pursue a valued good through emulation.
- Lane · entry 44206
- Mufradāt · row 1469
Selected Quran examples
Quran 83:26word 6
“the aspirers”
نَفْس
nafs
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 295 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.
Soul, spirit, or vital self: the animating principle or life-bearing self of a living being.
Used of the soul or vital principle, including in contexts of its being taken, released, or associated with life; grammatical gender and number vary by construction.
- Lane · entry 44210
- Mufradāt · row 1469
Selected Quran examples
Quran 6:93word 34
“your souls”
The self, inner being, mind, or concealed contents of a person or being; hence oneself, himself, herself, themselves, and similar reflexive uses.
In possessive and prepositional constructions it may denote one's own person, inner state, thought, knowledge, or concealed matter. In divine constructions it can denote the divine self or essence without implying two beings.
- Lane · entry 44210
- Mufradāt · row 1469
Selected Quran examples
Quran 3:30word 23
“(against) Himself”
Quran 2:235word 13
“yourselves”
A person, individual, or living being considered as a whole.
This use treats the individual as comprising the whole living person, soul and body; it is not restricted to one gender or social class.
- Lane · entry 44210
Selected Quran examples
Quran 4:1word 8
“a soul”
A fellow, brother, or copartner in faith, religion, or kinship.
In the Quranic social construction, addressing or greeting one’s نفوس may refer to fellow believers or members of one’s community rather than literally to oneself.
- Lane · entry 44210
Selected Quran examples
Quran 24:61word 15
“yourselves”
In the construction of a divine warning, God’s punishment, or God Himself as the object of warning.
The phrase يُحَذِّرُكُمُ اللَّهُ نَفْسَهُ is interpreted in the evidence both as warning of God’s punishment and as warning concerning God Himself; the lexical construction should not be reduced to only one of these readings.
- Lane · entry 44210
Selected Quran examples
Quran 3:28word 24
“(of) Himself”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:9أَنفُسَهُمْthemselves
- 2:44أَنفُسَكُمْyourselves
- 2:48نَفْسٌany soul
- 2:48نَّفْسٍۢ(another) soul
- 2:54أَنفُسَكُمyourselves
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 56 Classical meanings
نَفُسَ
To become high in estimation, excellent, precious, or highly valued; of property, to become loved and esteemed.
Also gives rise to the idea of a thing being sought with emulation because of its excellence.
- Lane · entry 44204
نَفِسَ
To be avaricious, tenacious, or niggardly of something; to begrudge it to another or regard the other as unworthy of it.
Used with prepositions or direct objects for the thing withheld or begrudged; the same branch includes envying another’s good.
- Lane · entry 44204
نُفِسَتْ
Of a woman, to bring forth a child; to give birth.
The construction may be used with the child or with the child’s relation to the mother.
- Lane · entry 44204
نُفِسَتْ
Of a woman, to menstruate.
A distinct use associated with blood; the evidence reports variant verbal forms and differing judgments about their frequency.
- Lane · entry 44204
نَفَسَ
To smite a person or thing with an evil or envious eye.
A specialized idiomatic use describing the injurious effect of an envious gaze.
- Lane · entry 44204
نَفَّسَ
To remove or relieve grief, sorrow, anxiety, or distress; to make circumstances easier or more ample; to grant a delay.
Used transitively for relieving another, and elliptically in requests such as “grant me respite” or “remove my grief.”
- Lane · entry 44205
نَفَّسَ
Of a bow, to crack; according to one explanation, to put its string upon the bow.
A figurative or specialized use applied to a bow and related archery objects.
- Lane · entry 44205
أَنْفَسَ
To make someone desirous of something, or to cause something to please and become highly esteemed.
Used with a person as the one made desirous and with the valued object as the thing desired.
- Lane · entry 44207
أَنْفَسَ
In an exclamatory construction, to express how powerful someone’s evil or envious eye is.
A fixed evaluative expression concerning the force of an evil eye.
- Lane · entry 44207
تَنَفَّسَ
To breathe, respire, draw breath inward, and emit it.
Used of a human or any animal with lungs; it may also mean to sigh.
- Lane · entry 44208
تَنَفَّسَ
Of wind, to blow gently or pleasantly.
A figurative extension of breathing and moving air.
- Lane · entry 44208
تَنَفَّسَ
To drink from a vessel with pauses between draughts, or, according to a contrary reported use, without removing the vessel from the mouth.
The phrase تنفّس في الإناء is associated with drinking in relation to taking breath; the evidence records both reported interpretations.
- Lane · entry 44208
تَنَفَّسَ
To lengthen one’s speech or speak at length.
A figurative use based on taking breath during extended speech.
- Lane · entry 44208
تَنَفَّسَ
To become extended, prolonged, ample, or increased; of a day, life, water, or similar thing.
The dawn-specific Quranic branch is listed separately above; this entry covers the broader classical uses of extension and abundance.
- Lane · entry 44208
تَنَفَّسَ
Of waves, to sprinkle or cast up water.
A figurative use describing the movement and emission of water.
- Lane · entry 44208
تَنَفَّسَ
Of a bow or arrow, to crack or split in the characteristic manner described for a sound bow.
A specialized archery use, distinct from literal respiration.
- Lane · entry 44208
تَنَفَّسَ
In the construction تَنَفَّسَ عَلَيْهِ الشَّيْءَ, to begrudge or envy something to another.
Reported as equivalent to the corresponding نَفِسَ construction, but retained here for the derived-form expression.
- Lane · entry 44208
نَفْس
Blood, especially life-blood.
A figurative or metonymic use explained through the association between blood, the animal soul, and sustaining life.
- Lane · entry 44210
نَفْس
The body.
A metonymic use for the embodied living self.
- Lane · entry 44210
نَفْس
The stomach or appetite.
The evidence records uses referring either to the stomach or to appetite, including expressions for stomach sickness.
- Lane · entry 44210
نَفْس
The pudendum or female vulva.
A late or contemporary specialized use recorded in the lexical evidence.
- Lane · entry 44210
نَفْس
Pride, self-magnification, or self-regard.
A figurative attribute of the inner self.
- Lane · entry 44210
نَفْس
Disdain or scorn.
A figurative emotional or attitudinal use.
- Lane · entry 44210
نَفْس
Purpose, intention, or strong determination.
Used of an inward resolve or directed aim.
- Lane · entry 44210
نَفْس
Will, wish, or desire.
A figurative use for an inward inclination or appetite.
- Lane · entry 44210
نَفْس
An evil or envious eye that injures the person or thing at which it is cast.
A specialized noun for the harmful gaze, distinct from the person who casts it.
- Lane · entry 44210
نَفْس
Strength and hardiness in a person; density and strength of texture in cloth.
Applied to physical robustness or to the compact, strong quality of a material.
- Lane · entry 44210
نَفْس
A quantity of tanning material sufficient for one tanning, or in some reports two tannings; a handful of it.
A technical measure used especially of qaraz and related tanning substances.
- Lane · entry 44210
نَفَس
Breath: air drawn in through the nose or mouth and emitted from a living being.
The noun denotes what is emitted in breathing as well as the act’s respiratory product.
- Lane · entry 44211
نَفَس
A gentle air or a breath of pleasant wind or fragrance.
Used of wind or the refreshing odor of a meadow, garden, or similar place.
- Lane · entry 44211
نَفَس
A gulp or draught, a pause between draughts, or a beverage that affords satisfaction and room to drink.
These uses arise from the relation between drinking and taking breath; the noun may describe either the amount swallowed or the interval between draughts.
- Lane · entry 44211
نَفَس
The end of time, in the expression نَفَسَ السَّاعَةِ.
A fixed expression referring to the final blast or termination of time.
- Lane · entry 44211
نَفَس
Speech or kind speech.
A figurative and later use derived from breath and utterance.
- Lane · entry 44211
نَفَس
Voice, especially a sweet singing voice.
A figurative use associated with breath in vocal production.
- Lane · entry 44211
نَفَس
Plenty, spaciousness, a wide interval or distance, or ample scope for action in an affair.
Used of available room, opportunity, or abundance rather than literal respiration.
- Lane · entry 44211
نَفَس
Length or prolongation, especially length added to a term of life.
A figurative extension from the duration permitted by an additional breath.
- Lane · entry 44211
أَنْفَاس
Time after time or repeatedly at intervals.
A plural idiomatic use, especially of something occurring or being done repeatedly.
- Lane · entry 44211
نَفَس
Relief or removal of grief, sorrow, or anxiety.
A substantive use standing in place of the verbal noun of نَفَّسَ.
- Lane · entry 44211
نَفَس
Long or extended, applied to speech, writing, a book, or a letter.
An adjectival use describing extended length or sustained expression.
- Lane · entry 44211
نُفْسَة
Delay, respite, or ample space.
Used of time or room granted in an affair.
- Lane · entry 44212
نَفْسِيّ
Related to the soul or self; vital or sensual.
An adjectival derivative of نَفْس.
- Lane · entry 44213
نُفَسَاء
A woman who has recently given birth, or a woman in the states of giving birth, pregnancy, or menstruation.
The evidence records several related applications and multiple plural forms.
- Lane · entry 44214
نِفَاس
Childbirth or the act of a woman giving birth.
A substantive derived from the blood-related branch of the root; it may also function as a plural of نُفَسَاء.
- Lane · entry 44217
نِفَاس
The postpartum state of impurity, or the blood issuing immediately after childbirth.
A technical religious and medical use distinct from the event of childbirth itself.
- Lane · entry 44217
نَفُوس
An envious person, especially one who looks at another’s property with injurious intent.
A noun describing the caster or agent of the evil eye rather than the eye itself.
- Lane · entry 44218
نَفِيس
Precious, excellent, highly valued, or an object of desire.
Applied to property and other things, including something eagerly sought or emulously desired.
- Lane · entry 44219
نَفِيس
Much or abundant property.
An epithet whose substantive force predominates when applied to a person’s possessions.
- Lane · entry 44219
نَافِس
One who smites with an evil or envious eye.
A specialized active-participial use distinct from نَفُوس describing the envious person.
- Lane · entry 44220
نَافِس
The fifth, or according to one report the fourth, arrow used in the game of maysir.
A technical term for an arrow marked with five notches and associated with five portions.
- Lane · entry 44220
أَنْفَس
More or most highly valued, ample, extended, excellent, or spacious.
Applied to property, lives, dwellings, land, or cloth according to the comparison being made.
- Lane · entry 44221
مَنْفُوس
Brought forth, born, or newly born.
The participial adjective may describe a child or any being that has been brought forth.
- Lane · entry 44224
مَنْفُوس
Smitten with an evil or envious eye.
A passive-participial use describing the person or thing affected by the gaze.
- Lane · entry 44224
مُتَنَفَّس
A place or passage through which breath passes.
A passive-participial noun used of a respiratory passage or opening.
- Lane · entry 44225
مُتَنَفِّس
Breathing, having breath, or possessing lungs.
An epithet applied to anything characterized as having lungs or respiration.
- Lane · entry 44226
مُتَنَفِّس
Of a depressed expanse of land, extending far.
A figurative description of broad, extended terrain.
- Lane · entry 44226
مُتَنَفِّس
Of a nose, broad, depressed, and expanded across the face.
A physical descriptive epithet corresponding to أَفْطَسُ.
- Lane · entry 44226
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Form V Quranic occurrence describes dawn's emergence and expansion; literal breathing is a broader Classical use of the same verb, not the direct contextual gloss of that occurrence.
The divine construction يُحَذِّرُكُمُ اللَّهُ نَفْسَهُ has a reported interpretive variation between “Himself” and “His punishment.”
Lane’s historical Quran citation notation has not been converted into modern verse locations unless the corresponding QAC location was independently present and secure.