Quranic root
قلب
q · l · b
The root expresses two related orientations: the innermost or choicest part of something, and turning or returning something from one side or state to another.
From the central or essential heart of a thing, the root develops meanings of inversion, alteration, repeated movement, return, inner disposition, and the pith or central part of natural objects.
- Maqāyīs · row 3839
- 9
- Quran-attested forms
- 14
- Quran senses
- 168
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
قَلَبَ
qalaba
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- 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 be returned or brought back, especially to God.
A passive construction expressing eventual return or being brought back to a final authority or destination.
- Mufradāt · row 1202
- Lane · entry 8777
Selected Quran examples
Quran 29:21word 8
“you will be returned”
قَلَّبَ
qallaba
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form II
- Form
- II
- Quran occurrences
- 6 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 turn, change, or repeatedly move something or someone from one position or state to another.
Includes turning something over or upside down, turning people or appearances, and changing inner perceptions or dispositions.
- Lane · entry 8774
- Mufradāt · row 1202
Selected Quran examples
Quran 6:110word 1
“And We will turn”
To turn affairs over in deliberation; to investigate, devise, or consider their possible outcomes.
Used with affairs, thoughts, or plans, including devising stratagems or considering how to frustrate an opponent’s purpose.
- Lane · entry 8774
- Mufradāt · row 1202
Selected Quran examples
Quran 9:48word 6
“and had upset”
To turn the hands repeatedly as an expression of regret or grief.
The turning of the hands is an idiomatic action representing remorse or repentance, rather than merely physical rotation.
- Lane · entry 8774
- Mufradāt · row 1202
Selected Quran examples
Quran 18:42word 4
“twisting”
تَقَلَّبَ
taqallaba
- 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.
To turn about, move repeatedly, or be in a state of agitation.
May describe physical or visual movement and, in the Quranic construction with hearts and eyes, agitation or commotion.
- Lane · entry 8776
- Mufradāt · row 1202
Selected Quran examples
Quran 24:37word 16
“will turn about”
اِنْقَلَبَ
āinqalaba
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form VII
- Form
- VII
- Quran occurrences
- 17 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 turn back or return, especially to a former place, home, or destination.
Used for returning from a journey or after an event, and may refer to reaching a final destination.
- Lane · entry 8777
- Mufradāt · row 1202
Selected Quran examples
Quran 3:144word 18
“turns back”
To turn away, revert, or become changed from a former position, allegiance, or state.
In Quranic contexts this includes turning away from faith or a covenant after trial, rather than simply traveling back.
- Lane · entry 8777
- Mufradāt · row 1202
Selected Quran examples
Quran 22:11word 16
“he turns”
مُنْقَلَب
munqalab
- Part of speech
- Passive 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.
A return, returning destination, or final place to which one returns.
The form can function as a verbal noun or as a place/destination noun; Quranic contexts include return to a final abode and return from an undertaking.
- Lane · entry 8777
- Lane · entry 8803
- Mufradāt · row 1202
Selected Quran examples
Quran 18:36word 12
“(as) a return”
Quran 26:227word 18
“return”
مُنْقَلِب
munqalib
- Part of speech
- Active participle
- 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.
Returning or turning back; one who returns.
Used adjectivally or substantively for those who turn back or return after an action or journey.
- Lane · entry 8777
- Mufradāt · row 1202
Selected Quran examples
Quran 7:125word 5
“(will) return”
Quran 43:14word 4
“will surely return”
مُتَقَلَّب
mutaqallab
- Part of speech
- Passive 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.
Movement or active change of position; one’s sphere of movement or activity.
The supplied Quranic occurrence refers to movement or activity; the form can also denote the place or scope in which one moves or acts.
- Lane · entry 8802
- Mufradāt · row 1202
Selected Quran examples
Quran 47:19word 13
“your movement”
قَلْب
qalb
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 132 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.
The heart, the bodily organ.
Used literally for the physical heart and in bodily-location expressions.
- Lane · entry 8778
- Mufradāt · row 1202
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:260word 16
“my heart”
The inner faculty of understanding, awareness, judgment, and feeling.
The heart may stand for intellect, comprehension, knowledge, courage, fear, tranquility, or other inward states and dispositions.
- Lane · entry 8778
- Mufradāt · row 1202
Selected Quran examples
Quran 50:37word 8
“a heart”
The spirit or inner self.
In expressions describing the heart reaching the throat or being inwardly affected, the word may refer metonymically to a person’s spirit or inner life.
- Mufradāt · row 1202
Selected Quran examples
Quran 33:10word 12
“the hearts”
تَقَلُّب
taqallub
- 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.
Turning, movement, or going to and fro; active movement through places or activities.
The verbal noun can describe repeated physical movement, travel, or a person’s active conduct and movements in a sphere of activity.
- Lane · entry 8776
- Mufradāt · row 1202
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:144word 3
“(the) turning”
Quran 16:46word 4
“their going to and fro”
Quran 26:219word 1
“And your movements”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:7قُلُوبِهِمْtheir hearts
- 2:10قُلُوبِهِمtheir hearts
- 2:74قُلُوبُكُمyour hearts
- 2:88قُلُوبُنَاOur hearts
- 2:93قُلُوبِهِمُtheir hearts
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 44 Classical meanings
قَلَبَ
To alter or invert a thing; to turn it upside down, inside out, or over so that its upper side becomes its lower side.
Applies to objects such as garments, vessels, bread, earth, and other things that are physically turned.
- Lane · entry 8773
قَلَبَ
To transpose or alter the order of words or letters, or to convert one letter into another.
A linguistic and orthographic use involving inversion or substitution.
- Lane · entry 8773
قَلَبَ
To examine something by turning it over; to scrutinize a commodity, animal, person, or affair.
May include examining both the outward and inward sides of an object or considering the possible outcomes of an affair.
- Lane · entry 8773
قَلَبَ
To turn someone away, dismiss a group, or send someone back; euphemistically, to translate someone to God by death.
The death-related use is a figurative expression for removal to God.
- Lane · entry 8773
قَلَبَ عَيْنَهُ
To roll or turn the eye or eyelid in anger or threat.
A conventional bodily expression associated with anger or intimidation.
- Lane · entry 8773
قَلَبَ
To turn earth for cultivation and, by extension, to dig a well.
The well-digging use is explained through the turning over of the earth.
- Lane · entry 8773
قَلَبَهُ
To strike or affect someone’s heart; to be afflicted by pain or disease of the heart.
Also used of a camel suddenly attacked by a fatal disease affecting the heart.
- Lane · entry 8773
قَلَبَ النَّخْلَةَ
To remove the heart or pith from a palm tree.
A specialized agricultural use referring to the central edible or growing part of the palm.
- Lane · entry 8773
قَلَبَتِ البُسْرَةُ
Of an unripe date, to become red.
A change of color in the ripening fruit.
- Lane · entry 8773
قَلَبٌ
Inversion or flabbiness of the lip.
A bodily condition of the lip, especially the upper lip, also used adjectivally of a person or lip.
- Lane · entry 8773
أَقْلَبَ
To cause someone to return from a journey.
A transitive Form IV use; it is distinct from the Quran-attested Form VII intransitive return.
- Lane · entry 8775
أَقْلَبَ
Of bread, to become ready to be turned over; of grapes, to become dry or tough so that they are turned or shifted.
Describes a condition making the other side ready for exposure or drying.
- Lane · entry 8775
أَقْلَبَ
To have one’s camels attacked by the disease called قُلَاب.
A specialized causative use concerning the camel disease.
- Lane · entry 8775
قَلْب
The stomach.
A later or regional bodily use distinct from the heart proper.
- Lane · entry 8778
قَلْبُ العَقْرَبِ
The bright star known as the heart of Scorpio; by extension, a star named as the heart of another constellation.
A technical astronomical term, including the eighteenth lunar mansion.
- Lane · entry 8778
قَلْبُ الجَيْشِ
The main body or center of an army.
Distinguished from the vanguard, rear, and wings.
- Lane · entry 8778
قَلْب
The purest, choicest, best, or essential part of a thing; something unmixed.
May refer metaphorically to the pith or central excellence of a thing or to an affair presented without admixture.
- Lane · entry 8778
قَلْب
A person genuine or pure in origin or lineage, especially one occupying a central standing among a people.
Used as an epithet for a man or woman and, in some expressions, for intelligent management of affairs.
- Lane · entry 8778
قُلْبٌ
The pith or heart of a palm tree, or the best and whitest leaves and branches near its crown.
The soft central substance is edible; the term may also refer to its associated upper leaves or branches.
- Lane · entry 8779
قُلْبٌ
A woman’s bracelet made from a single unbraided strand or band.
The term is associated with the whiteness or single form of the palm heart.
- Lane · entry 8779
قُلْبٌ
A serpent, especially a white serpent.
The animal is named by comparison with the bracelet.
- Lane · entry 8779
قُلْبَةٌ
Redness.
A specialized nominal use distinct from the related epithet for purity or lineage.
- Lane · entry 8781
قَلَبَةٌ
An ailment or defect requiring examination or turning over; in the negative phrase مَا بِهِ قَلَبَةٌ, no disease or troubling condition.
The expression is conventionally used in negative statements, especially of a person, animal, or camel.
- Lane · entry 8782
قَلَابِ
A vocative or proverbial epithet for one who turns speech around and adapts it as needed.
Applied to a person who repairs a slip of the tongue by redirecting it to another meaning.
- Lane · entry 8783
قُلَابٌ
A disease of the heart, especially the sudden disease afflicting camels and sometimes causing death the same day.
The term may refer either to a human heart disease or to the named camel disease.
- Lane · entry 8784
قَلُوبٌ
A person much given to movement, versatility, or ingenious management of affairs.
Describes someone who uses skill, artifice, or adaptive judgment in travel or administration.
- Lane · entry 8786
قَلُوبُ الشَّجَرِ
The soft or tender parts of succulent plants.
A botanical expression for edible tender growth.
- Lane · entry 8786
قَلِيبٌ
Earth that has been turned over.
The adjective is used substantively for overturned earth.
- Lane · entry 8787
قَلِيبٌ
A well, especially one newly dug or not yet lined.
The term has several classical specifications, including an old, unlined, or spring-containing well; it is named from the turning of the excavated earth.
- Lane · entry 8787
قُلُبٌ
Wounds, by comparison with overturned or opened earth.
A figurative plural use attested in poetry.
- Lane · entry 8787
قُلَيْبٌ
A bead or gem used in an enchantment for captivating, fascinating, or restraining.
A specialized diminutive or figurative use.
- Lane · entry 8788
قِلِّيبٌ
A wolf; in another attestation, a lion.
The animal name may be related to repeated movement in search of food, but the zoological uses remain lexicalized.
- Lane · entry 8792
قَالَبٌ
A model, pattern, or mould according to which something is shaped; figuratively, a well-formed or fitting formulation.
Includes a boot or shoe last, a mould for poured metal, and a figurative pattern of eloquent speech. The word is reported as Arabicized.
- Lane · entry 8793
قَالَبٌ
A clog or wooden sandal.
A separate Arabicized nominal use, with a plural referring to such sandals.
- Lane · entry 8793
قَالِبٌ
Red or altered in color; specifically, a red unripe date or an animal whose color differs from its mother’s.
An adjectival use describing conspicuous change or difference of color.
- Lane · entry 8794
أَقْلَبُ
A man characterized by an inverted or flabby lip; قَلْبَاءُ is used of such a lip.
An adjectival bodily description.
- Lane · entry 8795
إِقْلَابِيَّةٌ
A dangerous wind at sea from which sailors fear injury to their vessels.
A technical or nautical term.
- Lane · entry 8796
تَقَلُّبَاتٌ
Vicissitudes or changes of fortune or time.
A plural abstract use referring to fluctuating circumstances.
- Lane · entry 8797
مِقْلَبٌ
An iron implement for turning over earth for cultivation.
An agricultural tool named from the action of inversion.
- Lane · entry 8798
مُقَلِّبُ القُلُوبِ
The Turner of hearts, an epithet applied to God.
A conventional religious epithet expressing divine control over inward dispositions.
- Lane · entry 8799
مَقْلُوبٌ
Turned upside down, inverted, or altered in arrangement; also transposed in the order of words.
Used of objects, furniture, sentences, and words.
- Lane · entry 8800
مَقْلُوبٌ
A person or camel afflicted by a disease of the heart or by قُلَاب.
A passive participial bodily description distinct from the ordinary sense of being inverted.
- Lane · entry 8800
المَقْلُوبَةُ
The ear.
A substantivized feminine form with a specialized anatomical meaning.
- Lane · entry 8801
مُتَقَلَّبٌ
A place, room, or scope in which one may act freely or move about.
A broader Classical Arabic place-or-sphere use, distinct from the supplied Quranic contextual sense of movement or activity.
- Lane · entry 8802
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
Lane uses historical Quran citation conventions. Its citation of Qur'an XLVII.21 in the discussion of مُتَقَلَّبٌ is not converted into a modern verse location; the supplied QAC occurrence at 47:19 is used for the Quran example, while the Lane passage is retained as lexical evidence only.