Quranic root
رجف
r · j · f
The root centers on violent motion, agitation, convulsion, and disturbance, whether physical or socially induced.
The basic sense of physical quaking extends to trembling, rumbling, and other forms of agitation; Form IV also develops a causative social use in which speech produces public disturbance.
- Maqāyīs · row 1976
- Mufradāt · row 535
- 4
- Quran-attested forms
- 5
- Quran senses
- 8
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
رَجَفَ
rajafa
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- 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.
To quake, tremble, or undergo violent agitation.
In the Quranic imperfect active use, the subject is the earth, or the earth and mountains, in scenes of eschatological upheaval.
- Lane · entry 22629
- Mufradāt · row 535
Selected Quran examples
Quran 73:14word 2
“will quake”
Quran 79:6word 2
“will quake”
مُرْجِفٌ
murjifun
- Part of speech
- Active participle · Form IV
- 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 spreads false, discordant, or alarming reports that stir people into agitation.
A Form IV active participle; in the Quranic construction it denotes people who generate public disturbance through untrue or destabilizing reports.
- Lane · entry 22630
- Mufradāt · row 535
Selected Quran examples
Quran 33:60word 9
“and those who spread rumors”
رَاجِفَةٌ
rājifahun
- Part of speech
- Active participle · feminine, substantivized
- 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.
The quaking one; in the Resurrection passage, the first blast of the horn.
A substantivized feminine active participle. This is one classical interpretation of the referent in 79:6.
- Lane · entry 22636
Selected Quran examples
Quran 79:6word 3
“the quaking one”
The formerly motionless bodies, such as the earth and mountains, when violently set in motion.
An alternative interpretation of the referent in 79:6, connected with the Quranic description of the earth and mountains quaking.
- Lane · entry 22636
- Mufradāt · row 535
Selected Quran examples
Quran 79:6word 3
“the quaking one”
رَجْفَةٌ
rajfahun
- Part of speech
- Noun
- 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.
A violent convulsion or earthquake.
In its Quranic occurrences, it denotes the severe convulsion that overtakes a people.
- Mufradāt · row 535
Selected Quran examples
Quran 29:37word 3
“the earthquake”
Quran 7:155word 9
“the earthquake”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 7:78ٱلرَّجْفَةُthe earthquake
- 7:91ٱلرَّجْفَةُthe earthquake
- 7:155ٱلرَّجْفَةُthe earthquake
- 29:37ٱلرَّجْفَةُthe earthquake
- 33:60وَٱلْمُرْجِفُونَand those who spread rumors
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 14 Classical meanings
رَجَفَ
To be in motion, commotion, agitation, convulsion, or disturbance; to tremble or quake.
Applied to things such as a camel beneath a saddle, a tree moved by wind, a wabbling tooth, a hand or arm, or a heart agitated by fright.
- Lane · entry 22629
رَجَفَ
Of thunder, to make a repeated rumbling or confused noise in the clouds.
A specialized intransitive use with thunder as the subject.
- Lane · entry 22629
رَجَفَ
Of a people or party, to prepare for war or battle.
A conventional use applied to a group preparing for armed conflict.
- Lane · entry 22629
رَجَفَ
To put a thing or person into motion, agitation, convulsion, or shivering.
A transitive causative use, including causing someone to quake or shiver.
- Lane · entry 22629
أَرْجَفَ
To be in commotion intransitively, or to cause another thing or person to enter a state of motion or agitation.
This is the physical-motion use of Form IV, distinct from its social use of spreading agitating reports.
- Lane · entry 22629
أَرْجَفَ
Of a she-camel, to come in a state of fatigue with her ears flaccid and shaking them.
A specialized use describing the camel's fatigued movement.
- Lane · entry 22630
رَجْعَةٌ
Commotion, agitation, or convulsion, especially a violent earthquake; also a vehement cry from heaven.
The term is also reported in Quranic interpretation for a punishment that befalls a people. This headword is kept distinct from رَجْفَةٌ.
- Lane · entry 22632
رَجُوفٌ
Put into a state of commotion; of clouds, in commotion with thunder or much water.
An adjectival or descriptive use, including the conventional collocation for turbulent clouds.
- Lane · entry 22633
الرَّجَّافُ
The sea, because of its commotion and agitation.
A conventional epithet based on the sea's restless motion.
- Lane · entry 22634
الرَّجَّافُ
The Day of Resurrection; also the congregation of those who have risen.
A conventional eschatological designation.
- Lane · entry 22634
رَجَّافٌ
A kind of jolting or shaking pace.
A specialized descriptive use for a manner of walking or riding.
- Lane · entry 22634
رَاجِفٌ
Moving or putting something into a state of motion or agitation.
The term is also applied to a fever attended by quaking or shivering and, in the feminine, to a she-camel moving her head while walking.
- Lane · entry 22635
إِرْجَافٌ
The spreading of false, discordant, or evil tales that stir people into disturbance; also such false or discordant rumors.
The verbal noun of Form IV can function as a substantive for the resulting tales or rumors.
- Lane · entry 22630
- Lane · entry 22637
المُرْجِفَانِ
The basin and ewer used in washing before and after a meal.
A specialized dual term referring to the utensils whose clashing sound signals the completion of the meal and prompts diners to rise.
- Lane · entry 22638
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
رَاجِفَةٌ in 79:6 has two reported interpretations in the lexical evidence: the first Resurrection blast, or the earth and mountains set violently in motion.
The Lane-attested رَجْعَةٌ entry is retained as a separate classical headword and is not conflated with the Quranic noun رَجْفَةٌ.