Quranic root
سأل
s · ʾ · l
The root centers on seeking something from another, especially knowledge, information, a response, or a requested benefit.
Its lexical range develops from asking for information to requesting, demanding, petitioning, or begging for a material or immaterial need; reciprocal asking and the corresponding active and passive participles follow these branches.
- Maqāyīs · row 2338
- Mufradāt · row 640
- 6
- Quran-attested forms
- 9
- Quran senses
- 129
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
سَأَلَ
saʾala
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- Quran occurrences
- 106 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 ask, question, or inquire in order to obtain knowledge or information.
It commonly takes عَنْ, and may also occur with بِ or a direct object. The question may seek information, elicit a response, expose a matter, or serve as a rebuke or challenge rather than express ignorance.
- Lane · entry 39884
- Mufradāt · row 640
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:189word 1
“They ask you”
Quran 16:93word 14
“And surely you will be questioned”
To ask for, demand, beg for, or seek a thing, benefit, gift, or fulfillment of a need.
When the object is a requested possession or benefit, it may be used directly or with مِنْ; it also includes petitioning God and demanding or calling for something. In سَأَلَ سَائِلٌ بِعَذَابٍ وَاقِعٍ, the expression is explained as asking for or calling for a punishment, while an alternative reading with سَالَ belongs to a different analysis.
- Lane · entry 39884
- Mufradāt · row 640
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:61word 36
“you have asked (for)”
Quran 70:1word 1
“Asked”
تَسَاءَلَ
tasāʾala
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form VI
- Form
- VI
- Quran occurrences
- 9 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 ask one another, question one another, or mutually request or demand something.
The reciprocal construction can concern information, a request, a claim, or a due. In the Quranic construction تَسَاءَلُونَ بِهِ, it also expresses invoking or adjuring one another by God in support of a claim or demand.
- Lane · entry 39888
Selected Quran examples
Quran 4:1word 21
“you ask”
Quran 37:27word 5
“questioning one another”
مَسْؤُول
masʾūl
- Part of speech
- Passive participle
- 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.
One who is asked, questioned, or called to account.
This is the passive counterpart of asking for information or an answer and may concern a person, community, or matter subject to questioning.
- Lane · entry 39899
- Lane · entry 39884
- Mufradāt · row 640
Selected Quran examples
Quran 17:34word 17
“questioned”
Quran 37:24word 3
“(are) to be questioned”
Requested or sought; a person or thing for which a request is made.
This passive use concerns the object or benefit sought by a petitioner, rather than the person who asks.
- Lane · entry 39899
- Lane · entry 39889
- Mufradāt · row 640
Selected Quran examples
Quran 25:16word 10
“requested”
سَائِل
sāʾil
- Part of speech
- Active participle
- Quran occurrences
- 7 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.
One who asks, questions, or seeks information.
The active participle may denote an ordinary questioner or a seeker of knowledge; the surrounding construction determines what is being sought.
- Lane · entry 39897
- Mufradāt · row 640
Selected Quran examples
Quran 70:1word 2
“a questioner”
One who asks for material help; a beggar or petitioner.
This sense denotes a person seeking property or aid and is not limited to any particular social or personal category.
- Lane · entry 39897
- Mufradāt · row 640
Selected Quran examples
Quran 93:10word 2
“one who asks”
Quran 51:19word 4
“(of) those who asked”
سُؤَال
suʾāl
- 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.
Asking, questioning, or demanding; a question, demand, or petition.
As the verbal noun of سَأَلَ, it can denote seeking information or requesting a thing. The Quranic occurrence uses it for a demand or request.
- Lane · entry 39893
- Lane · entry 39884
- Mufradāt · row 640
Selected Quran examples
Quran 38:24word 4
“by demanding”
سُؤْل
suʾl
- Part of speech
- 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.
A petition, request, or thing asked for.
This noun focuses on the requested object or petition, including something granted in response to a request.
- Lane · entry 39889
Selected Quran examples
Quran 20:36word 4
“your request”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:61سَأَلْتُمْ ۗyou have asked (for)
- 2:108تَسْـَٔلُوا۟you ask
- 2:108سُئِلَwas asked
- 2:119تُسْـَٔلُyou will be asked
- 2:134تُسْـَٔلُونَyou will be asked
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 5 Classical meanings
سَاءَلَ
To ask or question someone, especially about a matter.
A Form III verb closely related to سَأَلَ; the cited examples use it for asking about or of someone.
- Lane · entry 39885
أَسْأَلَ
To accomplish or fulfill another person’s want.
A separately attested Form IV usage concerning the fulfillment of a requested need.
- Lane · entry 39886
تَسَأَّلَ
To beg or ask alms.
Reported as a modern or probably post-classical Form V usage, distinct from the Quran-attested Form VI reciprocal verb.
- Lane · entry 39887
سُؤَلَة
A person who asks or begs excessively.
A noun for a habitual or frequent asker or beggar; it is distinct from the ordinary active-participle noun سَائِل.
- Lane · entry 39892
مَسْأَلَة
A question, problem, proposition, or matter put forward for decision or determination.
A conventional nominal use of the verbal noun, including a question or problem under discussion; the usage is described as figurative in the cited evidence.
- Lane · entry 39898
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
In 70:1, the interpretation involving flowing is associated with an alternative reading and analysis; it is not assigned as a meaning of the root سأل here.
The Form V alms-begging entry is explicitly described as modern or probably post-classical and is therefore kept outside the Quranic form inventory.
Unassigned or ambiguous evidence
lane-unit:sAl:39885:g1:sub4 reports a Form III interpretation involving repeatedly demanding another person's good wishes, but the source explicitly says that no known example establishes this usage.