Quranic root
سبق
s · b · q
The root centers on going ahead: precedence in movement, order, attainment, or rank.
From physical or temporal precedence it extends to racing and competition, priority in an affair, being foremost in merit, hastening toward an objective, and the stake awarded to a winner.
- Maqāyīs · row 2350
- Mufradāt · row 657
- 6
- Quran-attested forms
- 10
- Quran senses
- 37
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
سَبَقَ
sabaqa
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- Quran occurrences
- 20 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 precede, get ahead of, or outstrip another.
Used of being earlier or farther ahead in movement, order, or attainment; in negative contexts, it can mean to escape or elude being overtaken.
- Lane · entry 40101
- Mufradāt · row 657
Selected Quran examples
Quran 21:27word 2
“they (can) precede Him”
Quran 29:4word 7
“they can outrun Us”
To precede in time or occurrence; to have already gone forth or been established.
Used especially of a decree, term, word, or prior event that has taken effect before another event; this is a temporal development of precedence rather than a racing sense.
- Lane · entry 40101
- Mufradāt · row 657
Selected Quran examples
Quran 20:129word 3
“(that) preceded”
Quran 23:43word 2
“can precede”
سَابَقَ
sābaqa
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form III
- Form
- III
- 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 compete or strive with another to get ahead; to race one another toward a goal.
A reciprocal competitive construction, used literally of racing and figuratively of striving eagerly toward an objective.
- Lane · entry 40103
- Lane · entry 40105
Selected Quran examples
Quran 57:21word 1
“Race”
اِسْتَبَقَ
āistabaqa
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form VIII
- Form
- VIII
- 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.
To race or compete with one another to be ahead.
Used of people or parties contending to reach or obtain something first, including literal running or a contest.
- Lane · entry 40105
- Mufradāt · row 657
Selected Quran examples
Quran 12:17word 5
“racing each other”
Quran 12:25word 1
“And they both raced”
To hasten or strive eagerly toward an objective.
In the construction استبق الخيرات, the competitive image is extended to earnest haste toward good deeds and other desirable aims.
- Lane · entry 40106
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:148word 5
“so race”
To hasten along or get ahead to a route, with the resulting possibility of passing beyond it.
In the interpretation of 36:66, the expression can describe getting to or along the road and leaving it behind, hence losing the familiar way.
- Lane · entry 40106
Selected Quran examples
Quran 36:66word 6
“then they (would) race”
مَسْبُوق
masbūq
- 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.
Outstripped, overtaken, or unable to elude another.
In the Quranic negative construction, it denotes one who cannot escape being overtaken or brought within another's reach.
- Mufradāt · row 657
- Lane · entry 40101
Selected Quran examples
Quran 56:60word 7
“(are) outrun”
Quran 70:41word 8
“(are) to be outrun”
سَابِق
sābiq
- Part of speech
- Active participle
- 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.
One who precedes, gets ahead, or outstrips; a forerunner.
The form can denote being ahead in an ordinary or comparative sense, including the inability of one body or party to outstrip another in a negative construction.
- Lane · entry 40113
- Mufradāt · row 657
Selected Quran examples
Quran 29:39word 13
“outstrip Us”
Quran 36:40word 10
“(can) outstrip”
Quran 79:4word 1
“And those who race each other”
One who is foremost in merit and advances toward divine reward through righteous deeds.
A figurative use of precedence for distinction and priority in good works; it is especially associated with those foremost in attaining reward and paradise.
- Mufradāt · row 657
Selected Quran examples
Quran 9:100word 1
“And the forerunners”
Quran 56:10word 1
“And the foremost”
سَبْق
sabq
- 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.
Precedence or racing ahead.
In the Quranic oath construction, it denotes the act of going ahead or racing forward.
- Lane · entry 40101
- Mufradāt · row 657
Selected Quran examples
Quran 79:4word 2
“(in) a race”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:148فَٱسْتَبِقُوا۟so race
- 5:48فَٱسْتَبِقُوا۟so race
- 7:80سَبَقَكُمhas preceded you
- 8:59سَبَقُوٓا۟ ۚthey can outstrip
- 8:68سَبَقَpreceded
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 28 Classical meanings
سَبَقَ
To anticipate mentally or preconceive something, sometimes leading to an error.
A figurative use in which the mind or supposition goes ahead of reflection.
- Lane · entry 40101
سَبَقَ
To go or pass hastily to someone.
Used with إِلَى to describe quick movement toward a person or party.
- Lane · entry 40101
سَبَقَ
To proceed or come out before the expected time or before awareness.
Applied to speech that escapes prematurely, to vomit reaching the mouth before awareness, or to a pen that skips ahead while copying.
- Lane · entry 40101
سَبَقَ
To overcome or exceed another, including in generosity.
Used with عَلَى or فِي for surpassing someone in a quality or achievement rather than merely arriving first.
- Lane · entry 40101
سَبْق
Priority or precedence in undertaking an affair.
A nominal expression for being the first to apply oneself to or undertake a matter.
- Lane · entry 40101
سَبَّقَ
To take or receive the stake in a race or shooting match, or to give that stake.
The verb is reported with two contrary valencies: receiving the wager and assigning or giving it.
- Lane · entry 40102
سَبَّقَ
To send horses or other competitors out to race and determine which will outstrip the others.
Used of arranging or initiating a race, sometimes with the competitors' stakes in view.
- Lane · entry 40102
سَبَّقَ
Of a ewe or she-goat, to cast an incomplete fetus.
A rare reported usage; the form with غ is stated to be better known for this meaning.
- Lane · entry 40102
سَبَّقَ
To put a pair of jesses on a bird's legs and shackle it.
A specialized falconry construction.
- Lane · entry 40102
أَسْبَقَ
To hasten toward an affair or employ one's full force in getting to it.
The reported Form IV entry is used with إِلَى and is presented as a synonym of hastening or acting promptly.
- Lane · entry 40104
تَسَابَقَ
To compete or race with one another to gain precedence.
Used of running, shooting, or striving toward any contested objective.
- Lane · entry 40105
تَسَابَقَ
To lay wagers or stakes against one another.
A competitive extension of the reciprocal race construction.
- Lane · entry 40105
اِسْتَبَقَ
For an event to happen or come quickly and beforehand.
Used with إِلَى for something that comes to a person hastily or before he expected it; a Classical Arabic Form VIII construction distinct from the Quranic hastening and racing uses.
- Lane · entry 40106
سِبْق
A competitor who strives to precede or outstrip another.
The noun may be used collectively or in the plural for competing parties.
- Lane · entry 40107
سَبَق
A stake or wager laid in a race or shooting match.
The successful competitor takes the stake; the term is also used for the property assigned as the prize.
- Lane · entry 40108
سَبَق
A boy's daily lesson learned at school.
A specialized educational usage, also called إِمَامٌ.
- Lane · entry 40108
سِبَاق
A race or contest in running.
A nominal form associated with reciprocal competition.
- Lane · entry 40110
سِبَاق
The preceding part of a discourse, together with its following context.
In the expression سِبَاقُ الكَلَامِ وَسِيَاقُهُ, it denotes the preceding and following context of speech.
- Lane · entry 40110
سِبَاق
A pair of jesses or shackles for a hawk or falcon.
A specialized falconry term.
- Lane · entry 40110
سَبَّاق
One who habitually wins races or repeatedly obtains the prize.
Used in the idiom سَبَّاقُ غَايَاتٍ for a frequent winner.
- Lane · entry 40112
سَابِق
A horse that outstrips the others in a race.
A specialized racing use of the active participle, distinct from the Quranic figurative use of being foremost in merit.
- Lane · entry 40113
سُبَّق
Palm trees that produce their fruit early.
A figurative or transferred plural use applied to palms.
- Lane · entry 40113
سَابِقَة
Priority or precedence in an affair.
A noun formed from the active participle for being first to undertake a matter.
- Lane · entry 40114
سَابِقَة
A predisposition to disease.
A technical medical usage.
- Lane · entry 40114
سَابِقِيَّة
The state or condition of preceding.
An abstract noun describing precedence as a state or quality.
- Lane · entry 40115
أَسْبَق
More or most preceding, prevenient, outgoing, or outstripping.
A comparative or superlative form used in expressions comparing precedence or priority.
- Lane · entry 40116
مُسَبَّق
A horse that is often or repeatedly outstripped.
A specialized passive participial description in racing.
- Lane · entry 40117
مَسْبُوقِيَّة
The state or condition of being preceded.
An abstract noun corresponding to being overtaken or preceded.
- Lane · entry 40118
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic active participle in 79:4 has several reported referents, including angels, souls, horses, and stars; the public definition therefore preserves the common meaning of going ahead rather than selecting one referent.
The Form IV Lane entry is explicitly marked as possibly mistranscribed; its reported hastening meaning is retained only as a broader Classical Arabic meaning, not as a Quranic Form IV entry.
The public headwords normalize Quranic imperatives, inflected plurals, and feminine forms to standard dictionary citation forms.