Quranic root
سفل
s · f · l
The root denotes what is contrary to elevation: being low, lower, or in the lower part.
The spatial idea of lower position extends to descent, lowered condition, low social standing, and related terms for lower parts, leeward position, and the lowest members of a group.
- Maqāyīs · row 2444
- Mufradāt · row 699
- 3
- Quran-attested forms
- 5
- Quran senses
- 10
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
أَسْفَلُ
ʾasfalu
- Part of speech
- Adjective / locative expression
- 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.
Lower, below, or lowest in position; the lower or lowest part or place.
Used adjectivally and substantively, and adverbially in أَسْفَلَ مِنْكُمْ ('below you'). It can express either relative lower position or the lowest position in a setting.
- Lane · entry 41405
- Mufradāt · row 699
Selected Quran examples
The lowest state or condition; in the expression أَسْفَلَ سَافِلِينَ, the lowest of the low.
The Quranic expression is interpreted variously as reduction to extreme old age or decrepitude, perishing or decline, error and disbelief, or descent to the Fire; these are interpretations of the same lowest-state construction, not separate ordinary meanings of أَسْفَلُ.
- Lane · entry 41405
- Mufradāt · row 699
Selected Quran examples
Quran 95:5word 3
“(to the) lowest”
سَافِلٌ
sāfilun
- 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.
Low or lower; occupying or constituting the lower part or underside.
The form is used substantively in Quranic constructions such as سَافِلَهَا, 'its lower part,' and in the plural for those characterized as low.
- Lane · entry 41403
- Mufradāt · row 699
Selected Quran examples
Quran 11:82word 6
“its downside”
Quran 15:74word 3
“its lowest”
Low or degraded in condition; the lowest of the low.
In أَسْفَلَ سَافِلِينَ, the plural participle completes the Quranic lowest-state expression. The expression has been explained as extreme decline, decrepitude, error, or descent to the Fire.
- Lane · entry 41405
- Mufradāt · row 699
Selected Quran examples
Quran 95:5word 4
“(of the) low”
سُفْلَىٰ
suflāā
- Part of speech
- Feminine superlative 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.
The lower or lowest one; the lower or lowest side in rank or standing.
Used substantively in جَعَلَ كَلِمَةَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا السُّفْلَىٰ, where the word or cause of those who disbelieved is made lowest.
- Lane · entry 41405
- Mufradāt · row 699
Selected Quran examples
Quran 9:40word 36
“the lowest”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 4:145ٱلْأَسْفَلِthe lowest
- 8:42أَسْفَلَ(was) lower
- 9:40ٱلسُّفْلَىٰ ۗthe lowest
- 11:82سَافِلَهَاits downside
- 15:74سَافِلَهَاits lowest
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 17 Classical meanings
سَفَلَ / سَفُلَ / سَفِلَ
To be or become low or lower than another; to descend, subside, or sink downward.
The vocalization varies by dialect and verbal pattern. The verb may describe descent from an upper to a lower part of something, or a relative lowering in position.
- Lane · entry 41389
سَفُلَ / سَفَلَ / سَفِلَ
To be or become low, base, vile, ignoble, mean, or sordid.
Applied to a person's disposition, deeds, lineage, lot, or general condition; it is opposed to being good or elevated in these respects.
- Lane · entry 41389
تَسْفِيلٌ
The act of lowering or depressing something.
A Form II verbal noun denoting causative lowering or depression.
- Lane · entry 41390
تَسَفُّلٌ
Being lowered or depressed; descending downward.
A quasi-passive or intransitive verbal noun, opposed to rising or elevation.
- Lane · entry 41392
يُسَافِلُ
To vie with or imitate someone in low, base, vile, mean, or sordid actions.
Used in the construction يُسَافِلُ فُلَانًا, with the person whose behavior is being imitated or matched as its object.
- Lane · entry 41391
سُفْلٌ
The lower or lowest part of a thing.
The noun is the opposite of عُلْوٌ and related terms for the upper part; it may refer to the lower part of anything.
- Lane · entry 41394
سَفِلٌ
A low, base, vile, ignoble, mean, or sordid person; one deficient in condition, lot, or fortune.
A personal designation derived from the sense of being low or inferior in condition.
- Lane · entry 41396
السَّفِلَةُ / سِفْلَةٌ
Low, base, or vile people; the lowest, basest, or vilest portion of mankind, the refuse or rabble.
The expressions have variant vocalizations and number usage; the plural or collective interpretation is common, while application to a single person is reported but treated cautiously. In أَيْمَانُ السَّفَلَةِ, the phrase denotes the oaths of ignorant people, or, in another attribution, of heretics or schismatics.
- Lane · entry 41396
سَفِلَةٌ
The legs or lower limbs of a camel or other quadruped.
This anatomical usage is explained by their being the lowest parts of the animal.
- Lane · entry 41396
- Lane · entry 41398
سُفْلِيٌّ
Of or relating to the lower or lowest part or place; persons dwelling or remaining in the lower parts of a country.
The plural سُفْلِيُّونَ may denote people located in the lower parts of a country, in opposition to عِلِّيُّونَ in the corresponding elevated sense.
- Lane · entry 41400
سُفْلِيٌّ
Low in condition or social standing; a person of low condition.
The social sense is opposed to elevation in condition and, in the cited contrast, to opulent or high-status people.
- Lane · entry 41400
سُفَالَةُ الرِّيحِ
The leeward side or quarter, toward which the wind blows.
Used of the side facing the wind's direction, especially in relation to hunted animals so that the hunter's smell is not detected; opposed to the windward side.
- Lane · entry 41402
سَافِلَةُ الرُّمْحِ
The half of a spear next to its pointed iron shoe or lower tip.
It is the lower portion of the spear, opposed to its upper portion.
- Lane · entry 41404
السَّافِلَةُ
The bottom, buttocks, or anus.
An anatomical noun for the lowest posterior part of the body.
- Lane · entry 41404
سُفْلَى مُضَرَ
The lower group of Muḍar, excluding Quraysh and Qays.
A conventional tribal classification opposed to عُلْيَا مُضَرَ.
- Lane · entry 41405
أَسَافِلُ
The lower or lowest parts of valleys and similar terrain.
A plural used in expressions such as كِلَابُ الأَسَافِلِ, 'the dogs of the lower parts of the valleys.'
- Lane · entry 41405
أَسَافِلُ
The young ones of camels.
A figurative or specialized usage reported for the plural form.
- Lane · entry 41405
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The interpretations of أَسْفَلَ سَافِلِينَ in 95:5 include several exegetical alternatives; they are preserved as interpretations of one Quranic lowest-state construction rather than asserted as interchangeable ordinary meanings of أَسْفَلُ.
Lane's citation to the Quran in its entry for أَسْفَلُ uses historical notation; the modern locations used here are only those independently supplied by QAC.