Quranic root
سرق
s · r · q
The root centers on taking something secretly and out of sight.
From covert taking, the lexical family extends to theft and the thief, covert listening, gradual or concealed appropriation, and several figurative or specialized uses. The silk term سَرَقٌ is treated as a divergent lexical item.
- Maqāyīs · row 2414
- Mufradāt · row 686
- 4
- Quran-attested forms
- 4
- Quran senses
- 9
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
سَرَقَ
saraqa
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- 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.
To steal: to take what is not one's due secretly, often by artifice or from a place of custody.
The Quranic occurrences include narrative allegations of theft as well as legal and covenant-related contexts. In juridical formulation, the act is further specified as taking an object from a particular place and in a particular measure; these specifications do not replace the core meaning of covert taking.
- Lane · entry 40984
- Mufradāt · row 686
Selected Quran examples
اِسْتَرَقَ
āistaraqa
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form VIII
- Form
- VIII
- 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 listen secretly; to eavesdrop.
The Quranic construction is اِسْتَرَقَ السَّمْعَ, meaning to listen covertly or obtain aural information by stealth. This is a distinct covert-listening use, not merely the ordinary act of stealing.
- Mufradāt · row 686
Selected Quran examples
Quran 15:18word 3
“steals”
سَارِقٌ
sāriqun
- 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.
A thief: one who takes what belongs to another clandestinely.
An active participle of سَرَقَ; the Quran uses both singular and plural forms in narrative and legal contexts.
- Lane · entry 41000
- Mufradāt · row 686
Selected Quran examples
Quran 5:38word 1
“And (for) the male thief”
Quran 12:70word 15
“surely (are) thieves”
Quran 12:73word 12
“thieves”
سَارِقَةٌ
sāriqahun
- Part of speech
- Active 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.
A female thief: a woman who takes what belongs to another clandestinely.
Feminine active-participle counterpart of سَارِقٌ in the Quranic legal expression.
- Mufradāt · row 686
Selected Quran examples
Quran 5:38word 2
“and the female thief”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 5:38وَٱلسَّارِقُAnd (for) the male thief
- 5:38وَٱلسَّارِقَةُand the female thief
- 12:70لَسَـٰرِقُونَsurely (are) thieves
- 12:73سَـٰرِقِينَthieves
- 12:77يَسْرِقْhe steals
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 31 Classical meanings
تَسْرِيقٌ
Stealing; the Form II verbal noun is also used for the act of taking secretly.
A derived-form usage related to the basic theft meaning.
- Lane · entry 40984
سَرَقَ السَّمْعَ
To listen secretly or eavesdrop.
A conventional expression using سَرَقَ with السمع; this classical construction is distinct in form from the Quranic اِسْتَرَقَ السَّمْعَ.
- Lane · entry 40984
سُرِقَ صَوْتُهُ
To become hoarse, literally as though one's voice had been stolen.
Figurative passive expression.
- Lane · entry 40984
سُرِقَ عِرْضُهُ
To be robbed of one's honor or reputation.
Reported as a figurative expression; the transmitted wording is noted as uncertain.
- Lane · entry 40984
سَرَقَ لَيْلَةً
To pass a night pleasantly or enjoyably.
Figurative idiomatic usage.
- Lane · entry 40984
سَرَقَتْهُ عَيْنُهُ
For the eye to overcome or overpower someone.
Figurative expression with the eye as the subject.
- Lane · entry 40984
سَرِقَ
Of a thing, to become hidden, unnoticed, or barely perceptible.
Intransitive Form I usage, with a different vocalization from the ordinary transitive theft verb.
- Lane · entry 40984
سَرِقَتْ مَفَاصِلُهُ
For the joints to become weak or feeble.
A conventional bodily-state expression.
- Lane · entry 40984
سَرَّقَ
To attribute theft to someone or accuse someone of stealing.
Lane reports this in connection with an alternate reading at Qur'an 12:81; it is not the canonical QAC Form I analysis of that occurrence.
- Lane · entry 40985
يُسَارِقُ
To take an opportunity to look at or listen to someone by stealth.
The Form III construction concerns covertly watching or hearing, especially by exploiting another person's inadvertence.
- Lane · entry 40986
تَسَرَّقَ
To steal gradually, one thing after another.
The derived verb emphasizes successive or piecemeal appropriation.
- Lane · entry 40987
اِنْسَرَقَ
To withdraw, recede, or draw back in order to go away.
Intransitive Form VII usage, especially with عن someone or something.
- Lane · entry 40988
اِنْسَرَقَ
To become languid, weak, or feeble.
A separate intransitive bodily-state use of the Form VII verb.
- Lane · entry 40988
اِسْتَرَقَ
To deceive or circumvent secretly or by stealth.
Figurative Form VIII usage.
- Lane · entry 40989
اِسْتَرَقَ
To suppress or omit some items from an account.
A specialized figurative usage applied to a writer's treatment of accounting entries.
- Lane · entry 40989
سَرْقَنَ
To manure land with dung.
Quadriliteral derived verb formed from the noun سِرْقِينٌ.
- Lane · entry 40990
سَرَقٌ
A piece or oblong piece of silk; also silk generally.
A textile noun reported as an Arabicized term and divergent from the central covert-taking branch.
- Lane · entry 40991
سَرِقٌ
Theft.
A noun derived from or associated with سَرَقَ; vocalized and nominally distinct from the verb.
- Lane · entry 40992
سَرِقَةٌ
A thing stolen; by extension, a stolen piece of poetry or verse.
Plural usage can refer to appropriated poetic material.
- Lane · entry 40995
سِرْقِينٌ
Dung used as manure, especially dung of horses and other solid-hoofed animals.
A loanword with variant forms, including سَرْقِينٌ and سَرْجِينٌ.
- Lane · entry 40996
سَرُوقٌ
Thievish; a great thief.
An epithet applied to a man or a dog.
- Lane · entry 40997
سُرَاقَةٌ
A stealer of poetry or verses.
A specialized agent noun for literary appropriation.
- Lane · entry 40998
سَرُوقَةٌ
Very thievish; a very great thief.
An intensive epithet with no reported plural.
- Lane · entry 40999
سُورَقٌ
A disease affecting the limbs or members.
A specialized bodily term.
- Lane · entry 41001
سَارِقَةٌ
An iron collar or restraint by which the hands are confined together to the neck, attached to fetters or shackles.
This is a separate classical noun from the Quranic feminine active participle سَارِقَةٌ.
- Lane · entry 41002
سَوَارِقُ
The adjuncts or projections in the catches of a lock.
Plural technical usage related to the specialized noun سَارِقَةٌ.
- Lane · entry 41002
مَسْرُوقُ الصَّوْتِ
Hoarse in voice; of a young gazelle, having a nasal sound or twang in its cry.
Figurative descriptions based on the idea of a voice having been stolen.
- Lane · entry 41003
مُسْتَرِقٌ
Listening by stealth, like a thief.
Active-participle usage associated with covert hearing.
- Lane · entry 41004
مُسْتَرِقٌ
Defective or weak in make.
Figurative descriptive usage.
- Lane · entry 41004
مُسْتَرِقُ القَوْلِ
Weak in speech or expression.
A specialized construction with القول.
- Lane · entry 41004
مُسْتَرِقُ العُنُقِ
Short or contracted in the neck.
A bodily descriptive construction.
- Lane · entry 41004
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Form VIII Quranic occurrence is the specific construction اِسْتَرَقَ السَّمْعَ, meaning covert listening; the contextual English gloss “steals” does not by itself define the sense.
سَارِقَةٌ is the Quranic feminine active participle “female thief,” while Lane also records a separate homonymous classical noun for an iron restraint; these are kept distinct.
The reported Form II reading meaning “was accused of theft” at 12:81 is not the canonical QAC form-group analysis, which records the Form I verb.
Unassigned or ambiguous evidence
The Lane wording for the figurative expression interpreted as being robbed of one's honor is explicitly treated as a possible mistranscription; it is retained as a qualified Classical Arabic meaning rather than treated as certain standard wording.