Quranic root
وقع
w · q · ʿ
The root centers on falling or coming down, with extensions to something occurring or befalling, a place where something settles, and the causing or marking of an event.
From the basic notion of falling, the lexical network develops meanings of occurrence, descent and settlement, battlefield impact, physical marking, and derived causation or expectation. These root-level developments do not apply as direct meanings to every Quranic form.
- Maqāyīs · row 5187
- Mufradāt · row 1604
- 7
- Quran-attested forms
- 9
- Quran senses
- 24
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
وَقَعَ
waqaʿa
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- Quran occurrences
- 12 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 fall or descend; to come down upon a place or into a position.
Includes the Quranic construction فَقَعُوا لَهُ سَاجِدِينَ, expressing prompt falling into prostration.
- Mufradāt · row 1604
- Lane · entry 30611
Selected Quran examples
Quran 15:29word 7
“then fall down”
To occur, happen, or befall; to come to pass.
Used of an event, state, affliction, or other matter that comes about or falls upon someone.
- Mufradāt · row 1604
- Lane · entry 30611
Selected Quran examples
Quran 10:51word 4
“(it had) occurred”
To take effect so that an expressed matter becomes binding, realized, or fulfilled.
In Quranic expressions concerning a statement, promised punishment, or reward, وقوع denotes the realization of its substantive implication, including its becoming due or incumbent.
- Mufradāt · row 1604
Selected Quran examples
Quran 4:100word 24
“(became) incumbent”
Quran 27:82word 2
“(is) fulfilled”
أَوْقَعَ
ʾawqaʿa
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form IV
- 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.
To cause something to occur or befall; to bring about a result.
A causative transitive use; in the Quranic occurrence, the object is enmity and hatred, which are caused to arise between people.
- Lane · entry 30614
- Mufradāt · row 1604
Selected Quran examples
Quran 5:91word 5
“cause”
مَوْقِع
mawqiʿ
- 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 place or position where something falls, settles, or is set.
The Quranic plural مَوَاقِع refers to the positions or settings of the stars.
- Mufradāt · row 1604
- Lane · entry 30623
Selected Quran examples
Quran 56:75word 3
“by setting”
مُوَاقِع
muwāqiʿ
- 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.
Falling into or encountering something; one who is to fall into it.
Active participle of وَاقَعَ, used with an object; the Quranic form has an attached pronoun referring to the object entered or encountered.
- Lane · entry 30613
Selected Quran examples
Quran 18:53word 6
“are to fall in it”
وَاقِع
wāqiʿ
- Part of speech
- Active participle / adjective
- 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.
Occurring, befalling, or certain to occur.
An active participle functioning adjectivally or substantively; Quranic contexts frequently present the event as sure to happen.
- Mufradāt · row 1604
- Lane · entry 30621
Selected Quran examples
Quran 51:6word 3
“(is) surely to occur”
Quran 70:1word 4
“bound to happen”
وَاقِعَة
wāqiʿah
- Part of speech
- Active participle · substantivized noun
- 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.
The momentous event or severe occurrence; in the Quran, the decisive eschatological Event.
A feminine active participle used as a substantive; الوَاقِعَةُ is associated with a severe or unwelcome event and in the cited Quranic passages denotes the final judgmental event.
- Mufradāt · row 1604
Selected Quran examples
Quran 56:1word 3
“the Event”
Quran 69:15word 3
“the Occurrence”
وَقْعَة
waqʿah
- 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.
The occurrence or coming to pass of an event.
In لِوَقْعَتِهَا, the noun refers specifically to the occurrence of the momentous Event.
- Mufradāt · row 1604
Selected Quran examples
Quran 56:2word 2
“at its occurrence”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 4:100وَقَعَ(became) incumbent
- 5:91يُوقِعَcause
- 7:71وَقَعَhas fallen
- 7:118فَوَقَعَSo was established
- 7:134وَقَعَfell
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 26 Classical meanings
وَقَعَ
To fall into or come to be in a place, situation, or trap; to light upon or reach something.
Used with constructions such as فِي and إِلَى; the range includes entering a difficulty or period of scarcity, finding oneself in a desert or meadow, becoming ensnared, and drifting to a destination.
- Lane · entry 30611
- Lane · entry 30613
وَقَعَ
To fall, lie, or close upon or against something.
Used of an object or part of an object lying against a surface or body, including a garment lying upon a particular part.
- Lane · entry 30611
وَقَعَ بِالأَمْرِ
To originate an event and make it befall.
A causative construction of Form I, distinct from the ordinary intransitive use of وَقَعَ.
- Lane · entry 30611
وَقَعَ بِهِمْ
To fall upon people in battle; to make an onslaught or inflict heavy slaughter.
A military construction denoting a forceful attack or vehement engagement.
- Lane · entry 30611
وَقَعَ فِيهِ
To slander, revile, defame, or detract from a person's reputation.
A speech-related construction involving hostile or damaging remarks about someone in their absence or otherwise.
- Lane · entry 30611
وَقَعَ مَوْقِعًا
To serve a need, stand in stead, or have an effect.
Used of something that sufficiently meets a need or produces a discernible effect; the expression may describe how a matter stands with someone.
- Lane · entry 30611
- Lane · entry 30623
وَقَعَ عَلَى
For a word or expression, to apply to a thing.
A construction concerning the referent or applicability of an expression.
- Lane · entry 30611
مَوْقِعُ إِثْمٍ
An occasion or circumstance in which one falls into sin.
Literally a place of falling; used figuratively for a situation that leads to sinful involvement.
- Lane · entry 30623
وَقَّعَ
To sign, endorse, or append an authoritative note or concise annotation to a writing; also, the appended note itself.
The entry describes a later administrative and scribal usage, including signing or adding a postil to a completed document.
- Lane · entry 30612
وَقَّعَ بِهِ
To blame or reprove someone angrily or severely.
A transitive reproach construction.
- Lane · entry 30612
وَاقَعَ
To approach or come near to doing or experiencing affairs or events.
Used of being close to undertaking or undergoing something; the source equates it with approaching it.
- Lane · entry 30613
وَاقَعَ شَيْئًا
To experience an occurrence or meet with something that happens.
A transitive construction focused on undergoing or encountering an event.
- Lane · entry 30613
وَاقَعَ
To have sexual intercourse with someone.
A conventional euphemistic use of the Form III verbal noun مُوَاقَعَة and its verb.
- Lane · entry 30613
- Mufradāt · row 1604
وَاقَعَ بِهِمْ
To engage with people in fighting or conflict.
A military use denoting participation in combat.
- Lane · entry 30613
أَوْقَعَهُ
To cause someone to fall into a trap or the like; to ensnare him.
A causative construction with a person as the affected object.
- Lane · entry 30614
أَوْقَعَ بِهِ
To punish someone.
A transitive construction in which the person is subjected to punishment.
- Lane · entry 30614
أَوْقَعَ فِي قَلْبِهِ
To put something into a person's heart or mind.
A causative mental-placement construction.
- Lane · entry 30614
أَوْقَعَ بَيْنَ القَوْمِ
To incite discord or strife between people.
Used with people or groups as the parties between whom trouble is caused.
- Lane · entry 30614
تَوَقَّعَ
To expect something and look for its coming to pass.
The expectation is oriented toward the anticipated occurrence or arrival of the thing.
- Lane · entry 30615
وَقْعَة
An onslaught or shock in battle.
May refer to a single assault or to an engagement of the same kind when repeated.
- Lane · entry 30618
وَقِيعَة
A wisp of wool or similar material used to tar a mangy camel.
A specialized technical use concerning treatment of a camel's mange.
- Lane · entry 30619
وَقَّاعٌ فِي الشَّرِّ
A person who habitually makes others fall into evil or mischief.
An intensive personal description, reported as an approximate lexical explanation.
- Lane · entry 30620
وَاقِع
An event, fact, or case; reality in the expression فِي الوَاقِعِ.
A substantivized or idiomatic Classical use distinct from the Quranic predicative sense “occurring” or “certain to occur.”
- Lane · entry 30621
إِيقَاع
A cadence in music.
A specialized musical meaning of the verbal noun.
- Lane · entry 30622
مُوقِع
Efficient or effective.
An adjectival description of something producing a result.
- Lane · entry 30624
مُوَقَّع
Tried or experienced.
A passive-participial adjective describing someone or something tested by experience.
- Lane · entry 30625
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
A Lane Quran citation attached to the وَاقَعَ construction uses a historical citation convention and is not treated as a modern verse location; the example location shown here comes from the independently supplied QAC occurrence.
The Form I senses distinguish simple falling or occurrence from the Quranic construction in which a statement, promise, or reward becomes effective or binding.