Quranic root
وسوس
w · s · w · s
The root centers on a low, subdued sound or whisper, extending to hidden speech, inward prompting, and satanic suggestion.
Its semantic development runs from faint sounds such as chinking or rustling to concealed whispering and then to the prompting of vain thoughts.
- Maqāyīs · row 5100
- Mufradāt · row 1579
- 2
- Quran-attested forms
- 2
- Quran senses
- 5
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
وَسْوَسَ
waswasa
- 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 whisper or prompt inwardly; to suggest something, especially a vain or unprofitable thought, to someone or within the mind.
The Quranic use includes Satan's suggestion to human beings and the inward whispering of the soul. The construction may use a recipient or an inward location, such as إليه, له, فيه, or في صدره.
- Lane · entry 45230
- Mufradāt · row 1579
Selected Quran examples
وَسْوَاسٌ
waswāsun
- 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 whisperer; specifically, the devil understood as the one who prompts vain or unprofitable thoughts.
In the Quranic expression, the noun functions as a name or epithet for the devil, rather than merely denoting a sound or an indistinct utterance.
- Lane · entry 45232
- Mufradāt · row 1579
Selected Quran examples
Quran 114:4word 3
“(of) the whisperer”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 7:20فَوَسْوَسَThen whispered
- 20:120فَوَسْوَسَThen whispered
- 50:16تُوَسْوِسُwhispers
- 114:4ٱلْوَسْوَاسِ(of) the whisperer
- 114:5يُوَسْوِسُwhispers
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 8 Classical meanings
وَسْوَسَ
To speak or talk indistinctly, in a low, faint, gentle, or soft manner, with confusedness.
Generally intransitive, but it can take a person as object when someone speaks softly to that person.
- Lane · entry 45230
وَسْوَسَ
To make a low or gentle sound; of an ornament, to chink, and of reeds, to rustle.
This is a sound-producing use applied to objects such as ornaments and reeds, distinct from whispering or mental prompting.
- Lane · entry 45230
وَسْوَاسٌ
Indistinct, low, faint, gentle, or soft speech or talk.
A substantive corresponding to the low or confused speech described by the verb.
- Lane · entry 45232
وَسْوَاسٌ
A prompting or suggestion of vain, unprofitable, and goodless things; an evil idea, imagination, or thought arising in the mind.
It may denote prompting or talk attributed to the soul or the devil, as well as the resulting evil thought; its plural is وَسَاوِسُ.
- Lane · entry 45232
وَسْوَاسٌ
A low or faint sound or rustling, including the subdued sounds of a hunter and dogs, wind, or women's ornaments.
The applications are illustrative of various faint sounds and are not an exclusive restriction to those objects.
- Lane · entry 45232
وَسْوَاسٌ
A disease of melancholia involving confusion or disorder of the intellect and judgment.
The condition was traditionally associated with intrusive or diabolical prompting; the related adjective وَسْوَاسِيٌّ describes a disease of this kind.
- Lane · entry 45232
وَسْوَاسِيٌّ
Pertaining to a melancholic disease involving confusion of the intellect.
Attested in the expression مَرَضٌ وَسْوَاسِيٌّ, ‘a disease of the melancholic type.’
- Lane · entry 45233
مُوَسْوِسٌ
A person subject to vain or diabolical promptings, or whose resulting self-talk is associated with a confused or disordered mind.
Used as an epithet for someone who talks to himself or is mentally disturbed by such promptings; the variant مُوَسْوَسٌ is cross-referenced to this entry.
- Lane · entry 45235
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The Quranic verb sense is the inward whispering or prompting use; the low-volume speech and low-sound uses are kept as separate Classical Arabic branches.
A historical Lane citation in the low-sound discussion is not converted into a modern verse location; the located Quran examples here are restricted to QAC-supplied occurrences.