Quranic root
خذل
kh · dh · l
The root centers on leaving something and holding back from it, especially by withholding aid or assistance.
This principle extends to abandonment, being left without support, and reciprocal desertion. Related Classical usages describe an animal remaining behind and a limb failing to support its bearer.
- Maqāyīs · row 1543
- Mufradāt · row 396
- Lane · entry 18649
- Lane · entry 18652
- 3
- Quran-attested forms
- 4
- Quran senses
- 3
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
خَذَلَ
khadhala
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- 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 withhold aid from, hold back from, abandon, or forsake someone.
In the Quranic occurrence, the verb describes the withholding of help from those addressed.
- Lane · entry 18649
Selected Quran examples
Quran 3:160word 8
“He forsakes you”
To fail to preserve or protect someone, so that he falls into an evil action.
This preservation or protection nuance is explicitly associated with the Quranic Form I usage alongside the sense of failing to aid.
- Lane · entry 18649
مَخْذُولٌ
makhdhūlun
- Part of speech
- Passive 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.
Left without an aider or assister; forsaken and unsupported.
A passive-participial description of one who has been deprived of support.
- Lane · entry 18659
Selected Quran examples
Quran 17:22word 9
“forsaken”
خَذُولٌ
khadhūlun
- Part of speech
- Adjective
- 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.
One who habitually withholds aid or repeatedly abandons those who rely on him.
In the Quranic occurrence, the adjective is applied to Satan, who forsakes the unbeliever and disavows him in a time of trial or affliction.
- Lane · entry 18656
- Mufradāt · row 396
Selected Quran examples
Quran 25:29word 11
“a deserter”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
View all 3 occurrencesBroader Classical Arabic meanings
Recorded for this root in the Classical lexicons beyond its Quran usage. These are secondary to the Quran senses above.
Show 13 Classical meanings
خَذَلَ
Of a gazelle or other wild animal, to hold back from the herd and remain behind, including remaining with its young.
Used in descriptions of a wild animal that does not keep pace with its companions.
- Lane · entry 18649
خَذَّلَ
To incite or induce someone to withhold aid, and to hinder or prevent him from assisting another; also to make him cowardly or weak-hearted and refrain from fighting.
A causative Form II usage involving dissuasion from aiding or fighting.
- Lane · entry 18650
أَخْذَلَ
Of a young wild animal, to find its mother holding back from the herd, leaving it, or remaining behind with it.
A construction describing the young animal's perception of the mother's withdrawal.
- Lane · entry 18651
تَخَاذَلَ
To mutually withhold aid or abandon one another in trouble; also, to flee from battle.
A reciprocal Form VI usage describing collective withdrawal or desertion.
- Lane · entry 18652
تَخَاذَلَ
Of a person's legs, to become weak and fail to support him.
Said of the legs when weakened by an ailment or other adverse condition.
- Lane · entry 18652
تَخَاذَلَ
To be or become behind.
A Classical usage describing a position of lagging behind.
- Lane · entry 18652
اِنْخَذَلَ
To be without aid or assistance; also, to flee.
A Form VII usage expressing lack of support or withdrawal.
- Lane · entry 18653
خُذَلَةٌ
A man who habitually withholds or neglects aid.
A characterization of persistent failure to assist others.
- Lane · entry 18654
- Mufradāt · row 396
خَذُولٌ
A mare that remains in place during the pain of parturition.
A specialized Classical description of a mare during labor.
- Lane · entry 18656
خَذُولُ الرِّجْلِ
A man whose leg fails to support him because of weakness, an ailment, or intoxication.
An idiomatic bodily description centered on the leg's failure to aid its bearer.
- Lane · entry 18656
خَاذِلٌ
One who withholds aid or leaves, forsakes, or deserts another.
A general active-participial description of failure to assist or abandonment.
- Lane · entry 18657
خَاذِلٌ
A female gazelle or wild cow that holds back from her companions, remains behind or alone with her young, or has deserted her young.
Used in specialized animal descriptions; the reported variants concern remaining with or leaving the young.
- Lane · entry 18657
خَاذِلٌ
Routed, defeated, or put to flight.
A Classical resultative usage describing one overcome in conflict.
- Lane · entry 18657
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
Historical Quran citations in the lexical evidence are not converted into modern verse locations; the Quran examples here use the independently supplied QAC locations.