Quranic root
يسر
y · s · r
The root centers on openness, lightness, and ease, with a second lexical branch referring to the left-hand side or limb.
From the idea of something opening or becoming light and manageable develop meanings of ease, facilitation, readiness, gentleness, sufficiency, and abundance; the separate bodily branch yields left-sidedness and related directional expressions.
- Maqāyīs · row 5254
- 9
- Quran-attested forms
- 10
- Quran senses
- 44
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
يَسَّرَ
yassara
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form II
- Form
- II
- Quran occurrences
- 11 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 make easy, facilitate, or smooth something; also to prepare or adapt someone for a course or state.
In the Quranic construction يَسَّرَهُ لِـ, the construction may describe disposition toward ease or toward difficulty, according to the following course or state.
- Lane · entry 17266
- Mufradāt · row 1627
Selected Quran examples
Quran 54:17word 2
“We have made easy”
Quran 92:7word 1
“Then We will ease him”
تَيَسَّرَ
tayassara
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form V
- Form
- V
- 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.
To become easy, facilitated, or readily available; to be easy to obtain or provide.
The expression مَا تَيَسَّرَ denotes whatever is readily available or manageable in the circumstances.
- Lane · entry 17269
- Mufradāt · row 1627
Selected Quran examples
Quran 73:20word 28
“is easy”
اِسْتَيْسَرَ
āistaysara
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form X
- Form
- X
- 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.
To be obtainable or available with ease.
In the Quranic occurrence concerning sacrificial offerings, the object is whatever offering can be obtained or provided with ease.
- Mufradāt · row 1627
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:196word 8
“(can be) obtained with ease”
مَيْسَرَة
maysarah
- 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 state or period of financial ease and sufficient means.
In the Quranic legal context, it is the debtor’s eventual ability to repay, contrasted with hardship or inability.
- Lane · entry 17274
- Mufradāt · row 1627
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:280word 7
“ease”
مَيْسِر
maysir
- Part of speech
- Noun
- 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 game of chance or gambling, especially the traditional game played with arrows for shares of a slaughtered camel; by extension, play involving stakes or hazard.
The Quranic term denotes gambling and games of chance; the traditional arrow game supplies the principal Classical description.
- Lane · entry 17289
Selected Quran examples
Quran 5:90word 6
“and [the] games of chance”
Quran 5:91word 11
“and gambling”
مَيْسُور
maysūr
- 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.
Made easy; easy to receive or manage, including an easy or considerate reply.
In the Quranic expression قَوْلًا مَيْسُورًا, it describes a gracious response that does not impose difficulty on its recipient.
- Mufradāt · row 1627
- Lane · entry 17273
Selected Quran examples
Quran 17:28word 12
“gentle”
يَسِير
yasīr
- Part of speech
- Adjective / noun
- Quran occurrences
- 15 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.
Easy, light, or not difficult.
This adjective describes an action, matter, consequence, or condition as readily manageable or easily accomplished.
- Lane · entry 17273
- Lane · entry 17282
- Mufradāt · row 1627
Selected Quran examples
Quran 22:70word 18
“easy”
Small in amount or brief in extent or duration.
This sense explains Quranic uses where يَسِيرٌ or يَسِيرًا denotes only a little or a short while rather than ease.
- Lane · entry 17282
- Mufradāt · row 1627
Selected Quran examples
Quran 33:14word 14
“a little”
يُسْر
yusr
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 7 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.
Ease, facility, or relief from difficulty.
It is the substantive counterpart of difficulty or hardship and may describe ease granted in circumstances or action.
- Lane · entry 17274
- Mufradāt · row 1627
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:185word 31
“[the] ease”
Quran 65:7word 25
“ease”
يُسْرَىٰ
yusrāā
- Part of speech
- 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.
Ease; an easy or easier course, condition, or way.
In لِلْيُسْرَىٰ, it denotes the easy or easier state toward which a person may be facilitated or directed.
- Lane · entry 17266
- Mufradāt · row 1627
Selected Quran examples
Quran 87:8word 2
“to the ease”
Quran 92:7word 2
“towards [the] ease”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:185ٱلْيُسْرَ[the] ease
- 2:196ٱسْتَيْسَرَ(can be) obtained with ease
- 2:196ٱسْتَيْسَرَ(can be) obtained with ease
- 2:219وَٱلْمَيْسِرِ ۖand [the] games of chance
- 2:280مَيْسَرَةٍۢ ۚease
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 36 Classical meanings
يَسَرَ
To be gentle, tractable, submissive, manageable, or easy in disposition.
Said especially of a man or horse, and also of speech, things, or affairs when they are easy or gentle.
- Lane · entry 17265
يَسُرَ
To be little in quantity; to be paltry or of slight worth.
This is a Classical verb use distinct from the adjective يَسِيرٌ.
- Lane · entry 17265
يَسَرَ
To come from or proceed toward someone’s left-hand side.
The construction يَسَرَنِي describes coming on from the direction of the speaker’s left.
- Lane · entry 17265
يَسَرَ
To divide something into portions or shares.
Especially used of slaughtering a she-camel and distributing its limbs or meat among participants.
- Lane · entry 17265
يَسَرَ
To play the game of chance called مَيْسِر, particularly with gaming arrows.
This is the verbal use associated with the traditional arrow game.
- Lane · entry 17265
يَسَّرَ
To prepare, make ready, or dispose a person or thing for a task or purpose.
This broader Classical construction includes preparing a horse for riding and making a course ready; the Quranic disposition toward ease or difficulty is listed under the Quranic Form II sense.
- Lane · entry 17266
يَسَّرَ
To cause animals to give birth easily, with none of them perishing.
Used of a man’s camels, sheep, or goats.
- Lane · entry 17266
يَسَّرَ
For livestock to abound in milk or offspring and to be ready to give birth.
Applied especially to sheep, goats, and camels.
- Lane · entry 17266
يَاسَرَ
To treat someone gently, accommodate them, or deal easily with them.
The reciprocal object is commonly a person, partner, or group with whom one acts leniently.
- Lane · entry 17267
يَاسَرَ
To take or accompany someone on the left-hand side or direction.
A directional use contrasted with taking the right-hand side.
- Lane · entry 17267
أَيْسَرَ
For a woman or female animal to give birth easily.
A Classical expression for an easy birth, including a prayer for a pregnant woman.
- Lane · entry 17268
أَيْسَرَ
To become financially competent, sufficient, rich, or prosperous.
The verb describes acquiring means or abundance.
- Lane · entry 17268
أَيْسَرَ
To place camels on the left side, in contrast with placing them on the right.
Used in the paired expression for putting animals aside in both directions.
- Lane · entry 17268
تَيَسَّرَ
To become prepared or ready for someone, or to prepare oneself for something.
This is a readiness construction distinct from merely becoming easy or available.
- Lane · entry 17269
تَيَسَّرَ
For a country or region to become abundant in herbage, goods, or comforts of life.
A figurative Classical use applied to a land’s prosperity.
- Lane · entry 17269
تَيَاسَرَ
To treat one another gently and deal leniently with one another.
The reciprocal form can describe being moderate or non-exorbitant with one another, including regarding dowry.
- Lane · entry 17270
يُسْر
An easy birth or an act of bringing forth without difficulty.
A phrase such as وِلَادَةٌ يَسْرٌ applies the quality of ease to childbirth.
- Lane · entry 17273
يَسَرَاتٌ
Light, active, and obedient legs of a beast of carriage.
Used of an animal’s legs, especially when they move easily and willingly.
- Lane · entry 17273
يَسْرٌ
A manner of twisting a rope toward the left or downward.
A technical term contrasted with twisting from the opposite direction.
- Lane · entry 17273
يَسْرٌ
A straight-forward thrust or piercing opposite the face.
A technical description contrasted with a thrust from the right or left side.
- Lane · entry 17273
يُسْر
Ease of circumstances, competence, sufficiency, wealth, or abundance.
This Classical extension describes being in comfortable or prosperous circumstances; the Quranic financial-deferment form is listed under مَيْسَرَة.
- Lane · entry 17274
يَسَرٌ
Made easy, facilitated, or prepared.
A participial or adjectival use that can describe something ready or prepared, including the prepared game of chance.
- Lane · entry 17275
يَسَرٌ
Ambidextrous; able to work or act equally with both hands.
Used in the expression أَعْسَرُ يَسَرٌ and its feminine counterpart.
- Lane · entry 17275
يَسَار
The left hand, limb, side, direction, or relative location.
Includes sitting or turning toward the left and the left wing or side of a group.
- Lane · entry 17279
يَسِير
Petty, contemptible, or of little weight or worth.
This evaluative Classical use develops from smallness but is distinct from the Quranic neutral description of a small amount.
- Lane · entry 17282
يَاسِر
One who takes or comes from the left-hand side or direction.
A personal or agentive designation for leftward orientation.
- Lane · entry 17285
يَاسِر
A person who slaughters or supervises the division of a camel into portions.
The designation is associated with the division carried out for the game of chance.
- Lane · entry 17285
يَاسِر
A participant in the game of chance, a gaming-arrow player, or a person entrusted with handling its arrows.
The term may also denote a party assembled for the game or one who contests another in a game of hazard.
- Lane · entry 17285
أَيْسَر
Easier, easiest, or more facile.
The corresponding feminine form is يُسْرَى.
- Lane · entry 17286
مُوسِر
Financially competent, sufficient, rich, wealthy, or opulent.
A person possessing adequate means; its plural is used for prosperous people.
- Lane · entry 17287
مُيَسَّر
Prepared, disposed, made ready, or made easy.
It can describe a person prepared for what he was created for, or a thing made ready for use.
- Lane · entry 17293
مُيَسَّر
A prepared pastry or dish known by a regional technical name.
A post-Classical culinary usage, explained as something easily taken or eaten.
- Lane · entry 17293
مُيَسِّر
A man whose sheep or goats are numerous and provide abundant milk or offspring.
A livestock-related personal description, contrasted with one whose animals are kept apart or unproductive.
- Lane · entry 17294
مَيَاسِر
She-camels that give birth easily.
A plural livestock designation.
- Lane · entry 17296
يُسْر
A place called Yusr.
A rare lexical or toponymic use distinct from the abstract noun meaning ease.
- Maqāyīs · row 5254
يَسَرَة
The lines or markings of the palm when they are not joined together.
An anatomical use of the root’s separate bodily branch.
- Maqāyīs · row 5254
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
Some Lane Quran references use historical citation notation; the modern verse locations in the examples are taken only from the supplied QAC occurrences.
يَسِيرٌ has both an ease sense and a distinct smallness or brevity sense in the Quranic evidence.