Qur’anic Root ʿ J B

1. Introducing the root and its Qur’anic forms

The triliteral Arabic root «ع ج ب» (ʿ J B) concerns being astonished by something, finding it significant or unusual, and, in some uses, admiring it or being impressed. Another branch extends to self-admiration and an inflated view of oneself.

People may marvel at something unexpected, find speech attractive or influential, overestimate their abilities, or consider a truth unlikely simply because it conflicts with prior expectations.

These conditions belong to one linguistic family but differ in cause, moral value, and outcome.

ʿ J B occurs twenty-seven times in twenty-four Qur’anic verses across seventeen surahs: eight Form I verbs, eleven Form IV verbs, five occurrences of the noun ʿajab, two of the adjective ʿajīb, and one of ʿujāb.

Quranic Arabic Corpus: twenty-seven occurrences in five groups

Important forms in this family include:

• عَجِبَ / يَعْجَبُ (ʿajiba / yaʿjabu): to wonder or find something unusual or unexpected. Qur’anic use: yes, eight times in various inflections.
• أَعْجَبَ / يُعْجِبُ (aʿjaba / yuʿjibu): to cause someone’s wonder or admiration, attract their attention, or appear pleasing to them. Qur’anic use: yes, eleven times.
• عَجَب (ʿajab): wonder, or something regarded as astonishing. Qur’anic use: yes, five times.
• عَجِيب (ʿajīb): astonishing, unusual, or causing wonder. Qur’anic use: yes, twice.
• عُجَاب (ʿujāb): intensely astonishing or exceeding the ordinary degree of wonder. Qur’anic use: yes, once, in Ṣād 38:5.
• عُجْب (ʿujb): self-admiration, an inflated view of oneself, or being impressed by one’s own worth or ability. Qur’anic use: no, as this independent noun.
• تَعَجَّبَ / تَعَجُّب (taʿajjaba / taʿajjub): to wonder, and expressing astonishment. Qur’anic use: no, in these verbal and verbal-noun forms.
• اِسْتَعْجَبَ / اِسْتِعْجَاب (istaʿjaba / istiʿjāb): to wonder, sometimes with greater intensity. Qur’anic use: no.
• عَجَّبَ / تَعْجِيب (ʿajjaba / taʿjīb): to cause someone to wonder. Qur’anic use: no.
• مُعْجِب (muʿjib): something or someone causing another’s admiration or wonder. Qur’anic use: no, as an independent active participle.
• مُعْجَب (muʿjab): someone pleased or impressed by something; in muʿjab bi-nafsihi, self-admiring. Qur’anic use: no, as this independent form.
• مُتَعَجِّب / مُسْتَعْجِب (mutaʿajjib / mustaʿjib): astonished or expressing wonder. Qur’anic use: no.
• أُعْجُوبَة (uʿjūbah): something exceptionally astonishing or unusual. Qur’anic use: no.
• عَجَائِب / أَعَاجِيب (ʿajāʾib / aʿājīb): wonders or astonishing things. Qur’anic use: no.
• عَجْب (ʿajb): in early anatomical usage, the end of the spine or a bone at an animal’s tail base. Qur’anic use: no.
• عُجُوب (ʿujūb): in physical usage, the narrowing ends of sand dunes; a plural belonging to the anatomical ʿajb branch. Qur’anic use: no.

The list shows two distinct Arabic fields: wonder, admiration, and finding something significant; and naming part of an animal’s anatomy with related physical extensions.

All Qur’anic occurrences belong to the first field.

An invented image of a bone at the animal’s rear should therefore not be imported into verses concerning wonder, self-admiration, or liking.

2. The linguistic core: finding something significant and unusual

ʿAjab: responding to something unexpected

Arabic ʿajiba minhu describes finding something unusual, unexpected, or at odds with previous knowledge and experience.

Someone may, for example, witness an event unlike anything previously seen and find it astonishing.

The cause of wonder, however, varies.

Sometimes a newly discovered truth inspires further understanding.

Sometimes beauty, magnitude, or proportion causes wonder.

Sometimes attachment to an earlier assumption leads someone to find a well-supported matter unlikely.

Wonder alone therefore establishes neither recognition nor denial of truth.

Some lexical definitions connect wonder with not knowing an event’s cause.

This explains part of human experience: people sometimes marvel at what they cannot explain.

Ignorance of the cause, however, should not become necessary to every use.

People may know why something happens and still marvel at its magnitude, beauty, or significance.

The broader core of this family is thus finding something significant or unusual and being impressed by it.

Wonder and regarding something as great

In Maqāyīs al-Lughah, Ibn Fāris explains one of the root’s two principles through kibar and istikbār al-shayʾ: greatness and regarding something as great.

Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lughah: two principles of ʿ J B

Two meanings should be distinguished here.

One is finding something significant, outstanding, or beyond the ordinary.

The other is regarding oneself as great and becoming self-admiring.

They belong to one field but differ morally.

Finding the beauty of creation magnificent, for example, can be a natural response.

An inflated view of oneself, making personal ability, wealth, or status a measure of absolute superiority, can instead lead to conceit and error.

Aʿjabatkum kathratukum in Al-Tawbah 9:25 matters for examining this boundary.

Is wonder inherently blameworthy?

No.

In Al-Fatḥ 48:29, a crop’s growth pleases and impresses cultivators.

In Hūd 11:72, Ibrāhīm’s wife marvels at the announcement of a child in old age.

In Al-Jinn 72:1, a group of jinn describe the Qur’an they heard as astonishing.

In Qāf 50:2, by comparison, people marvel at a warner coming from among themselves and call it strange.

Wonder itself therefore is no measure of belief or disbelief.

What matters is how a person subsequently judges, what evidence they have, and how they respond to truth.

Liking and truth

Form IV aʿjabahu al-shayʾ can mean that something appears pleasing, attractive, or impressive to someone.

Being pleasing and being true, however, are distinct.

Speech may be beautiful and influential while its speaker conceals truth.

Someone may like another’s appearance without sufficiently knowing their character or conduct.

People may also be impressed by wealth or their group’s numbers, even when that abundance proves insufficient for the goal.

Thus, iʿjāb expresses a person’s response and assessment, rather than independently establishing something’s truth or actual worth.

This is a central finding of the root’s Qur’anic study.

3. Physical imagery and early Arabic evidence

Does the root share a single physical image?

In Maqāyīs al-Lughah, Ibn Fāris identifies two separate principles for ʿ J B.

The first concerns wonder, regarding something as great, and self-admiration.

The second names part of an animal’s anatomy near the tail base and spine’s end.

Arabic extends that anatomical name to the narrowing ends of sand dunes.

This physical use is attested, but does not establish that human wonder originated in the shape of an animal’s bone or tail.

Two fields being recorded under the same letters does not prove one historical origin.

Study of ʿ J B should preserve this distinction.

Wonder in Aws ibn Ḥajar’s poetry

A verse by Aws ibn Ḥajar reads:

وَمُسْتَعْجِبٍ مِمَّا يَرَى مِنْ أَنَاتِنَا
وَلَوْ زَبَنَتْهُ الْحَرْبُ لَمْ يَتَرَمْرَمِ

wa-mustaʿjibin mimmā yarā min anātinā / wa-law zabanat-hu al-ḥarbu lam yataramrami

English translation

Many a person marvels at our patience and restraint; yet if war drove him hard, he would not open his mouth to speak.

Mustaʿjib describes someone surprised by another group’s conduct.

Their patience and restraint are what cause his surprise.

Lexical explanation of lam yataramram in this witness concerns not opening one’s mouth or speaking; it is not restricted here to physical inability to move.

Lisān al-ʿArab, R M M: not speaking in Aws’s verse

His surprise therefore does not itself establish a sound judgment of others’ strength or conduct.

This witness matters for understanding wonder in early Arabic.

Aws ibn Ḥajar was a pre-Islamic poet, and the verse is recorded in transmitted versions of his collection. As with other early poetic evidence, minor textual variants should be distinguished from confidence in attribution.

ʿUjūb in Labīd’s poetry

A verse attributed to Labīd reads:

تَجْتَافُ أَصْلًا قَالِصًا مُتَنَبِّذًا
بِعُجُوبِ أَنْقَاءٍ يَمِيلُ هَيَامُهَا

tajtāfu aṣlan qāliṣan mutanabbidhan / bi-ʿujūbi anqāʾin yamīlu hayāmuhā

English translation

She shelters within the base of a tree with contracted branches, standing apart at the tapering ends of dunes whose loose sand slips away.

ʿUjūb here concerns the narrowing ends of sand dunes. In the familiar Muʿallaqah reading, tajtāfu describes a wild cow sheltering at a tree’s base. Lexical transmissions also record yajtābu and yajtāfu; those variants should not turn ʿujūb into wonder.

Sharḥ al-Qaṣāʾid al-Sabʿ al-Ṭiwāl: tajtāfu and sheltering at a tree’s base

Lexical imagery connects this use with the anatomical end of an animal’s body.

It conveys no astonishment, liking, or self-admiration here.

Labīd’s verse therefore illustrates the family’s physical branch, rather than defining ʿajab in verses about wonder.

Al-Ṣiḥāḥ, Lisān al-ʿArab, and Asās al-Balāghah: ʿujūb and variant transmissions

Comparing the two branches’ evidence

Aws ibn Ḥajar’s verse illustrates a person’s surprise at others’ conduct.

Labīd’s verse supplies an anatomical and spatial use recorded under the same letters.

Together they show that meanings sharing a dictionary root cannot always be reduced to one original physical image.

This article examines Qur’anic uses through wonder, liking, and regarding something as significant, because the anatomical branch does not occur in the Qur’an.

4. ʿAjiba: surprise at a messenger coming from among the people

Al-Aʿrāf 7:63

Verse text

أَوَعَجِبْتُمْ أَنْ جَاءَكُمْ ذِكْرٌ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ عَلَىٰ رَجُلٍ مِنْكُمْ لِيُنْذِرَكُمْ وَلِتَتَّقُوا وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ

a-wa-ʿajibtum an jāʾakum dhikrun min rabbikum ʿalā rajulin minkum li-yundhirakum wa-li-tattaqū wa-laʿallakum turḥamūna

English translation

Are you astonished that a reminder from your Lord has come upon a man from among you, to warn you, so that you may be mindful and perhaps receive mercy?

Examining the use

A-wa-ʿajibtum is a second-person plural Form I perfect verb within a question.

The cause of surprise is explicit: a reminder from the Lord coming upon a man from among the addressees.

Wonder here relates to people’s conception of a divine messenger’s position.

They may find a message coming to someone among themselves unexpected or inconsistent with earlier assumptions.

ʿAjibtum itself, however, does not yet mean denial.

The criticism is established by context and the group’s refusal to accept the reminder and warning.

Al-Aʿrāf 7:69

Verse text

أَوَعَجِبْتُمْ أَنْ جَاءَكُمْ ذِكْرٌ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ عَلَىٰ رَجُلٍ مِنْكُمْ لِيُنْذِرَكُمْ وَاذْكُرُوا إِذْ جَعَلَكُمْ خُلَفَاءَ مِنْ بَعْدِ قَوْمِ نُوحٍ وَزَادَكُمْ فِي الْخَلْقِ بَسْطَةً فَاذْكُرُوا آلَاءَ اللَّهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ

a-wa-ʿajibtum an jāʾakum dhikrun min rabbikum ʿalā rajulin minkum li-yundhirakum wa-udhkurū idh jaʿalakum khulafāʾa min baʿdi qawmi Nūḥin wa-zādakum fī al-khalqi basṭatan fa-udhkurū ālāʾa Allāhi laʿallakum tufliḥūna

English translation

Are you astonished that a reminder from your Lord has come upon a man from among you to warn you? Remember when He made you successors after Nūḥ’s people and increased your stature and strength in creation. Remember The God’s favors so that you may prosper.

Examining the use

The same a-wa-ʿajibtum appears here.

Its context, however, concerns ʿĀd’s people and Hūd’s call.

The repeated construction shows that surprise at a human messenger was not confined to one people.

The root alone nevertheless does not establish that every surprise at human prophethood necessarily arises from arrogance or obstinacy.

The main point is that in these two contexts, surprise accompanies resistance to the divine reminder.

Yūnus 10:2

Verse text

أَكَانَ لِلنَّاسِ عَجَبًا أَنْ أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَىٰ رَجُلٍ مِنْهُمْ أَنْ أَنْذِرِ النَّاسَ وَبَشِّرِ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنَّ لَهُمْ قَدَمَ صِدْقٍ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ قَالَ الْكَافِرُونَ إِنَّ هَٰذَا لَسَاحِرٌ مُبِينٌ

a-kāna li-al-nāsi ʿajaban an awḥaynā ilā rajulin minhum an andhiri al-nāsa wa-bashshiri alladhīna āmanū anna lahum qadama ṣidqin ʿinda rabbihim qāla al-kāfirūna inna hādhā la-sāḥirun mubīnun

English translation

Was it astonishing to people that We revealed to a man among them: warn the people, and give believers good news that they have a true standing with their Lord? Those who disbelieved said, “This is clearly a magician.”

Examining the use

ʿAjaban here is a noun, rather than a verb.

The sentence questions regarding revelation to a human as astonishing.

It then reports disbelievers attributing the matter to magic.

Initial surprise and the subsequent accusation should therefore be distinguished.

ʿAjab alone does not mean calling revelation magic.

That accusation comes from another clause.

Ṣād 38:4 and Qāf 50:2

Both verses use ʿajibū for people astonished at a warner coming from among themselves.

In Ṣād 38:4, surprise accompanies the claim that the messenger is a magician and liar.

In Qāf 50:2, surprise at a warner sets the context for calling something strange, followed by denying resurrection.

Their shared core is finding a human warner’s arrival unexpected, while each context separately expresses its denials and accusations.

Lexical finding: ʿajab here concerns finding revelation and human messengership unusual or unexpected. Surprise differs from denial and accusations of magic, although it accompanies them in these contexts.

5. ʿAjīb and ʿujāb: intense wonder and judgment of a claim

Hūd 11:72 and Hūd 11:73: Ibrāhīm’s wife’s astonishment

Hūd 11:72

قَالَتْ يَا وَيْلَتَىٰ أَأَلِدُ وَأَنَا عَجُوزٌ وَهَٰذَا بَعْلِي شَيْخًا إِنَّ هَٰذَا لَشَيْءٌ عَجِيبٌ

qālat yā waylatā a-alidu wa-anā ʿajūzun wa-hādhā baʿlī shaykhan inna hādhā la-shayʾun ʿajībun

English translation

She said, “Oh, how astonishing! Shall I bear a child when I am an old woman and this husband of mine is an old man? This is indeed an astonishing thing.”

Hūd 11:73

قَالُوا أَتَعْجَبِينَ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ رَحْمَتُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ عَلَيْكُمْ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ إِنَّهُ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ

qālū a-taʿjabīna min amri Allāhi raḥmatu Allāhi wa-barakātuhu ʿalaykum ahla al-bayti innahu ḥamīdun majīdun

English translation

They said, “Do you wonder at The God’s command? The God’s mercy and blessings be upon you, people of this household. He is indeed praiseworthy and glorious.”

Examining the use

In the first verse, ʿajīb describes the announcement of a child.

Ibrāhīm’s wife mentions both her own old age and her husband’s.

Context thus identifies the cause: childbirth in circumstances unexpected in ordinary experience.

Her response does not necessarily establish denial of The God’s power.

In Hūd 11:73, the divine messengers question her surprise and recall The God’s mercy and blessings.

The dialogue can place her astonishment alongside divine power and the distinction between human experience and The God’s command.

ʿAjīb itself, however, does not mean impossible.

Something may be astonishing by ordinary experience without being impossible.

This distinction is essential to understanding the account.

Ṣād 38:5: shayʾun ʿujāb

Verse text

أَجَعَلَ الْآلِهَةَ إِلَٰهًا وَاحِدًا إِنَّ هَٰذَا لَشَيْءٌ عُجَابٌ

a-jaʿala al-ālihata ilāhan wāḥidan inna hādhā la-shayʾun ʿujābun

English translation

Has he made the gods one god? This is indeed an exceedingly astonishing thing.

Examining the use

The descriptive form ʿujāb relates to ʿajīb.

Early accounts distinguish them: ʿajīb evokes wonder, while ʿujāb can emphasize intensity or exceeding the ordinary degree of astonishment.

That intensity does not necessarily express praise.

In Ṣād 38:5, the speakers marvel at one object of worship and regard it as exceptionally strange.

ʿUjāb here thus highlights their response of rejection.

Intense surprise alone therefore does not establish a sound judgment.

An evident truth may seem very unusual to someone attached to previous beliefs and habits.

Qāf 50:2: shayʾun ʿajīb

Verse text

بَلْ عَجِبُوا أَنْ جَاءَهُمْ مُنْذِرٌ مِنْهُمْ فَقَالَ الْكَافِرُونَ هَٰذَا شَيْءٌ عَجِيبٌ

bal ʿajibū an jāʾahum mundhirun minhum fa-qāla al-kāfirūna hādhā shayʾun ʿajībun

English translation

Rather, they were astonished that a warner from among themselves had come to them; the disbelievers said, “This is an astonishing thing.”

Examining the use

This verse contains both the verb ʿajibū and adjective ʿajīb.

A state of wonder is first expressed verbally, then described by the speakers using ʿajīb.

Qāf 50:3 then presents denial of return after death.

The context therefore concerns surprise at human messengership and resurrection.

ʿAjīb itself, however, does not determine whether the subject of surprise is true or false.

Context and the Qur’an’s reasoning establish that judgment.

Finding: ʿajīb and ʿujāb both express astonishment; ʿujāb may convey greater intensity, but neither inherently means impossible, false, or praiseworthy.

6. Wonder at signs and unusual events

Al-Raʿd 13:5

Verse text

وَإِنْ تَعْجَبْ فَعَجَبٌ قَوْلُهُمْ أَإِذَا كُنَّا تُرَابًا أَإِنَّا لَفِي خَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِرَبِّهِمْ وَأُولَٰئِكَ الْأَغْلَالُ فِي أَعْنَاقِهِمْ وَأُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ

wa-in taʿjab fa-ʿajabun qawluhum a-idhā kunnā turāban a-innā la-fī khalqin jadīdin ulāʾika alladhīna kafarū bi-rabbihim wa-ulāʾika al-aghlālu fī aʿnāqihim wa-ulāʾika aṣḥābu al-nāri hum fīhā khālidūna

English translation

If you wonder, then astonishing is their saying, “When we have become dust, shall we really be in a new creation?” Those are the ones who disbelieve in their Lord; shackles will be around their necks, and they are the inhabitants of the Fire, remaining there.

Examining the use

The root appears twice: taʿjab and ʿajabun.

The first part speaks of the addressee’s wonder.

The second presents the resurrection deniers’ statement as astonishing.

The construction matters because it shifts where wonder is directed.

A group marvels at being revived, but the verse presents their statement and denial as the astonishing matter.

A person’s reaction therefore does not necessarily measure something’s actual astonishing character from the perspective of truth.

Al-Kahf 18:9

Verse text

أَمْ حَسِبْتَ أَنَّ أَصْحَابَ الْكَهْفِ وَالرَّقِيمِ كَانُوا مِنْ آيَاتِنَا عَجَبًا

am ḥasibta anna aṣḥāba al-kahfi wa-al-raqīmi kānū min āyātinā ʿajaban

English translation

Did you suppose that the companions of the Cave and the Inscription were something astonishing among Our signs?

Examining the use

ʿAjaban describes an event as astonishing.

The verse, however, takes the form of a question.

It directs attention to that event’s place among The God’s signs.

The expression should not imply that the companions’ story is insignificant or wholly unsurprising.

The point may be that divine signs and power extend beyond this event.

Nor does ʿajaban itself establish the companions’ number, duration of stay, or other details.

Al-Kahf 18:63

Verse text

قَالَ أَرَأَيْتَ إِذْ أَوَيْنَا إِلَى الصَّخْرَةِ فَإِنِّي نَسِيتُ الْحُوتَ وَمَا أَنْسَانِيهُ إِلَّا الشَّيْطَانُ أَنْ أَذْكُرَهُ وَاتَّخَذَ سَبِيلَهُ فِي الْبَحْرِ عَجَبًا

qāla a-raʾayta idh awaynā ilā al-ṣakhrati fa-innī nasītu al-ḥūta wa-mā ansānīhu illā al-shayṭānu an adhkurahu wa-ittakhadha sabīlahu fī al-baḥri ʿajaban

English translation

He said, “Do you remember when we sheltered at the rock? I forgot the fish, and only Satan made me forget to mention it; it took its way into the sea in an astonishing manner.”

Examining the use

ʿAjaban here concerns the event involving the fish.

The cause of wonder is how the fish made its way into the sea.

ʿAjaban itself nevertheless specifies neither how the fish moved, the water’s condition, nor any further physical occurrence.

Those details require the verses themselves or sound independent evidence.

ʿAjaban therefore should not become water splitting or a miracle described with precise additional features.

Al-Jinn 72:1

Verse text

قُلْ أُوحِيَ إِلَيَّ أَنَّهُ اسْتَمَعَ نَفَرٌ مِنَ الْجِنِّ فَقَالُوا إِنَّا سَمِعْنَا قُرْآنًا عَجَبًا

qul ūḥiya ilayya annahu istamaʿa nafarun mina al-jinni fa-qālū innā samiʿnā qurʾānan ʿajaban

English translation

Say, “It has been revealed to me that a group of jinn listened and said, ‘We have heard an astonishing Qur’an.’”

Examining the use

ʿAjaban describes the Qur’an they heard.

In Al-Jinn 72:2, the same group describes the Qur’an guiding toward right judgment and declares belief.

Wonder here therefore accompanies positive reception and recognition of the Qur’an’s guidance.

ʿAjaban alone, however, does not mean guiding.

Guidance is expressed in the following sentence. In Al-Najm 53:59, a-fa-min hādhā al-ḥadīthi taʿjabūn likewise questions the addressees’ wonder at this discourse; Al-Najm 53:60 then describes their laughing and not weeping.

Placed beside Ṣād 38:5, this reveals an important distinction: one group marvels at the call to divine oneness and rejects it; another marvels on hearing the Qur’an and believes.

Wonder can therefore begin acceptance or rejection; the word itself does not determine the outcome.

7. Bal ʿajibta: variant readings and attributing wonder

Al-Ṣāffāt 37:12

Verse text in the Ḥafṣ reading

بَلْ عَجِبْتَ وَيَسْخَرُونَ

bal ʿajibta wa-yaskharūna

English translation

Rather, you were astonished, while they mock.

Examining the use

An important reading variation occurs here.

Ḥafṣ reads ʿajibta with fatḥah on the tāʾ.

The verb is then second-person singular, attributing wonder to the verse’s addressee, the Prophet.

Readings such as Ḥamzah’s and al-Kisāʾī’s instead have ʿajibtu with ḍammah on the tāʾ.

The verb is then first-person singular, and the divine statement attributes it to The God Himself.

This is more than an inconsequential sound difference: the verb’s grammatical subject changes.

Lexical study therefore should not present one reading’s meaning as certainly covering all readings without explanation.

The ʿajibta and ʿajibtu readings of Al-Ṣāffāt 37:12

Does wonder necessarily arise from ignorance?

In human language, wonder sometimes arises from not knowing why something happens.

As the lexical-core discussion established, however, it can also involve finding something great, unusual, or significant.

The narrow definition of ignorance of a cause therefore cannot be imposed on every use.

Where a reading attributes wonder to The God, its linguistic sense should be distinguished from human surprise at something unknown.

The Qur’an describes The God as comprehensively knowing; wonder attributed to Him therefore cannot become ignorance of an event or sudden discovery of a new truth.

Difficulty understanding that attribution likewise should not conceal the reading’s existence.

Reading it as regarding the criticized conduct as great or significant can be examined within the root’s field. Precisely explaining its attribution to The God nevertheless exceeds morphology and requires separate reflection.

The role of wa-yaskharūn

Both readings retain wa-yaskharūn.

There is thus wonder on one side and mockery on the other.

S KH R is a separate root concerning ridicule.

ʿAjab therefore should not be translated as mockery.

Someone may marvel at another’s conduct while the other person mocks.

These are distinct responses.

Lexical finding: the Al-Ṣāffāt 37:12 reading variation affects the verb’s subject, while the root remains within wonder and regarding something as significant. The reading and context must inform how that wonder is understood.

8. Aʿjaba: appearing pleasing without guaranteeing truth

Al-Baqarah 2:204

Verse text

وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يُعْجِبُكَ قَوْلُهُ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيُشْهِدُ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ مَا فِي قَلْبِهِ وَهُوَ أَلَدُّ الْخِصَامِ

wa-mina al-nāsi man yuʿjibuka qawluhu fī al-ḥayāti al-dunyā wa-yushhidu Allāha ʿalā mā fī qalbihi wa-huwa aladdu al-khiṣāmi

English translation

Among people is someone whose speech about worldly life pleases you, who calls The God to witness what is in his heart, while he is the fiercest of disputants.

Examining the use

Yuʿjibuka is a Form IV imperfect verb.

Its grammatical subject is qawluhu: that person’s speech.

His speech thus appears pleasing or impressive to the addressee.

Immediately, however, the text distinguishes apparent speech from the person’s actual condition.

Al-Baqarah 2:205 describes his corrupt conduct.

Pleasing speech therefore is no sufficient basis for recognizing the speaker’s integrity.

Lexically, iʿjāb concerns speech’s effect upon the listener, rather than its truthfulness.

The distinction also applies to public speaking, advertising, social promises, and personal relationships.

Someone may use beautiful words and many oaths while acting contrary to those statements.

These are practical illustrations, however; they do not imply that every attractive or influential statement indicates deception.

Al-Baqarah 2:221: personal liking and marriage criteria

Verse text

وَلَا تَنْكِحُوا الْمُشْرِكَاتِ حَتَّىٰ يُؤْمِنَّ وَلَأَمَةٌ مُؤْمِنَةٌ خَيْرٌ مِنْ مُشْرِكَةٍ وَلَوْ أَعْجَبَتْكُمْ وَلَا تُنْكِحُوا الْمُشْرِكِينَ حَتَّىٰ يُؤْمِنُوا وَلَعَبْدٌ مُؤْمِنٌ خَيْرٌ مِنْ مُشْرِكٍ وَلَوْ أَعْجَبَكُمْ أُولَٰئِكَ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى النَّارِ وَاللَّهُ يَدْعُو إِلَى الْجَنَّةِ وَالْمَغْفِرَةِ بِإِذْنِهِ وَيُبَيِّنُ آيَاتِهِ لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَذَكَّرُونَ

wa-lā tankiḥū al-mushrikāti ḥattā yuʾminna wa-la-amatun muʾminatun khayrun min mushrikatin wa-law aʿjabatkum wa-lā tunkiḥū al-mushrikīna ḥattā yuʾminū wa-la-ʿabdun muʾminun khayrun min mushrikin wa-law aʿjabakum ulāʾika yadʿūna ilā al-nāri wa-allāhu yadʿū ilā al-jannati wa-l-maghfirati bi-idhnihi wa-yubayyinu āyātihi li-l-nāsi laʿallahum yatadhakkarūna

English translation

Do not marry women who associate partners until they believe. A believing woman in slavery is better than a woman who associates partners, even if she pleases you. Do not give spouses to men who associate partners until they believe. A believing man in slavery is better than a man who associates partners, even if he pleases you. Those call toward the Fire, while The God calls toward the Garden and forgiveness by His permission. He makes His signs clear to people so that they may take heed.

Examining the use

The root appears twice:

Aʿjabatkum concerns a woman, and aʿjabakum a man.

Both are Form IV verbs.

They express being pleasing or attracting the addressees’ liking.

That liking may arise from appearance, social position, wealth, character, or other qualities.

The verb itself specifies none of these causes exclusively.

Restricting aʿjabatkum to physical beauty therefore adds interpretation to the word’s meaning.

The Qur’an also distinguishes personal liking from the value criterion presented here.

Someone may like a person, but that liking alone is insufficient to judge a relationship’s religious and ethical suitability.

ʿ J B itself, however, means neither association of partners nor belief.

The verse introduces those matters through separate words.

Amah and ʿabd likewise require investigation concerning slavery and social relations, rather than being derived from aʿjaba.

Al-Aḥzāb 33:52: beauty and liking

Al-Aḥzāb 33:52 includes wa-law aʿjabaka ḥusnuhunna.

Unlike Al-Baqarah 2:221, the cause is explicitly identified here through ḥusnuhunna.

Women’s beauty is thus the object of admiration in this context.

Aʿjaba alone does not specify why something pleases; another word such as ḥusn may clarify it.

Liking beauty also does not itself mean performing an action or possessing legal permission for it.

The complete verse states the marriage restriction and ruling.

Lexical finding: these uses of aʿjaba describe something appearing pleasing or impressive to someone. This response guarantees neither speech’s truth nor a person’s moral worth, and alone determines no relationship’s ruling.

9. Numbers, possessions, and appearance: admiration and conceit

Al-Māʾidah 5:100

Verse text

قُلْ لَا يَسْتَوِي الْخَبِيثُ وَالطَّيِّبُ وَلَوْ أَعْجَبَكَ كَثْرَةُ الْخَبِيثِ فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ يَا أُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ

qul lā yastawī al-khabīthu wa-al-ṭayyibu wa-law aʿjabaka kathratu al-khabīthi fa-ittaqū allāha yā ulī al-albābi laʿallakum tufliḥūna

English translation

Say, “The bad and the good are not equal, even if the bad’s abundance pleases you. Be mindful of The God, people of understanding, so that you may prosper.”

Examining the use

The subject of aʿjabaka is kathratu al-khabīth.

What impresses the person is therefore abundance.

The Qur’an nevertheless distinguishes abundance from goodness or actual value.

Something’s quantity may attract attention, but quantity alone does not establish its soundness.

Aʿjaba here thus concerns liking or being impressed because of abundance.

Khabīth and ṭayyib, however, belong to separate roots.

ʿAjab should therefore not establish that everything abundant is bad or everything scarce valuable.

The verse’s point is that abundance is insufficient for assessing worth.

Al-Tawbah 9:25: being pleased with one’s own numbers

Verse text

لَقَدْ نَصَرَكُمُ اللَّهُ فِي مَوَاطِنَ كَثِيرَةٍ وَيَوْمَ حُنَيْنٍ إِذْ أَعْجَبَتْكُمْ كَثْرَتُكُمْ فَلَمْ تُغْنِ عَنْكُمْ شَيْئًا وَضَاقَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الْأَرْضُ بِمَا رَحُبَتْ ثُمَّ وَلَّيْتُمْ مُدْبِرِينَ

la-qad naṣarakumu Allāhu fī mawāṭina kathīratin wa-yawma Ḥunaynin idh aʿjabatkum kathratukum fa-lam tughni ʿankum shayʾan wa-ḍāqat ʿalaykumu al-arḍu bi-mā raḥubat thumma wallaytum mudbirīna

English translation

The God has indeed helped you in many places, and on the day of Ḥunayn, when your numbers pleased you but availed you nothing. The earth, despite its breadth, became narrow for you; then you turned back in retreat.

Examining the use

Kathratukum, the addressees’ great numbers, causes admiration here.

This use connects with self-admiration and excessive trust in group strength.

The verb’s meaning should nevertheless be distinguished from the context’s moral conclusion.

Aʿjabatkum itself does not mean defeat or flight.

The verse first states being impressed by numbers, then their ineffectiveness and the retreat.

It thus distinguishes perceived strength from actual outcome.

It does not establish that large numbers are always harmful.

The issue is misplaced reliance on abundance and assuming it sufficient in a particular situation.

Al-Tawbah 9:55 and Al-Tawbah 9:85: wealth and children

These verses use expressions close to fa-lā tuʿjibka amwāluhum wa-lā awlāduhum.

In both, wealth and children can appear attractive and impressive to the observer.

The Qur’an warns, however, that outward prosperity alone does not establish true success or divine approval.

The root itself should nevertheless not make wealth and children inherently bad.

Elsewhere, the Qur’an presents wealth and children as blessings, responsibilities, or occasions of trial.

The issue is therefore judging wrongly from appearances and resources, rather than denying all possessions and family ties their value.

Al-Munāfiqūn 63:4

Verse text

وَإِذَا رَأَيْتَهُمْ تُعْجِبُكَ أَجْسَامُهُمْ وَإِنْ يَقُولُوا تَسْمَعْ لِقَوْلِهِمْ كَأَنَّهُمْ خُشُبٌ مُسَنَّدَةٌ يَحْسَبُونَ كُلَّ صَيْحَةٍ عَلَيْهِمْ هُمُ الْعَدُوُّ فَاحْذَرْهُمْ قَاتَلَهُمُ اللَّهُ أَنَّىٰ يُؤْفَكُونَ

wa-idhā raʾaytahum tuʿjibuka ajsāmuhum wa-in yaqūlū tasmaʿ li-qawlihim kaʾannahum khushubun musannadatun yaḥsabūna kulla ṣayḥatin ʿalayhim humu al-ʿaduwwu fa-iḥdharhum qātalahumu Allāhu annā yuʾfakūna

English translation

When you see them, their bodies impress you; if they speak, you listen to their words. They are like propped-up timbers. They suppose every shout is against them. They are the enemy, so beware of them. May The God cast them away from mercy; how they are turned from truth!

Examining the use

Tuʿjibuka ajsāmuhum concerns attractive or impressive bodily appearance.

The effect of their speech is then described too.

This relates semantically to Al-Baqarah 2:204: in both, appearances of speech or person can impress the addressee.

The Qur’an nevertheless distinguishes that outward impression from knowing their actual character.

The verse does not establish that attractive, strong, or eloquent people are inherently hypocritical.

Its subject is a particular group identified by the context of its conduct.

Tuʿjibuka thus does not mean hypocrisy: it expresses attracting attention and liking.

Finding: in these verses, admiration may arise from speech, beauty, numbers, wealth, children, or bodily appearance. None independently provides a certain measure of a person’s truthfulness or worth.

10. Positive admiration: wonder at growth and creation’s beauty

Al-Fatḥ 48:29

Verse text

مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ وَالَّذِينَ مَعَهُ أَشِدَّاءُ عَلَى الْكُفَّارِ رُحَمَاءُ بَيْنَهُمْ تَرَاهُمْ رُكَّعًا سُجَّدًا يَبْتَغُونَ فَضْلًا مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانًا سِيمَاهُمْ فِي وُجُوهِهِمْ مِنْ أَثَرِ السُّجُودِ ذَٰلِكَ مَثَلُهُمْ فِي التَّوْرَاةِ وَمَثَلُهُمْ فِي الْإِنْجِيلِ كَزَرْعٍ أَخْرَجَ شَطْأَهُ فَآزَرَهُ فَاسْتَغْلَظَ فَاسْتَوَىٰ عَلَىٰ سُوقِهِ يُعْجِبُ الزُّرَّاعَ لِيَغِيظَ بِهِمُ الْكُفَّارَ وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ مِنْهُمْ مَغْفِرَةً وَأَجْرًا عَظِيمًا

Muḥammadun rasūlu Allāhi wa-alladhīna maʿahu ashiddāʾu ʿalā al-kuffāri ruḥamāʾu baynahum tarāhum rukkaʿan sujjadan yabtaghūna faḍlan mina Allāhi wa-riḍwānan sīmāhum fī wujūhihim min athari al-sujūdi dhālika mathaluhum fī al-tawrāti wa-mathaluhum fī al-injīli ka-zarʿin akhraja shaṭʾahu fa-āzarahu fa-istaghlaẓa fa-istawā ʿalā sūqihi yuʿjibu al-zurrāʿa li-yaghīẓa bihimu al-kuffāra waʿada Allāhu alladhīna āmanū wa-ʿamilū al-ṣāliḥāti minhum maghfiratan wa-ajran ʿaẓīman

English translation

Muḥammad is The God’s Messenger. Those with him are firm against disbelievers and merciful among themselves. You see them bowing and prostrating, seeking The God’s bounty and approval. Their mark is on their faces from the effect of prostration. That is their description in the Torah. Their likeness in the Gospel is a crop that brings forth its shoots and strengthens them, then grows stout and stands upon its stalks, pleasing the cultivators, so that He may enrage the disbelievers through them. The God has promised those among them who believe and do righteous deeds forgiveness and a tremendous reward.

Examining the use

Yuʿjibu al-zurrāʿa concerns a crop’s growth pleasing and impressing cultivators.

Admiration follows observing growth, firmness, and the crop taking shape.

A cultivator may delight in a healthy, vigorous crop on seeing its growth and the fruit of labor.

Iʿjāb here is thus a positive or appreciative response.

Yuʿjibu itself, however, does not mean growing.

The preceding verbs describe growth through shoots emerging, strengthening, becoming stout, and standing upright.

Yuʿjibu identifies the observer’s response to that condition.

A phenomenon may therefore inspire admiration without iʿjāb itself naming the phenomenon.

Al-Ḥadīd 57:20

Verse text

اعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ وَزِينَةٌ وَتَفَاخُرٌ بَيْنَكُمْ وَتَكَاثُرٌ فِي الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَوْلَادِ كَمَثَلِ غَيْثٍ أَعْجَبَ الْكُفَّارَ نَبَاتُهُ ثُمَّ يَهِيجُ فَتَرَاهُ مُصْفَرًّا ثُمَّ يَكُونُ حُطَامًا وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانٌ وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا مَتَاعُ الْغُرُورِ

iʿlamū annamā al-ḥayātu al-dunyā laʿibun wa-lahwun wa-zīnatun wa-tafākhurun baynakum wa-takāthurun fī al-amwāli wa-al-awlādi ka-mathali ghaythin aʿjaba al-kuffāra nabātuhu thumma yahīju fa-tarāhu muṣfarran thumma yakūnu ḥuṭāman wa-fī al-ākhirati ʿadhābun shadīdun wa-maghfiratun mina Allāhi wa-riḍwānun wa-mā al-ḥayātu al-dunyā illā matāʿu al-ghurūri

English translation

Know that worldly life is play, diversion, adornment, mutual boasting, and rivalry in wealth and children. It is like rain whose vegetation pleases the cultivators; then it dries, you see it yellow, and it becomes debris. In the Hereafter are severe punishment, forgiveness from The God, and approval. Worldly life is only deceptive enjoyment.

Examining the use

Aʿjaba here concerns vegetation growing after rain.

Grammatically, nabātuhu is the subject and al-kuffāra its object.

In recognized Arabic use, kāfir can describe a cultivator covering seeds in the earth, since K F R concerns covering.

“Cultivators” therefore has lexical support in this agricultural image.

That does not make every Qur’anic kāfir mean cultivator.

Here, rain’s relationship with vegetation is the main contextual indication.

As in Al-Fatḥ 48:29, aʿjaba expresses liking and being impressed by growing plants.

In Al-Ḥadīd, however, beauty of growth is followed by drying and disappearance.

Something can thus appear attractive and astonishing at one moment without lasting.

This matters in the parable of worldly life.

Iʿjāb itself nevertheless means neither deception nor impermanence.

The image’s continuation expresses impermanence, and the verse’s ending worldly life’s deceptiveness.

Lexical finding: iʿjāb in these verses is a positive response to a crop’s growth and beauty. Qur’anic ʿ J B therefore cannot always be restricted to conceit or denial of truth.

11. Distinctions from related words

ʿ J B compared with D H SH

Arabic dahshah concerns bewilderment and losing ordinary focus or composure before something unexpected.

ʿAjab too can arise from an unexpected event.

Not every wonder, however, leads to bewilderment or helplessness.

Someone may enjoy a beautiful crop without losing composure or judgment.

Wonder and bewilderment therefore overlap but differ.

ʿ J B compared with Ḥ Y R

Study of Ḥ Y R (Not yet published)

Ḥayrah concerns perplexity and difficulty finding a way or making a decision.

ʿAjab concerns astonishment and finding something significant or unusual.

Someone may marvel and briefly struggle to understand, but that result is not necessary.

Ibrāhīm’s wife expresses surprise without this establishing a loss of every capacity to understand or decide.

ʿ J B compared with GH R R

Study of GH R R (Not yet published)

Some Qur’anic uses of ghurūr concern being deceived or relying on an unfounded impression.

Admiration can prepare the way for deception, but liking itself is not deception.

In Al-Baqarah 2:204, speech may please while conduct contradicts its appearance.

In Al-Tawbah 9:25, abundant numbers may inspire misplaced confidence.

Admiration and deception can therefore connect within one event while remaining lexically distinct.

ʿ J B compared with K B R

Study of K B R

K B R concerns greatness and, in ethical uses, arrogance and self-importance.

Self-admiring ʿujb similarly approaches an inflated view of oneself.

Marveling at a phenomenon, however, does not necessarily mean arrogance.

Nor has every arrogant person necessarily marveled at personal beauty, strength, or wealth.

Self-admiration and arrogance should therefore be examined separately through each root’s actual uses.

ʿ J B compared with Ḥ S N

Study of Ḥ S N

Ḥusn concerns goodness and beauty.

Iʿjāb may be a person’s response to ḥusn.

Aʿjabaka ḥusnuhunna in Al-Aḥzāb 33:52 places the families together.

Beauty and liking are thus distinct concepts.

Something may be beautiful yet fail to please someone. Someone may also like something lacking sound ethical or actual value.

ʿ J B compared with R Ḍ Y

Study of R Ḍ W

Riḍā concerns approval, satisfaction, and acceptance.

Iʿjāb too can accompany liking and pleasure.

People may nevertheless wonder at something without approving it.

In Ṣād 38:5, the speakers find divine oneness strange without accepting or approving it.

ʿAjab therefore is not restricted to approval.

ʿ J B compared with B H R

Study of B H R

Uses of B H R concerning something’s overwhelming effect upon a person can approach wonder and being impressed.

Iʿjāb likewise affects a person.

The wording and context, however, determine each effect’s intensity.

Not every iʿjāb should become complete loss of choice or judgment.

ʿ J B compared with ʿ J Z

Study of ʿ J Z (Not yet published)

ʿ J Z is a separate root concerning inability and, in some nominal uses, the body’s rear portion.

The physical branch of ʿajb also names a part near an animal’s rear.

Anatomical proximity does not make the roots identical.

Muʿjiz belongs to ʿ J Z, rather than ʿ J B.

Thus, iʿjāb and iʿjāz belong to independent root families.

This matters particularly in Persian, where similar spelling and the related subjects of wonder and miraculous acts can lead to confusion.

12. Translation proposals for Forqan

Natural equivalents for Form I ʿajiba include “wonder,” “be astonished,” and, where appropriate, “find unexpected.”

A-wa-ʿajibtum in Al-Aʿrāf 7:63 and Al-Aʿrāf 7:69 is close to “are you astonished?”

A-taʿjabīna min amri Allāh in Hūd 11:73 becomes “do you wonder at The God’s command?”

For ʿajab in Yūnus 10:2, “wonder” or “something astonishing” is suitable.

ʿAjaban in Al-Kahf 18:9 can be “something astonishing.”

“In an astonishing manner” fits the construction of Al-Kahf 18:63.

Qurʾānan ʿajaban in Al-Jinn 72:1 is close to “an astonishing Qur’an.”

The basic equivalent of ʿajīb is “astonishing.”

ʿUjāb can convey greater intensity, making “exceedingly astonishing” more suitable.

Depending on context, Form IV aʿjaba can become “please,” “impress,” or “appear attractive.”

In Al-Baqarah 2:204, “his speech pleases you” is natural.

“Even if the person pleases you” suits Al-Baqarah 2:221, because it does not restrict the reason to physical beauty.

Given ḥusnuhunna in Al-Aḥzāb 33:52, “even if their beauty pleases you” is suitable.

“Even if the bad’s abundance pleases you” preserves Al-Māʾidah 5:100.

“When your numbers pleased you” suits Al-Tawbah 9:25; context should explain self-admiration and misplaced confidence.

In Al-Tawbah 9:55 and Al-Tawbah 9:85, “do not let their wealth and children impress you” is close to the meaning.

“Their bodies impress you” suits Al-Munāfiqūn 63:4.

Al-Fatḥ 48:29 and Al-Ḥadīd 57:20 should likewise preserve cultivators’ pleasure and wonder at plant growth.

Where Ḥafṣ is the base reading for Al-Ṣāffāt 37:12, “rather, you were astonished” is suitable. The alternative ʿajibtu should be clarified in a separate study note.

The main translation rule is to distinguish wonder, admiration, and self-admiration. Nor should a definite positive or negative moral value for the subject be derived from the root alone.

13. Final synthesis

Arabic ʿ J B concerns astonishment, regarding something as significant or unusual, and, in some uses, liking or being impressed.

Another branch connects this family with self-admiration and an inflated view of oneself.

These uses differ morally.

People may marvel at a crop’s beauty and growth, be surprised by an unexpected announcement such as childbirth in old age, or reject a truth because it conflicts with established habits of thought.

All three situations occur in the Qur’an.

In Hūd 11:72, Ibrāhīm’s wife’s surprise relates to her own and her husband’s old age.

In Al-Jinn 72:1, a group’s wonder accompanies hearing the Qur’an and subsequently accepting its guidance.

In Ṣād 38:5, a group regards one object of worship as exceptionally strange.

In Al-Fatḥ 48:29 and Al-Ḥadīd 57:20, plant growth inspires observers’ admiration and wonder.

ʿAjab therefore inherently means neither denial nor belief.

Form IV uses likewise distinguish pleasing appearances from the subject’s reality.

In Al-Baqarah 2:204, a person’s speech may be attractive while conduct shows otherwise.

In Al-Baqarah 2:221, liking a prospective spouse is distinguished from the criteria expressed in the verse.

In Al-Tawbah 9:25, a group’s numbers may inspire misplaced confidence.

In Al-Māʾidah 5:100, the bad’s abundance may attract attention without making it equal to the good.

In Al-Munāfiqūn 63:4, people’s bodies and speech can impress without guaranteeing their actual character.

The Qur’an therefore does not deny admiration itself; it shows in different cases that this response is insufficient for final judgment.

Criticism of self-admiration likewise should not establish that people may never marvel at beauty, knowledge, creation, or a sound achievement.

The essential distinction is between observing something’s worth and becoming trapped in an unfounded conception of it.

Resurrection deniers’ surprise likewise does not itself prove re-creation impossible.

The reading variation in Al-Ṣāffāt 37:12 also shows why the core meaning of ʿajab should be distinguished from identifying its subject and manner in a sentence.

Final definition: in its main Qur’anic field, ʿ J B concerns wondering, regarding something as significant or unusual, and being impressed. Form IV can express causing another’s liking or wonder; in the self-admiration branch, the significance attributed returns to the person’s own self.

Understanding each use requires identifying what inspires wonder or liking, how the response’s cause is established, and how the person subsequently judges its truth or value.

Thus, wonder is a response to something; wonder itself does not determine whether the person’s judgment is sound.

Wonder may encourage thought and further understanding or, alongside prejudice, self-admiration, and deliberate denial, obstruct acceptance of truth.

The distinction emerges through knowledge, evidence, conduct, and orientation, rather than through ʿajab alone.