The Qur’anic Root AYN Q D (ʿ Q D)
ʿAqd: tying and securing, from a knot in a cord to a covenant, a marriage bond, and a binding commitment
Qur’anic and lexical forms
عَقَدَتْ
(ʿaqadat)
Qur’anic Form I verb; Al-Nisāʾ 4:33
عَقَّدْتُمُ
(ʿaqqadtumu)
Qur’anic Form II verb; Al-Māʾidah 5:89
عُقُود
(ʿuqūd)
Qur’anic plural of ʿaqd: covenants and contracts; Al-Māʾidah 5:1
عُقْدَة
(ʿuqdah)
Qur’anic singular: the marriage bond and the knot in the tongue
عُقَد
(ʿuqad)
Qur’anic plural of ʿuqdah: knots; Al-Falaq 113:4
عَقْد
(ʿaqd)
Dictionary form: binding, a covenant, or a contract; the singular is absent from the Qur’anic text
عِقْد
(ʿiqd)
Lexical form: a necklace or string of beads
إِعْقَاد
(iʿqād)
Lexical form in poetry: giving consistency or thickening
عَقِد
(ʿaqid)
Lexical form in poetry: accumulated sand; distinct from ʿuqad, “knots”
1. Introducing the root and its Qur’anic forms
The Arabic root ع ق د concerns tying, knotting, joining, and making something firm. عَقَدَ الْحَبْلَ (ʿaqada al-ḥabla) means to knot a cord; عُقْدَة (ʿuqdah) names the knot produced by that action. The same family is also used in Arabic for covenants, oaths, contracts, marriage bonds, and firm resolve.
In material usage, ʿaqd can bind the two ends of a cord together or secure something so that it does not readily come loose. In social and legal usage, people may agree on a matter and establish a commitment between themselves. Such an agreement is also called ʿaqd.
The connection between these uses is clear: in one, material parts are bound together; in the other, people and obligations are linked. Yet this similarity does not mean that every covenant functions in Arabic exactly like a physical knot, or that every agreement necessarily creates an everlasting, indissoluble obligation.
The Qur’an uses this root in several settings: the command to fulfill contracts, making an oath binding, covenants people have made with one another, the marriage bond, the knot in Moses’ tongue, and the knots into which blowing is mentioned in Al-Falaq.
Qur’anic forms
In the commonly used Qur’anic text transmitted by Ḥafṣ, the root ع ق د occurs seven times, in seven verses and four morphological groups:
- عَقَدَتْ (ʿaqadat): a Form I past verb: bound or established a covenant. Once in Al-Nisāʾ 4:33.
- عَقَّدْتُمُ (ʿaqqadtumu): a Form II past verb: you made firm or binding. Once in Al-Māʾidah 5:89, concerning oaths.
- عُقُود (ʿuqūd): the plural of ʿaqd: binding contracts and covenants. Once in Al-Māʾidah 5:1.
- عُقْدَة (ʿuqdah) and its plural عُقَد (ʿuqad): a knot, a bond formed, or a commitment established. Four times: Al-Baqarah 2:235, Al-Baqarah 2:237, Ṭā Hā 20:27, and Al-Falaq 113:4.
Other forms are known in Arabic but do not appear in precisely these dictionary forms in the Qur’anic text under study, transmitted by Ḥafṣ:
- عَقَدَ، يَعْقِدُ (ʿaqada, yaʿqidu): tied, knotted, or established a commitment; ties or establishes one.
- عَقْد (ʿaqd): the act of binding; also a covenant or contract.
- عَاقَدَ (ʿāqada): entered into a covenant with another.
- تَعَاقَدَ (taʿāqada): entered into an agreement or covenant with one another.
- اِنْعَقَدَ (inʿaqada): became bound or took shape.
- اِعْتَقَدَ (iʿtaqada): held something firmly, adhered to it, or accepted it as a belief.
- عَقِيدَة (ʿaqīdah): a belief or conviction to which a person holds firmly.
- عِقْد (ʿiqd): a necklace or a string on which beads are joined together.
- عَقِيد (ʿaqīd): something that has thickened or set, including a thickened food.
- مَعْقِد (maʿqid): a place of binding or knotting.
- تَعْقِيد (taʿqīd): tying securely, making knotted, or making something complicated.
The distinction between عَقْد (ʿaqd), عِقْد (ʿiqd), and عُقْدَة (ʿuqdah) matters. ʿAqd may name the act of binding or a covenant; ʿiqd is familiar as a necklace; and ʿuqdah refers to a particular knot or bond.
The singular verbal noun عَقْد (ʿaqd) itself does not occur in the Qur’an, but its plural عُقُود (ʿuqūd) does.
2. The semantic core and usage in early Arabic
Knotting and securing
In early Arabic, عَقَدْتُ الْحَبْلَ (ʿaqadtu al-ḥabla) meant “I knotted the cord.” When a cord is tied so that two parts are joined, the resulting knot is called عُقْدَة (ʿuqdah).
Here ʿaqd involves more than bringing two things close. The two ends of a cord may lie beside one another without forming a knot until they are bound together.
Thus, in material usage, ʿaqd establishes a connection whose parts remain firm to some degree.
Accordingly, lexical sources identify firmness and secure binding as significant features of this family.
Firmness, however, does not mean that untying is impossible. A knot may be undone, a cord cut, or an established bond brought to an end.
In Arabic, حَلَّ الْعُقْدَةَ (ḥalla al-ʿuqdah) means to undo a knot. This opposition also appears in the Qur’an, where Moses asks The God to loosen a knot from his tongue.
ʿAqd and becoming firm
The root is not restricted to cords.
Lexical sources record أَعْقَدْتُ الْعَسَلَ (aʿqadtu al-ʿasala) for thickening honey or syrup: a flowing substance gains consistency through heating or preparation.
In this field, اِنْعَقَدَ (inʿaqada) likewise refers to setting or thickening.
A rajaz line attributed to Ruʾbah ibn al-ʿAjjāj reads:
كَأَنَّ رُبًّا سَالَ بَعْدَ الْإِعْقَادِ
ka-anna rubban sāla baʿda al-iʿqād
“As though it were thickened syrup flowing after having gained consistency.”
In this example, الإعقاد (al-iʿqād) concerns giving a substance consistency and thickness, rather than knotting a cord.
Ruʾbah was a poet of the Islamic period; this witness should therefore not be presented as pre-Islamic poetry.
Its value lies in demonstrating an actual use of the family for the firming or thickening of a substance that was initially fluid.
Yet this usage does not establish that ʿaqd always means hardening or becoming solid. Covenants and marriage involve social and legal meanings, rather than a substance changing its physical state.
ʿAqd in the construction and shape of things
Arabic uses عَقْدُ الْبِنَاءِ (ʿaqd al-bināʾ) for a joined or arched part of a building. In such a structure, the components connect with one another to form a coherent whole.
مَعَاقِد (maʿāqid) is also recorded for points of joining or knotting in a string carrying beads.
In a necklace, a string joins the beads into one whole. عِقْد (ʿiqd) is accordingly a familiar name for a necklace.
These uses show that, beyond tying the ends of a cord, ʿaqd can concern securing a structure composed of several parts.
Yet not every gathering or juxtaposition should be called ʿaqd. In the primary usage, the connection or firmness of the parts matters.
ʿAqid al-raml: accumulated masses of sand
Arabic records عَقِدُ الرَّمْلِ (ʿaqid al-raml) for accumulated, piled-up sand. This form differs from عُقَد (ʿuqad), the plural of عُقْدَة (ʿuqdah), “knot.”
Dhū al-Rummah writes:
بَيْنَ النَّهَارِ وَبَيْنَ اللَّيْلِ مِنْ عَقِدٍ
عَلَى جَوَانِبِهِ الْأَسْبَاطُ وَالْهَدَبُ
bayna al-nahāri wa-bayna al-layli min ʿaqidin / ʿalā jawānibihi al-asbāṭu wa-al-hadabu
“At the passage from day to night, from a mound of accumulated sand, with sabṭ plants and slender foliage growing along its sides.”
In this verse, عَقِد (ʿaqid) refers to sand that has accumulated in heaps.
The natural image matters: no cord is knotted and no covenant made. The sand lies in an accumulated, connected formation.
The commentary on Dhū al-Rummah’s Dīwān gives عَقِد (ʿaqid), with kasrah on qāf, and also reports عَقَد (ʿaqad), with fatḥah. This variation is distinct from عُقَد (ʿuqad), the plural meaning “knots.”
Dhū al-Rummah was an Umayyad poet. His verse is therefore a valid witness to early Arabic usage, but should not be called pre-Islamic poetry.
ʿAqd in social life
From material knotting and joining, this family is also used in Arabic for agreements and commitments between people.
عَقَدَ الْيَمِينَ (ʿaqada al-yamīna) is known for making an oath binding; عَقَدَ الْبَيْعَ (ʿaqada al-bayʿa) for establishing a sales contract; and عَقَدَ النِّكَاحَ (ʿaqada al-nikāḥa) for establishing a marriage bond.
These uses involve more than uttering a few words. Speech or agreement produces a relationship carrying consequences and obligations for those concerned.
Thus, ʿaqd in Arabic can mean establishing a binding commitment.
Yet not all commitments are legally identical. An oath, a sales contract, a covenant of mutual assistance, and a marriage bond have different conditions and consequences.
The root ع ق د conveys binding and firmness; the kind of commitment and the rights arising from it are understood from the object of the contract and the sentence structure.
3. أَوْفُوا بِالْعُقُودِ: fulfilling covenants and commitments
Al-Māʾidah, 5:1
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَوْفُوا بِالْعُقُودِ ۚ أُحِلَّتْ لَكُمْ بَهِيمَةُ الْأَنْعَامِ إِلَّا مَا يُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْكُمْ غَيْرَ مُحِلِّي الصَّيْدِ وَأَنْتُمْ حُرُمٌ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَحْكُمُ مَا يُرِيدُ
yā ayyuhā alladhīna āmanū awfū bi-al-ʿuqūdi; uḥillat lakum bahīmatu al-anʿāmi illā mā yutlā ʿalaykum ghayra muḥillī al-ṣaydi wa-antum ḥurumun; inna Allāha yaḥkumu mā yurīd
“You who have believed, fulfill your covenants and contracts. Livestock animals have been made lawful for you, except what is recited to you; and do not treat hunting as lawful while you are in the consecrated state. Indeed, The God rules as He wills.”
This is the Qur’an’s only occurrence of عُقُود (ʿuqūd).
ʿAqd: a bond that establishes an obligation
الْعُقُود (al-ʿuqūd) is the plural of عَقْد (ʿaqd).
In Arabic, ʿaqd may denote a commitment established between two or more parties. It can also concern a commitment a person has made binding upon themselves.
Here the addressees are commanded to fulfill their contracts.
Yet ʿaqd and fulfillment must be distinguished.
ʿAqd denotes the bond or commitment established; fulfillment, wafāʾ, belongs to the root و ف ي and concerns fully carrying out what has been undertaken.
The word ʿaqd itself therefore does not mean performing the obligation. A contract may be made and then either honored or left unfulfilled.
The command to fulfill it shows that establishing a commitment does not by itself complete one’s responsibility.
The scope of الْعُقُودِ
Arabic ʿuqūd can include covenants between people, financial contracts, social agreements, and other firm commitments.
Early explanations of this verse discuss both covenants concerning The God and contracts or covenants between people.
This breadth should not, however, be understood to mean that every agreement, whatever its content or circumstances, is binding without further qualification.
The Qur’an also speaks about justice, prohibitions and permissions, fulfilling covenants, avoiding oppression, and limits on human conduct.
Knowing the lexical meaning of ʿaqd is therefore insufficient to determine the validity of a particular contract.
For example, merely calling an agreement to commit oppression or aggression an ʿaqd cannot exempt it from the Qur’an’s other judgments.
Here ʿuqūd identifies the field of commitments, while أَوْفُوا (awfū) commands their fulfillment. The limits and conditions of each kind of contract require separate study.
Connection with the rulings that follow in the verse
After commanding the fulfillment of contracts, the Qur’an speaks about the lawfulness of livestock and its exceptions.
This juxtaposition places the sūrah’s opening command in a setting that also states specific rulings and limits.
Yet the meaning of ʿuqūd should not be restricted to contracts concerning food or hunting.
Nor should all the sūrah’s subsequent rulings be presented, without examination, as components of the word’s own meaning.
Lexically, ʿaqd here concerns a firm commitment or bond; the following rulings concern distinct subjects that need to be understood in their own contexts.
4. Binding oaths: ʿaqd and responsibility
Both verbal occurrences of this root in the Qur’an accompany oaths or covenants.
بِمَا عَقَّدْتُمُ الْأَيْمَانَ
Al-Māʾidah, 5:89
لَا يُؤَاخِذُكُمُ اللَّهُ بِاللَّغْوِ فِي أَيْمَانِكُمْ وَلَٰكِنْ يُؤَاخِذُكُمْ بِمَا عَقَّدْتُمُ الْأَيْمَانَ ۖ فَكَفَّارَتُهُ إِطْعَامُ عَشَرَةِ مَسَاكِينَ مِنْ أَوْسَطِ مَا تُطْعِمُونَ أَهْلِيكُمْ أَوْ كِسْوَتُهُمْ أَوْ تَحْرِيرُ رَقَبَةٍ ۖ فَمَنْ لَمْ يَجِدْ فَصِيَامُ ثَلَاثَةِ أَيَّامٍ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ كَفَّارَةُ أَيْمَانِكُمْ إِذَا حَلَفْتُمْ ۚ وَاحْفَظُوا أَيْمَانَكُمْ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ آيَاتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ
lā yuʾākhidhukumu Allāhu bi-al-laghwi fī aymānikum wa-lākin yuʾākhidhukum bi-mā ʿaqqadtumu al-aymāna; fa-kaffāratuhu iṭʿāmu ʿasharati masākīna min awsaṭi mā tuṭʿimūna ahlīkum aw kiswatuhum aw taḥrīru raqabatin; fa-man lam yajid fa-ṣiyāmu thalāthati ayyāmin; dhālika kaffāratu aymānikum idhā ḥalaftum; wa-iḥfaẓū aymānakum; kadhālika yubayyinu Allāhu lakum āyātihi laʿallakum tashkurūn
“The God does not hold you accountable for unintentional, unconsidered speech in your oaths, but He holds you accountable for oaths you have made firmly binding. Its expiation is feeding ten people in need from the ordinary food you give your families, or clothing them, or freeing an enslaved person. Whoever lacks the means should fast for three days. This is the expiation of your oaths when you have sworn. Guard your oaths. Thus The God makes His signs clear to you, so that you may be grateful.”
The form عَقَّدْتُمُ (ʿaqqadtumu) here is Form II.
This formation relates to making an oath firm and binding.
Yet the verse’s principal point is the contrast between اللَّغْوِ فِي أَيْمَانِكُمْ (al-laghwi fī aymānikum) and بِمَا عَقَّدْتُمُ الْأَيْمَانَ (bi-mā ʿaqqadtumu al-aymāna).
The Qur’an distinguishes an oath classed as laghw from one a person establishes as a serious, firm commitment.
In this usage, ʿaqd accordingly concerns establishing a serious obligation.
But Form II alone does not establish that every repeated oath is necessarily binding or that every oath uttered once is necessarily laghw.
The distinction between an unconsidered oath and a binding one is understood from the verse’s whole construction and the separate study of oaths, rather than solely from the doubled qāf.
ʿAqd and intention
Here making an oath binding is contrasted with laghw.
That contrast highlights the role of intention and seriousness in recognizing a commitment.
Nevertheless, the root ع ق د itself does not mean “intention.” A person may intend to do something without yet establishing an obligation.
In its use concerning oaths, ʿaqd speaks of an oath becoming firm as a commitment.
Which oaths are legally valid, their conditions, and when expiation becomes due are clarified by examining the whole verse and the other relevant verses.
Expiation is not part of the meaning of ʿaqd
Al-Māʾidah 5:89 mentions expiation after describing binding oaths.
Expiation, kaffārah, belongs to a different lexical family and concerns making amends for, or covering, the consequences of a breach.
ʿAqd should therefore not be defined as paying expiation.
Nor does this verse establish that every covenant or contract carries precisely the same expiation as an oath.
The verse concerns oaths. Financial contracts, marriage contracts, and other commitments may have different rulings.
Root study must preserve this distinction.
Variant readings
Besides عَقَّدْتُمُ (ʿaqqadtumu), the reading عَقَدْتُمُ (ʿaqadtumu), with an undoubled qāf, is transmitted from Ḥamzah, al-Kisāʾī, and Shuʿbah from ʿĀṣim; عَاقَدْتُمُ (ʿāqadtumu), with alif, is transmitted from Ibn ʿĀmir.
They differ in morphological form, but all concern establishing and securing an oath.
These variants show why the entire meaning of responsibility and intention should not rest solely on the doubling in Form II.
The contrast with laghw and the context of oaths remain central to understanding the sentence.
6. عُقْدَةُ النِّكَاحِ: the marriage bond and its limits
The root ع ق د accompanies marriage in two verses of Al-Baqarah.
In both, عُقْدَةُ النِّكَاحِ (ʿuqdatu al-nikāḥi) is the central expression.
The marriage bond in Al-Baqarah 2:235
Al-Baqarah, 2:235
وَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِيمَا عَرَّضْتُمْ بِهِ مِنْ خِطْبَةِ النِّسَاءِ أَوْ أَكْنَنْتُمْ فِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ ۚ عَلِمَ اللَّهُ أَنَّكُمْ سَتَذْكُرُونَهُنَّ وَلَٰكِنْ لَا تُوَاعِدُوهُنَّ سِرًّا إِلَّا أَنْ تَقُولُوا قَوْلًا مَعْرُوفًا ۚ وَلَا تَعْزِمُوا عُقْدَةَ النِّكَاحِ حَتَّىٰ يَبْلُغَ الْكِتَابُ أَجَلَهُ ۚ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ مَا فِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ فَاحْذَرُوهُ ۚ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ حَلِيمٌ
wa-lā junāḥa ʿalaykum fīmā ʿarraḍtum bihi min khiṭbati al-nisāʾi aw aknantum fī anfusikum; ʿalima Allāhu annakum sa-tadhkurūnahunna wa-lākin lā tuwāʿidūhunna sirran illā an taqūlū qawlan maʿrūfan; wa-lā taʿzimū ʿuqdata al-nikāḥi ḥattā yablugha al-kitābu ajalahu; wa-iʿlamū anna Allāha yaʿlamu mā fī anfusikum fa-iḥdharūhu; wa-iʿlamū anna Allāha ghafūrun ḥalīm
“There is no blame upon you for hinting at a proposal of marriage to the women or keeping it within yourselves. The God knows that you will mention them. But do not make secret promises to them, except to speak honorably. And do not firmly resolve and act to establish the marriage bond until the prescribed term has reached its end. Know that The God knows what is within you, so be mindful of Him. And know that The God is forgiving and forbearing.”
Here عُقْدَةُ النِّكَاحِ (ʿuqdatu al-nikāḥi) refers to the bond formed through establishing a marriage.
Marriage appears here as a recognized relationship; ʿuqdah expresses the firmness and establishment of that bond.
Yet ʿuqdah itself does not mean all marital relations and rights. Financial rights, responsibilities, separation, and other rulings are examined in their respective verses.
A proposal differs from contracting a marriage
The same verse distinguishes hinting at a proposal, concealing interest or intention within oneself, and establishing a marriage contract.
This is a substantive distinction.
A person may wish to marry or express that wish in honorable speech without a marriage bond having been established.
عُقْدَةُ النِّكَاحِ (ʿuqdatu al-nikāḥi) concerns the stage at which a relationship carrying commitments is established.
Thus, not every interest in marriage or intention to marry should be included in the lexical meaning of a marriage contract.
The verse also states a temporal restriction: حَتَّىٰ يَبْلُغَ الْكِتَابُ أَجَلَهُ (ḥattā yablugha al-kitābu ajalahu).
In the context of the preceding verses, this expression concerns the end of the prescribed waiting period.
The notion of a waiting period does not come from ʿuqdah itself. أَجَل (ajal) and its context determine the time limit.
عَزْم (ʿazm) also belongs to a different root and concerns firm resolve. Thus تَعْزِمُوا (taʿzimū) and عُقْدَة (ʿuqdah) should not be treated as the same word merely because their meanings are close.
The verse concerns resolve and action toward a contract that must not be established before the prescribed period ends.
الَّذِي بِيَدِهِ عُقْدَةُ النِّكَاحِ
Al-Baqarah, 2:237
وَإِنْ طَلَّقْتُمُوهُنَّ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ تَمَسُّوهُنَّ وَقَدْ فَرَضْتُمْ لَهُنَّ فَرِيضَةً فَنِصْفُ مَا فَرَضْتُمْ إِلَّا أَنْ يَعْفُونَ أَوْ يَعْفُوَ الَّذِي بِيَدِهِ عُقْدَةُ النِّكَاحِ ۚ وَأَنْ تَعْفُوا أَقْرَبُ لِلتَّقْوَىٰ ۚ وَلَا تَنْسَوُا الْفَضْلَ بَيْنَكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ
wa-in ṭallaqtumūhunna min qabli an tamassūhunna wa-qad faraḍtum lahunna farīḍatan fa-niṣfu mā faraḍtum illā an yaʿfūna aw yaʿfuwa alladhī bi-yadihi ʿuqdatu al-nikāḥi; wa-an taʿfū aqrabu li-al-taqwā; wa-lā tansawu al-faḍla baynakum; inna Allāha bi-mā taʿmalūna baṣīr
“If you divorce them before having intercourse with them, having already specified a bridal due for them, then half of what you specified is due from you, unless the women waive their right or the one in whose hand is authority over the marriage bond waives it. Waiving your own right is nearer to mindfulness. Do not forget generosity between yourselves. Indeed, The God sees what you do.”
Here عُقْدَةُ النِّكَاحِ (ʿuqdatu al-nikāḥi) accompanies بِيَدِهِ (bi-yadihi), “in his hand.”
In Arabic, being “in someone’s hand” can express authority and the ability to act in a matter.
The sentence should therefore not be understood as placing a marriage contract in someone’s hand as a physical knot.
Here ʿuqdah is the legal bond of marriage, while bi-yadihi indicates authority concerning it.
Who is الَّذِي بِيَدِهِ عُقْدَةُ النِّكَاحِ?
Early explanations disagree about the identity of “the one in whose hand is the marriage bond.”
One reading identifies him as the husband, who can relinquish part of his financial entitlement and give the woman the entire specified bridal due.
Another connects the expression with a guardian or a person who held a role and authority in establishing the marriage contract.
This disagreement has legal significance, since it concerns the bridal due, its ownership, and the limits of people’s authority.
The root ع ق د itself, however, does not settle that disagreement.
Lexically, عُقْدَةُ النِّكَاحِ (ʿuqdatu al-nikāḥi) names the established bond. Who has authority concerning it in the verse’s particular situation depends on syntax, context, and the relevant rulings on marriage and divorce.
Nor does بِيَدِهِ عُقْدَةُ النِّكَاحِ (bi-yadihi ʿuqdatu al-nikāḥi) establish that the woman is another person’s property in human or legal terms.
The verse concerns a marriage bond and the waiver of financial rights in a specific situation. People’s rights must be determined from all the relevant verses.
The marriage bond can come to an end
These two uses also make clear that ʿaqd does not mean an indissoluble bond.
Al-Baqarah 2:237 concerns divorce after a marriage has been established.
A contract can therefore be established and subsequently end under certain conditions.
A commitment being firm differs from its termination being impossible.
Translation and lexical definition should preserve this distinction.
Just as an actual knot can be undone, a legal bond may end according to its own conditions. Yet the rules for dissolving each contract cannot be derived from the root’s lexical meaning alone.
7. عُقْدَةً مِنْ لِسَانِي: the knot in Moses’ tongue
Ṭā Hā, 20:27
وَاحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِنْ لِسَانِي
wa-uḥlul ʿuqdatan min lisānī
“And loosen a knot from my tongue.”
This verse forms part of Moses’ prayer at the beginning of his mission to Pharaoh.
In the preceding verses, Moses asks The God to expand his breast and ease his task. In the following verse, he makes the purpose of his request clear.
Ṭā Hā, 20:28
يَفْقَهُوا قَوْلِي
yafqahū qawlī
“So that they may understand my speech.”
A knot in the tongue in Arabic
Arabic عُقْدَةُ اللِّسَانِ (ʿuqdatu al-lisāni) refers to a difficulty or impediment in speech that prevents fluent, clear expression.
Lexical explanations sometimes associate this condition with heaviness of the tongue or difficulty in pronunciation.
Yet the expression does not mean a material knot in the tongue’s tissue.
Here the image of binding and knotting describes a situation in which speech is not expressed readily and clearly.
The verb احْلُلْ (uḥlul) belongs to ح ل ل and concerns opening or undoing.
Two lexical families therefore occur in one construction: ʿuqdah names something bound or knotted, while ḥall denotes undoing it.
The purpose of Moses’ prayer
In the following verse, Moses says يَفْقَهُوا قَوْلِي (yafqahū qawlī).
This sentence shows that the purpose of his request is for his speech to be understood.
The knot in his tongue should therefore not be reduced to a feeling of shame or inner anxiety.
An inner state may contribute to speech difficulty, but the verses’ construction itself concerns the ability to express oneself and the listeners’ understanding.
In Al-Qaṣaṣ 28:34, Moses also says that Aaron is more eloquent than he is. In Al-Shuʿarāʾ 26:13, he speaks of his tongue not flowing freely.
These verses reinforce the connection between the knot in the tongue and difficulty in expression.
Yet the Qur’an does not identify a specific medical or historical cause of that difficulty.
Some external narratives tell of Moses placing a burning ember in his mouth as a child. This account does not appear in the Qur’an itself and should not be introduced into the study as the certain cause of the knot in his tongue.
Did Moses ask for all his speech difficulties to be removed?
The verse says عُقْدَةً مِنْ لِسَانِي (ʿuqdatan min lisānī).
عُقْدَة (ʿuqdah) is indefinite, and مِنْ لِسَانِي (min lisānī) connects it with Moses’ tongue.
Some grammatical explanations understand min as partitive: Moses asks The God to loosen a knot from his tongue.
Yet this construction alone does not determine the exact extent of his speech difficulty or the number of impediments affecting his tongue.
The following verse makes the prayer’s practical purpose clear: his speech should be understood.
Thus “Loosen a knot from my tongue so that they may understand my speech” remains close to both the wording and its context.
A knot in the tongue and a psychological complex
The modern psychological term “complex” belongs to a later technical vocabulary; it should be distinguished from the Arabic image of a knot.
That later technical meaning should not be imposed upon Ṭā Hā 20:27.
Here the knot in the tongue concerns fluent speech and being understood.
Accordingly, ʿuqdah here does not name a psychological disorder classified by modern scholarship.
This caution does not deny that Moses experienced a real difficulty in speaking. It preserves the distinction between the Qur’anic expression and subsequent medical or psychological classifications.
8. النَّفَّاثَاتِ فِي الْعُقَدِ: actual knots and ritual use
Al-Falaq, 113:4
وَمِنْ شَرِّ النَّفَّاثَاتِ فِي الْعُقَدِ
wa-min sharri al-naffāthāti fī al-ʿuqad
“And from the evil of those who blow into knots.”
This is the Qur’an’s only occurrence of the plural عُقَد (ʿuqad).
What does ʿuqad mean here?
الْعُقَد (al-ʿuqad) is the plural of عُقْدَة (ʿuqdah).
In established Arabic usage, the word denotes actual knots in cords, threads, and similar things.
Its association with النَّفَّاثَات (al-naffāthāt), from ن ف ث, provides a specific setting for understanding the expression.
Nafth concerns gentle blowing, sometimes accompanied by a little saliva.
Early explanations connect this expression with people who blew into knots of thread or cord while practicing spells.
The concrete usage of the two words gives this reading clear support.
Yet the verse itself does not specify the knots’ material or number, the formulas recited, or how the action produces an effect.
Thus, the details of external accounts should not all be incorporated into the meanings of ʿaqd or nafth.
Can ʿaqd mean a covenant?
In Arabic, ʿaqd can also mean a covenant or commitment.
Accordingly, some figurative readings understand blowing into bonds as disrupting human ties or weakening commitments.
Such an image is conceivable within the figurative possibilities of language: speech and incitement can damage people’s relationships and covenants.
In this verse, however, the established meaning of blowing into actual knots has more direct support.
The breadth of ʿaqd’s meaning should therefore not by itself justify removing the material knot from the translation.
Nor does ʿuqdah itself establish that every actual knot possesses an independent harmful power.
In this context, the censure concerns the evil of an action involving blowing into knots, rather than every ordinary act of knotting.
Do ʿaqd and nafth have the same meaning?
They do not.
ʿAqd concerns binding and the knot.
Nafth concerns blowing and gently expelling breath.
The verse combines them in one expression, but their participation in one action does not make the roots identical.
Evil is likewise understood from شَرّ (sharr) and the context of seeking refuge, rather than from ʿuqdah itself.
The same word used for knots in Al-Falaq also describes Moses’ speech difficulty in Ṭā Hā and the marriage bond in Al-Baqarah.
Thus, in its own lexical meaning, ʿuqdah is neither magic, illness, marriage, nor sin. What it refers to is determined by the accompanying words and the context.
10. Translation proposals for Forqan
For ع ق د, the basic equivalents in material usage are “binding” and “knotting.”
In social and legal usage, “making a covenant,” “establishing a contract,” and “making a commitment binding” are suitable.
These equivalents should not all be substituted for one another without regard to form and context.
بِالْعُقُودِ: Al-Māʾidah 5:1
Main proposal:
“Your covenants and contracts”
In the sentence:
“You who have believed, fulfill your covenants and contracts.”
Here ʿuqūd denotes established commitments, while fulfillment is the act of carrying them out.
عَقَّدْتُمُ الْأَيْمَانَ: Al-Māʾidah 5:89
Main proposal:
“Oaths you have made firmly binding”
This translation preserves the connection between ʿaqd and the seriousness of the commitment.
Intention and responsibility, however, should be explained through the contrast between an unconsidered oath and a binding oath, rather than solely through the verb’s morphological pattern.
عَقَدَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ: Al-Nisāʾ 4:33
Main proposal:
“Those with whom you have made a covenant”
A more precise explanation can add that the Arabic construction attributes the binding to أَيْمَانُكُمْ (aymānukum): the oaths or covenants firmly established between people.
This rendering is preferable to the entirely literal “your right hands have knotted them.”
عُقْدَةَ النِّكَاحِ: Al-Baqarah 2:235
Main proposal:
“Establishing the marriage bond”
Within the sentence, its natural sense concerns resolve and action to establish a marriage.
“The knot of marriage” can explain the lexical image, but “marriage bond” or “marriage contract” is clearer in fluent English.
عُقْدَةُ النِّكَاحِ: Al-Baqarah 2:237
Main proposal:
“Authority over the marriage bond”
In the full expression:
“The one in whose hand is authority over the marriage bond.”
This translation conveys the relationship between bi-yadihi and authority, without deciding conclusively whether the person meant is the husband or a guardian.
عُقْدَةً مِنْ لِسَانِي: Ṭā Hā 20:27
Main proposal:
“A knot from my tongue”
Translation of the verse:
“And loosen a knot from my tongue.”
A contextual explanation may identify a difficulty affecting the fluency and clarity of speech.
Yet no specific historical or medical cause should be introduced into the translation without evidence.
الْعُقَدِ: Al-Falaq 113:4
Main proposal:
“Knots”
Translation of the verse:
“And from the evil of those who blow into knots.”
This preserves the established imagery of nafth and ʿaqd.
Their connection with spells should be stated in lexical and contextual explanation, rather than translating ʿaqd itself as magic.
11. Conclusion
The Arabic root ع ق د concerns tying, knotting, joining, and making something firm.
In material usage, a cord is knotted, a structure’s parts are bound together, and a flowing substance may gain greater firmness by thickening.
In social and legal usage, the same family serves for covenants, contracts, oaths, and marriage.
This root occurs seven times in the Qur’an.
In Al-Māʾidah 5:1, ʿuqūd concerns covenants and commitments that must be fulfilled. In Al-Māʾidah 5:89, a binding oath is distinguished from an unconsidered oath.
In Al-Nisāʾ 4:33, ʿaqd concerns covenantal ties between people; the root itself does not establish precisely what kind of right constituted the allies’ share.
In Al-Baqarah 2:235 and Al-Baqarah 2:237, عُقْدَةُ النِّكَاحِ (ʿuqdatu al-nikāḥi) names the bond established in marriage. These uses show ʿaqd as a relationship with legal consequences; the details of authority, the bridal due, and its termination must be understood from the relevant verses.
In Ṭā Hā 20:27, ʿuqdah concerns Moses’ speech difficulty. This shows that the image of a knot can describe a nonmaterial situation without requiring a physical knot in the tongue.
In Al-Falaq 113:4, al-ʿuqad denotes knots. Their relation to blowing and evil is understood from the verse’s complete expression, rather than from ʿuqdah’s independent meaning.
Thus, ʿaqd should not be treated as synonymous with covenant in every usage, just as every ʿuqdah should not be treated as an actual knot in a cord.
For Forqan, the family’s basic definition is this: ʿAqd is binding and establishing a connection that joins its parts and makes them firm to some degree. In material usage, the connection appears as a knot; in legal and social usage, as a covenant, contract, oath, or marriage; and in some figurative uses, as an impediment or obstruction that needs to be loosened.
Firmness is a recognized feature of this family, but does not mean absolute indissolubility. A knot can be undone, and a covenant may end according to its own conditions.
This definition covers all seven Qur’anic occurrences without making each contract’s legal ruling, people’s intentions, a covenant’s ethical value, or the way the knots in Al-Falaq produce an effect a fixed component of the root itself.
5. وَالَّذِينَ عَقَدَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ: social covenants
Al-Nisāʾ, 4:33
wa-li-kullin jaʿalnā mawāliya mimmā taraka al-wālidāni wa-al-aqrabūna; wa-alladhīna ʿaqadat aymānukum fa-ātūhum naṣībahum; inna Allāha kāna ʿalā kulli shayʾin shahīdan
“For each, We have appointed heirs to what parents and close relatives leave behind. And give their share to those with whom your oaths and covenants have formed a bond. Indeed, The God is witness over everything.”
عَقَدَتْ (ʿaqadat) here is a Form I past verb.
Its grammatical subject is أَيْمَانُكُمْ (aymānukum): the oaths or covenants the addressees have established.
أَيْمَانُكُمْ: right hands or oaths?
Arabic يَمِين (yamīn) denotes both the right hand and an oath.
When making covenants in early society, the parties sometimes clasped one another’s right hands and swore to their commitment.
The expression عَقَدَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ (ʿaqadat aymānukum) may be connected with that social custom.
The sentence, however, concerns more than clasping hands: it concerns a covenant established between people.
ʿAqd conveys the firmness of the bond, while aymān concerns the oaths or hands involved in making the covenant.
This is a clear example of binding being extended from cords to social relationships.
Allies and their rights
In early Arabic language and social relations, people could establish covenants of mutual assistance beyond ties of kinship.
Such covenants might concern protection, cooperation, compensation, mutual defense, and sometimes financial or inheritance rights.
After mentioning those bound by covenant, the verse commands فَآتُوهُمْ نَصِيبَهُمْ (fa-ātūhum naṣībahum): give them their share or entitlement.
Yet the word naṣīb in this sentence does not, without contextual examination, fully determine the nature and size of that entitlement.
Early explanations offer two significant understandings.
One understands the share in connection with inheritance and the financial portion due to allies.
Another connects it with rights arising from the covenant, such as assistance, support, and cooperation.
Some explanations hold that inheritance based on a covenant existed for a period and that its ruling subsequently changed. Another explanation regards the verse as primarily concerning respect for allies’ rights from the outset.
This disagreement requires an independent study of the verse.
The root ع ق د itself does not determine whether the share necessarily means a financial inheritance or exclusively assistance and support.
Must ʿaqd always be a bilateral covenant?
In this verse, the covenant involves a relationship between people.
Among the seven readings, Nāfiʿ, Ibn Kathīr, Abū ʿAmr, and Ibn ʿĀmir also read عَاقَدَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ (ʿāqadat aymānukum), alongside عَقَدَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ (ʿaqadat aymānukum). Form III can make the covenant’s reciprocal aspect more apparent.
Yet this variation does not mean that every use of the root requires two independent human parties for ʿaqd to have meaning.
In Al-Māʾidah 5:89, a person can make an oath binding upon themselves.
Accordingly, in legal usage, ʿaqd can concern a relationship between several parties or an obligation a person undertakes upon themselves.
The type of relationship must be understood from the object and the context.