Qur’anic Root B ʿ R

1. The root’s two semantic branches in early Arabic

In Maqāyīs al-Lughah, Ibn Fāris identifies two principles for ب ع ر:

«الْجِمَالُ، وَالْبَعَرُ»

That is, camels and dung.

Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lughah: the camel and dung branches

This division matters because Ibn Fāris often seeks to relate a root’s differing uses to one common principle. Here, however, he records two separate branches.

Baʿīr: the name of a camel

In its well-known Arabic use, بَعِير denotes a camel. The name can include both males and females.

In Al-Ṣiḥāḥ, al-Jawharī compares it with “human being” to explain its breadth:

«وَالْبَعِيرُ مِنَ الْإِبِلِ بِمَنْزِلَةِ الْإِنْسَانِ مِنَ النَّاسِ»

Baʿīr relates to camels as “human being” relates to people. Just as a human being may be male or female, a baʿīr may be a male or female camel.

Al-Ṣiḥāḥ and Lisān al-ʿArab: male or female camels

Lisān al-ʿArab likewise transmits شَرِبْتُ مِنْ لَبَنِ بَعِيرِي, “I drank my baʿīr’s milk,” to illustrate use for a female camel.

This example shows that the grammatical masculinity of baʿīr does not necessarily determine the animal’s biological sex.

Some lexical definitions restrict baʿīr to a camel at a particular stage of growth. Some lexicographers mention jadhaʿ and others bāzil. These differences show that age-related usage did not have one wholly uniform definition either.

The familiar use for a camel suitable for riding or carrying a load is nevertheless clear. In Joseph’s story, that practical characteristic matters rather than the animal’s exact age.

Lexical sources record أَبْعِرَة, أَبَاعِر, أَبَاعِير, and بُعْرَان as plurals. Some lexicographers distinguish a direct plural from a plural of a plural. Ibn Barrī, for example, treats أَبَاعِر as the plural of أَبْعِرَة rather than directly of baʿīr.

These morphological distinctions help describe the word family, but only singular بَعِيرٍ occurs in the Qur’an.

Baʿr: the dung of certain quadrupeds

The root’s second branch is بَعْر or بَعَر, referring to the dung of certain animals.

بَعْرَة is one pellet or piece of بَعْر; أَبْعَار is a plural of بَعْر.

Al-Miṣbāḥ and Lisān al-ʿArab: baʿr, baʿrah, and abʿār

In early Arabic, this word was not confined to camel dung. It also described that of sheep, gazelles, certain wild animals, and other creatures.

The verb بَعَرَ is also recorded for an animal passing dung. In some uses, مِبْعَر or مَبْعَر denotes the bodily outlet through which it passes.

These terms show that the dung branch has a real, established use in Arabic.

Yet the shared root of بَعِير and بَعْر does not establish that the camel was named for its dung. There may be a historical connection between the animal’s name and its product, but establishing the direction of development requires independent evidence.

Especially since baʿr describes several animals’ dung, restricting it to camels and then constructing a definitive account of how baʿīr was named goes beyond the evidence.

Nor should this branch be imposed on baʿīr in Qur’anic study. Neither occurrence concerns animal dung.

2. Baʿīr in Arabic language and life

Camels had a familiar place in Arab life, particularly in dry environments and long journeys. Their load capacity, endurance of difficult travel conditions, and role in transporting people and goods made them a familiar subject of everyday language and literature.

Against this background, baʿīr appears both in statements about transport and travel and in similes and comparisons.

An example from Arabic poetry

A line attributed to Abū Zamʿah al-Asadī describes a woman who lost her camel:

أَتَبْكِي أَنْ أَضَلَّ لَهَا بَعِيرٌ
وَيَمْنَعُهَا مِنَ النَّوْمِ السُّهُودُ

a-tabkī an aḍalla lahā baʿīrun / wa-yamnaʿuhā mina al-nawmi al-suhūdu

Translation: “Does she weep because a camel of hers has gone missing, while sleeplessness keeps her from sleep?”

Here, baʿīr names an animal that has gone missing and whose loss matters to its owner.

The use shows the word in its ordinary, familiar sense. The sentence identifies neither the kind of load nor the animal’s sex.

The witness must be dated carefully. The poet belongs to the pre-Islamic period, but this passage is transmitted in accounts of Badr. The poet’s pre-Islamic identity alone therefore does not make this particular line pre-Qur’anic.

Ibn Hishām’s Sīrah: the Badr context and the witness’s textual variants

Baʿīr as an image of bearing a burden

A poem attributed to a poet of Hudhayl says:

فَإِنْ كُنْتَ تَبْغِي لِلظُّلَامَةِ مَرْكَبًا
ذَلُولًا فَإِنِّي لَيْسَ عِنْدِي بَعِيرُهَا

fa-in kunta tabghī li-al-ẓulāmati markaban / dhalūlan fa-innī laysa ʿindī baʿīruhā

Translation: “If you seek a docile mount to bear injustice, I am not the camel to carry it.”

The poet uses baʿīr metaphorically. A camel is an animal on which a load is placed; the poet declares that he will not become a compliant mount bearing another person’s injustice.

Lisān al-ʿArab attributes the line to Khālid ibn Zuhayr al-Hudhalī, while some poetry collections place it among Abū Dhuʾayb al-Hudhalī’s poems. Its attribution should therefore not be considered certain without examining the dīwān’s textual witnesses.

Abū al-Faraj, Al-Aghānī: the poem in the account of Abū Dhuʾayb

What matters lexically is the familiar image of baʿīr as a load-bearing animal. The poem’s exact date and author remain separate questions.

A further witness from later periods

Ibn Fāris quotes two lines in which baʿīr and buʿrān appear together:

وَإِنِّي لَأَسْتَحْيِي مِنَ اللَّهِ أَنْ أُرَى
أُجَرِّرُ حَبْلًا لَيْسَ فِيهِ بَعِيرُ

wa-innī la-astaḥyī mina Allāhi an urā / ujarriru ḥablan laysa fīhi baʿīru

وَأَنْ أَسْأَلَ الْمَرْءَ اللَّئِيمَ بَعِيرَهُ
وَبُعْرَانُ رَبِّي فِي الْبِلَادِ كَثِيرُ

wa-an asʾala al-marʾa al-laʾīma baʿīrahu / wa-buʿrānu rabbī fī al-bilādi kathīru

Translation: “I am ashamed before The God to be seen dragging a rope with no camel on it, or to ask a base man for his camel, while my Lord’s camels are plentiful throughout the lands.”

The poet presents baʿīr as an animal familiar in people’s lives and possessions.

Some literary identifications attribute these lines to al-Uḥaymir al-Saʿdī, who lived across the Umayyad and Abbasid periods. This witness should therefore not be introduced as pre-Islamic poetry.

Umm al-Qurā University poetry collection: al-Uḥaymir and transmitted variants

The examples show that the animal sense of baʿīr was familiar both directly and in comparisons concerning burden-bearing. Their existence does not itself determine when the word originated.

3. Distinguishing baʿīr from other names for camels and pack animals

Arabic has different words for camels, sex, growth stages, kinds of use, and groups of camels. This variety calls for care when comparing baʿīr with related names.

ب ع ر (baʿīr) and ج م ل (jamal)

Study of J M L (Not yet published)

In its familiar use, جَمَل names a male camel, though some general uses may be broader.

Baʿīr, by comparison, can include males or females.

Where a verse uses baʿīr, the word’s masculine form alone cannot establish that the animal was necessarily male.

This matters in translation. Persian “shutur,” without specifying male or female, conveys the general meaning well; English “camel” likewise preserves it.

ب ع ر (baʿīr) and ن و ق (nāqah)

Study of N W Q (Not yet published)

نَاقَة is the familiar name for a female camel.

In the Qur’an, it occurs in the account of Ṣāliḥ and Thamūd, where female sex forms part of the term used.

Baʿīr has no such restriction. Even the lexical account of drinking a baʿīr’s milk clearly shows that the word can denote a female.

Baʿīr and nāqah may therefore describe the same animal, but their scope of naming differs.

ب ع ر (baʿīr) and أ ب ل (ibil)

Study of ʾ B L

إِبِل is a collective name for camels, with no singular of the same lexical form.

Baʿīr names one camel and has its own plurals.

Al-Ghāshiyah 88:17 speaks of الْإِبِل, camels as a group. In كَيْلَ بَعِيرٍ, however, one animal is involved in expressing a load quantity.

Their difference is thus more than dissimilar consonants: one ordinarily functions as a collective noun, and the other as a singular noun.

ب ع ر (baʿīr) and ع ي ر (ʿīr)

Study of ʿ Y R (Not yet published)

Arabic uses ʿīr for a caravan, especially one carrying goods and provisions.

In Yūsuf 12:70, أَيَّتُهَا الْعِيرُ addresses the caravan.

ʿĪr and baʿīr have different roots and meanings. Baʿīr names an animal, while ʿīr here denotes the caravan and its company and loads.

A caravan may travel with pack animals, but the word ʿīr alone does not identify their total number or every kind of animal involved.

The words’ proximity in Joseph’s story therefore does not establish derivational identity or equivalence of meaning.

ب ع ر (baʿīr) and ح م ل (ḥiml)

Study of Ḥ M L (Not yet published)

In the use at issue, ḥiml denotes something placed on an animal and transported.

Baʿīr is the pack animal; ḥiml is the load it carries.

حِمْلُ بَعِيرٍ is therefore a phrase, rather than a single word in which baʿīr has changed meaning to “load.”

This distinction becomes particularly important in the root’s two Qur’anic uses.

4. First Qur’anic use: provisions equal to a camel’s load

Yūsuf 12:65

Verse text:

وَلَمَّا فَتَحُوا مَتَاعَهُمْ وَجَدُوا بِضَاعَتَهُمْ رُدَّتْ إِلَيْهِمْ ۖ قَالُوا يَا أَبَانَا مَا نَبْغِي ۖ هَٰذِهِ بِضَاعَتُنَا رُدَّتْ إِلَيْنَا ۖ وَنَمِيرُ أَهْلَنَا وَنَحْفَظُ أَخَانَا وَنَزْدَادُ كَيْلَ بَعِيرٍ ۖ ذَٰلِكَ كَيْلٌ يَسِيرٌ

wa-lammā fataḥū matāʿahum wajadū biḍāʿatahum ruddat ilayhim qālū yā abānā mā nabghī hādhihi biḍāʿatunā ruddat ilaynā wa-namīru ahlanā wa-naḥfaẓu akhānā wa-nazdādu kayla baʿīrin dhālika kaylun yasīrun

Translation:

When they opened their belongings, they found their trading goods returned to them. They said, “Our father, what more do we seek? These are our goods, returned to us. We shall bring provisions for our family, guard our brother, and obtain an additional measure equal to a camel’s load. That is an easy measure.”

The verse follows Joseph’s brothers’ return from Egypt. They had gone to obtain provisions and, after returning, found among their belongings the property they had taken for exchange.

They then ask their father to send their brother with them.

Yūsuf 12:60 had already told them that if they did not bring their brother, they would receive no further measure of provisions.

Their words in Yūsuf 12:65 about bringing and protecting their brother and obtaining more provisions are intelligible in this setting.

The meaning of كَيْلَ بَعِيرٍ

Kayl concerns measuring goods, particularly commodities measured by volume. The verse discusses the quantity of provisions they can obtain.

Within the genitive construction, بَعِيرٍ identifies the animal whose load provides the comparison for the measured quantity.

كَيْلَ بَعِيرٍ therefore does not mean the camel itself or indicate obtaining a new camel. The subject is provisions, quantified through a camel’s carrying capacity.

To clarify the distinction, saying that someone received a camel-load of wheat does not necessarily mean they bought or acquired the animal. The camel supplies the comparison for the quantity of goods.

Such expressions could be more tangible than an abstract number in earlier language because animal carrying capacities were familiar in everyday life.

The phrase itself nevertheless does not determine the exact weight of provisions. Carrying capacity depends on the animal, route conditions, cargo, and loading method. The verse specifies no quantity in modern weight units.

Converting كَيْلَ بَعِيرٍ into a fixed number of kilograms therefore requires independent evidence.

The connection between more provisions and bringing the brother

وَنَزْدَادُ كَيْلَ بَعِيرٍ describes an increase in provisions.

Early explanations state that a particular allowance was assigned to each person and that another brother’s presence could bring an additional share.

Al-Ṭabarī: the additional load and the report from Mujāhid

This explanation fits the context, since the brothers principally ask permission to take their brother along.

The details of distribution in interpretive reports should not all be treated as explicit statements of the verse. It makes their expectation of more provisions clear without fully describing the distribution system’s administration.

ذَٰلِكَ كَيْلٌ يَسِيرٌ may concern the ease of obtaining the amount or its smallness relative to the resources available. Yasīr should not be used to determine an exact load weight.

Baʿīr’s role here is therefore clear: a camel whose carrying capacity expresses a quantity of provisions.

5. Second Qur’anic use: a camel’s load as a reward

Yūsuf 12:72

Verse text:

قَالُوا نَفْقِدُ صُوَاعَ الْمَلِكِ وَلِمَنْ جَاءَ بِهِ حِمْلُ بَعِيرٍ وَأَنَا بِهِ زَعِيمٌ

qālū nafqidu ṣuwāʿa al-maliki wa-li-man jāʾa bihi ḥimlu baʿīrin wa-anā bihi zaʿīmun

Translation:

They said, “We are missing the king’s measuring vessel. Whoever brings it will receive a camel’s load, and I guarantee it.”

This verse belongs to the episode of the king’s missing vessel.

After announcing its loss, those looking for it promise a camel-load to whoever brings it.

Baʿīr again names an animal, but the phrase’s role differs from that in the earlier verse.

Yūsuf 12:65 concerns increasing the share of provisions while obtaining goods; Yūsuf 12:72 concerns a reward promised for returning a vessel.

The meaning of حِمْلُ بَعِيرٍ

Ḥiml here denotes a load or cargo the animal can carry.

The phrase حِمْلُ بَعِيرٍ therefore directly means “a camel’s load.”

The story’s context, particularly provision distribution and measuring, connects the reward with goods or provisions. The phrase ḥimlu baʿīr itself, however, does not name the exact commodity.

A basic translation should therefore retain “a camel’s load.” The likelihood that it consisted of provisions can be explained through context.

The distinction matters because baʿīr does not name the commodity. It names the animal to which the load is attributed.

Nor does the verse say that the vessel’s finder will receive the camel itself. The promise concerns ḥimlu baʿīr, rather than baʿīr.

“We will reward you with a camel” changes the reward from cargo to an animal and loses the Arabic phrase’s meaning.

The role of وَأَنَا بِهِ زَعِيمٌ

At the verse’s end, the speaker undertakes to guarantee the promise.

This concerns a commitment to deliver the reward. It relates semantically to the load quantity without forming part of the definition of ب ع ر.

The verse as a whole makes three statements: a vessel is missing; a camel-load is promised for its return; and the speaker guarantees that promise.

Turning ḥimlu baʿīr into an official, fixed monetary or weight unit in Egypt’s economy therefore requires independent historical evidence. The Qur’an does not specify such details.

6. Could baʿīr mean a donkey in Joseph’s story?

One question in studying this root concerns a report found in some lexical and interpretive sources about baʿīr’s meaning in Joseph’s story.

Explanations attributed to Mujāhid interpret حِمْلُ بَعِيرٍ as حِمْلُ حِمَارٍ, a donkey’s load.

Al-Ṭabarī’s transmission also includes this view and its accompanying linguistic explanation: in some linguistic uses, a donkey was called baʿīr.

Al-Ṭabarī: a load of provisions and the donkey-load report

Lisān al-ʿArab also transmits an account from Ibn Khālawayh presenting baʿīr for a donkey as a rare use.

Lisān al-ʿArab: Ibn Khālawayh’s account of the rare use

In support of this reading, it has been claimed that Joseph’s brothers lived in Canaan and used donkeys for transport.

Several layers of this issue need to be distinguished.

The word’s familiar meaning

First, the established, predominant Arabic meaning of baʿīr is camel. Numerous dictionaries, poetic witnesses, and ordinary usage record this sense.

In that use, baʿīr can denote a male or female camel.

Camel is therefore the primary, better-attested meaning. Setting it aside in a particular verse requires sufficient grounds.

Rare use and linguistic possibility

Second, the reported application to a donkey cannot be ignored merely because it is rare.

If a dialect used the word this way, that use deserves linguistic investigation.

A report that a rare usage exists must nevertheless be distinguished from proof that this particular verse intends it.

A dialectal or uncommon use of baʿīr for a donkey does not establish that every baʿīr in Joseph’s story must be a donkey.

Historical reasoning about Canaan and Egypt

Third, the claim that there were no camels at all in Canaan at that time is historical. It does not follow from the Arabic word itself.

Establishing it requires examining the story’s historical dating, transport geography, archaeological evidence, and the use of pack animals.

Even if donkeys were more common for transport in a particular time and place, this alone would not establish that no camels existed there or were used on any trade routes.

The Qur’an’s account is also in Arabic. Without clear evidence, an Arabic word cannot simply be identified with the name used in Egypt or Canaan at the time of the event.

The historical argument must therefore be assessed independently of the predominant Arabic meaning.

Relating both Qur’anic uses to the disagreement

Fourth, both occurrences belong to one story and concern quantities of cargo or provisions.

Anyone proposing the rare “donkey” reading for one verse should explain why it is also appropriate in the other, or what justifies a difference.

Structurally, كَيْلَ بَعِيرٍ and حِمْلُ بَعِيرٍ can both express a pack animal’s load quantity. Their principal difference lies in kayl and ḥiml, rather than the form baʿīr itself.

The two constructions’ syntax therefore cannot independently settle the camel–donkey disagreement.

The research conclusion is that “camel” is the primary and preferred translation, while “donkey” remains a rare reading reported in some historical and interpretive sources.

The possibility should neither be dismissed without examination nor installed as a definitive replacement for the word’s familiar meaning.

Forqan’s basic translation renders baʿīr as “camel” and places the lexical disagreement in the research explanation.

7. Morphology and translation proposals

بَعِير is a singular noun on the pattern فَعِيل. Both Qur’anic occurrences have بَعِيرٍ with genitive nunation as the second term of a genitive construction.

Quranic Arabic Corpus: singular genitive baʿīr in Yūsuf 12:65

Yūsuf 12:65 uses كَيْلَ بَعِيرٍ. كَيْلَ is accusative and بَعِيرٍ its genitive complement. The quantity of provisions is expressed through the load a camel carries.

Yūsuf 12:72 uses حِمْلُ بَعِيرٍ. حِمْلُ is a nominative noun expressing the promised reward, and بَعِيرٍ is its genitive complement.

This grammatical difference does not change baʿīr’s meaning. Both passages name the same animal, while kayl and ḥiml have different sentence roles.

Proposed equivalents

The principal Persian equivalent of بَعِير is “shutur,” and its English equivalent is “camel.” A lexical explanation may add that it applies to males or females.

For كَيْلَ بَعِيرٍ in Yūsuf 12:65, the proposed translation is:

“A measure equal to a camel’s load.”

This preserves both measuring and the camel’s role in expressing the quantity.

More fluid prose may say, “We shall obtain another camel-load of provisions,” though the compressed expression makes kayl’s direct connection with measuring less explicit.

For حِمْلُ بَعِيرٍ in Yūsuf 12:72, the proposed translation is:

“A camel’s load.”

In the full verse: “Whoever brings it will receive a camel’s load as a reward.”

Adding wheat, barley, a specified amount of grain, or a fixed weight is appropriate only with independent supporting evidence. Such details do not follow from ḥimlu baʿīr itself.

For non-Qur’anic بَعْر, “dung” is suitable. بَعْرَة can be rendered “one pellet of dung.”

This branch does not occur in the Qur’an and plays no role in translating the two verses of Yūsuf.

8. Conclusion

The Arabic root ب ع ر has two established semantic branches, concerning camels and the dung of certain quadrupeds. Ibn Fāris presents them separately, and the available evidence does not establish either as the other’s historical source.

Only بَعِير occurs in the Qur’an. In ordinary Arabic, it names a camel and can include both sexes, unlike names specific to males or females.

In Yūsuf 12:65, كَيْلَ بَعِيرٍ expresses a quantity of provisions through a camel’s carrying capacity. In Yūsuf 12:72, حِمْلُ بَعِيرٍ specifies the quantity of the reward promised for returning the missing vessel.

In both verses, a camel supplies the comparison for a load quantity. Neither provides a numerical weight or volume. Turning the expressions into a fixed weight unit or exact amount of provisions therefore exceeds the text.

The reported use of baʿīr for a donkey is a real question in the history of lexical and interpretive study. This rare use is nevertheless insufficiently established to displace the predominant “camel” in the basic translation. Claims about pack animals in Canaan and Egypt must also be assessed as independent historical questions.

Final definition in Qur’anic usage: بَعِير names a male or female camel whose carrying capacity, in two verses of Joseph’s story, expresses a quantity of provisions or a reward.

Understanding this root requires distinguishing the animal’s name, its carrying capacity, and the actual quantity of goods transported. Baʿīr is not itself the load, and neither kaylu baʿīr nor ḥimlu baʿīr establishes a fixed numerical weight without independent evidence.