Qur’anic Root B K R
From the beginning of the day and coming early to remaining in the first stage.
1. Short Introduction to the Root
The root B K R in the Qur’an is used in three fields: the beginning of the day, the young stage of an animal, and the condition of someone who has not previously had marital relations. At first glance these uses appear separate, but all return to one semantic field: being at the beginning of a time, process, or condition, before passing beyond its first stage. Bukrah and ibkār refer to the beginning of the day. Bikr is used to describe a cow that has not yet reached a later age or stage. Its plural, abkār, is used for women who have not previously entered marital relations. Therefore the core of the root is not only “morning” and not only “virginity.” Both arise from a wider meaning: being initial and remaining before the next stage. This root appears twelve times in the Qur’an and in three forms. No verb from it is used in the Qur’an; all Qur’anic occurrences are nouns, adjectives, or temporal expressions.
2. Qur’anic Forms and Derivatives
The Qur’anic forms of this root are:
- بُكْرَة, seven times: the beginning of the day or morning.
- إِبْكَار, two times: the early time of the day.
- بِكْر and its plural أَبْكَار, three times: once about a young cow, and twice about women who have not previously had marital relations.
Forms such as بَكَرَ، بَكَّرَ، أَبْكَرَ، اِبْتَكَرَ، بَاكُورَة، تَبْكِير and مُبَكِّر are known in Arabic, but they do not occur in the Qur’an. These words can clarify the historical field of the root, but they should not be presented as Qur’anic forms.
3. Reference Cards for Qur’anic Forms
The early part of the day; morning, with emphasis on being early and at the beginning of the day-cycle.
The beginning of the day or entering morning; in the Qur’an it appears opposite ʿashiyy.
Someone or something that has not yet passed beyond its first stage; about a young cow that has not calved.
Plural of bikr; women who have not previously entered marital relations.
4. Semantic Core of the Root
The semantic core of B K R can be formulated as follows:
Being or appearing at the beginning of a time, process, or condition, before the first stage has passed.
From this core several branches arise:
- the beginning of the day, before daily activities spread out;
- going early or coming ahead in an action;
- the first crop or fruit that arrives before other produce;
- an animal still in the early stage of age and calving;
- a human being who has not yet passed through the first experience of marital relations.
The shared element in these uses is not simply “youth” or “untouchedness.” Morning cannot directly be called “young” or “untouched,” but it is the beginning of the day. The first fruit is also not necessarily unripe; it may be fully ripe, but it has reached fruition before other fruits. Therefore the most precise axis is initiality and precedence in relation to the next stage or later cases. “Being early” in this root also does not necessarily mean haste. Something can be bikr without any rushed action taking place. Hurrying or acting early is one verbal expansion of the root in Arabic, not the definition of all of its derivatives.
5. The Sensible Image of the Root
Unlike roots that begin from a physical motion such as cutting, binding, or splitting, this root does not have one single material image. Its clearest sensible image is the first appearance of something within a known process: the beginning of the day, the first fruit that ripens, rain that falls early, an animal in the beginning of its life and capacity, or a human being who has not yet passed through an experience for the first time. In Arabic, bākūrat al-thamar was used for the first fruit that ripened before other fruits. The importance of this image is not that the fruit is unripe. A bākūrah can be fully ripe; what makes it bākūrah is its precedence over fruits that arrive later. Forms from this root were also used about trees, rain, fields, and produce when sprouting, rain, or ripening happened earlier than usual or before other cases. These uses show that the root, besides “beginning,” can carry a nuance of coming ahead. A young animal was also one of the sensible images of this field. Al-bakr was used for a young camel, and al-bakrah for a young female camel. The animal was still at the beginning of its path of growth and capacity and had not reached the later stage of age. Nevertheless, the young camel should not be made the definite source of all meanings of the root. Lexical data show the meaning of the beginning of the day and the beginning of every thing as more fundamental, and they also explain the animal use in relation to the beginning of life. The Qur’an itself uses bikr about a cow, not a camel. Therefore the Arabian pastoral image can help us understand the breadth of the word, but a cultural image should not be turned into the certain origin of the root.
6. Use of the Root in Early Arabic
In early Arabic, bukrah referred to the beginning of the day and the time of morning. Verbs built from this root indicated going out early, beginning a task at the start of the time, or reaching something before others. Bakara fī ḥājatihi was used for someone who went after his need or task from the beginning of the time. Bākara ash-shay’a could mean going to something early. Bākūrah was the first product or first result of a set. The root was also used about rain, trees, and land when rainfall, fruit, or growth appeared at the beginning of a season or before other cases. In these uses, the root carries both temporal precedence and arriving at a result early. Bikr was used for a first child, a young animal, a woman or man who had not previously had marital relations, and more broadly for something before which no example or stage had occurred. The expression bikru kulli shay’in awwaluhu expresses this field: the bikr of every thing is its first. About a cow, bikr was used for a young animal that had not yet calved. This explanation fits its Qur’anic use opposite fāriḍ and beside ʿawān. Still, the word itself does not determine a precise numerical age or a fully technical biological stage. This breadth shows that the meaning related to marital relations is only one branch of the root. Reducing the whole root to “virginity” is as mistaken as translating all of it only as “morning.” Both depend on the core of being initial.
7. Challenges of Understanding and Translation
One difficulty in this root is that its meanings have become separated in modern Persian and English. “Morning,” “early,” “first child,” “first crop,” “young animal,” and “virgin” appear to be independent words, and their shared link is not immediately visible. The family of B K R keeps this link more visible in Arabic. The second difficulty is reducing bikr and abkār to a purely bodily concept. In human contexts, these words refer to a condition before marital relations, but the root itself does not judge inner purity, moral value, spiritual superiority, or personal character. In At-Tahrim 66:5, thayyibāt and abkār are mentioned together, and both can be included among better wives. Thus the verse names two different conditions; it does not present one as inherently purer or superior to the other. The third difficulty is assigning a precise clock-bound limit to bukrah. The word tends toward the early part of the day, but the Qur’an does not define a specific hour for it. From the word alone one cannot conclude that it means exactly before sunrise, at sunrise, or a fixed length after sunrise. The fourth difficulty is treating ibkār as identical with “saḥar.” Saḥar belongs to the final part of the night before full daylight, while ibkār tends toward entering the beginning of the day or the early time of the day itself. The two times may be close, but they are not complete synonyms.
8. Methodological Note
In analyzing B K R, one must distinguish between the direct meaning of the root, the subject of its use, and the reflection that comes from the wider context. The direct meaning of the root is being initial and preceding the next stage. The subject of use may be the time of day, the age of an animal, or the condition before marital relations. The contextual result may be the continuity of remembering The God throughout the day, the ordered provision of the people of jannah, or the difference between marital conditions. For example, from bukrah itself only the beginning of the day is understood. That its pairing with ʿashiyy or aṣīl shows the two sides of the day and a kind of continuity comes from the full structure of the sentence. Likewise, from abkār only a condition before marital relations is understood. Exact age, bodily features, moral superiority, or immunity from the passage of time do not come from this word itself. The semantic core should also not be limited to a “natural and inevitable cycle.” Day and season have cyclical structures, but first child, first experience, or beginning a task is not necessarily cyclical. The more stable shared element is beginning and precedence, not necessarily the repetition of a cycle.
9. Qur’anic Uses of the Root
9.1. Ibkār: The Beginning of the Day Opposite ʿAshiyy
وَاذْكُرْ رَبَّكَ كَثِيرًا وَسَبِّحْ بِالْعَشِيِّ وَالْإِبْكَارِ
Remember your Lord much, and glorify in the evening and at the beginning of the day.
وَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ بِالْعَشِيِّ وَالْإِبْكَارِ
And glorify with praise of your Lord in the evening and at the beginning of the day.
Ibkār appears in both verses with ʿashiyy. This contrast shows the two sides of the day-cycle: the beginning of the day and the part moving toward its end. The point is not necessarily to define two narrow clock-bound moments. Naming the two sides of time can also convey the breadth and continuity of remembrance and glorification. Structurally, ibkār is the verbal noun of Form IV. In Arabic, some verbs of this form, such as entering morning or evening, can indicate entering a time. Therefore, in the background of this form, one can see the meaning of entering the beginning of the day or acting in that time. Still, al-ibkār in these two verses appears with the preposition bā’ and opposite the temporal noun al-ʿashiyy, and in practice it functions as a temporal expression. Therefore, one should not insert notions such as active awakening, bodily movement, or a special quality of presence into the translation merely from its morphological form. “At the beginning of the day” or “in the morning” preserves the direct meaning better. The fact that ʿashiyy comes before ibkār by itself does not show that night is counted before day or that a specific calendar system is intended. Word order may follow the context and rhythm of the sentence and should not be made to prove more than the verse can carry.
9.2. Bukrah and ʿAshiyy: The Two Sides of the Day
فَأَوْحَىٰ إِلَيْهِمْ أَنْ سَبِّحُوا بُكْرَةً وَعَشِيًّا
So he signaled to them that they should glorify morning and evening.
In this verse bukrah stands opposite ʿashiyyan. Both have temporal roles. The verse speaks of Zakariyya, who cannot speak normally to the people and indicates to them that they should glorify at the two sides of the day. The root B K R here indicates the beginning of the day. From the word itself one cannot extract a specific form, number, or text of glorification.
وَلَهُمْ رِزْقُهُمْ فِيهَا بُكْرَةً وَعَشِيًّا
And for them is their provision therein, morning and evening.
This verse speaks about the provision of the people of jannah. The expression bukratan wa ʿashiyyan, using humanly recognizable temporal language, speaks of order and continuity of provision. From this expression alone, one should not conclude that the structure of time in jannah is exactly the same as earthly night and day. Nor does this pairing necessarily limit provision to two meals. Naming the beginning and end of the day can convey order and continuity, not numerical restriction.
9.3. Bukrah and Aṣīl: The Beginning and End of the Day
وَقَالُوا أَسَاطِيرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ اكْتَتَبَهَا فَهِيَ تُمْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِ بُكْرَةً وَأَصِيلًا
And they said: Tales of the former peoples, which he has had written down, and they are dictated to him morning and late day.
This is the speech of opponents. The pairing bukratan wa aṣīlan in their claim pictures repetition and continuity of dictation. The Qur’an itself does not confirm this claim; it only reports it. Therefore this verse cannot be used to conclude anything about the actual timing of Qur’anic reception.
وَسَبِّحُوهُ بُكْرَةً وَأَصِيلًا
And glorify Him morning and in the late part of the day.
وَتُسَبِّحُوهُ بُكْرَةً وَأَصِيلًا
And glorify Him morning and in the late part of the day.
وَاذْكُرِ اسْمَ رَبِّكَ بُكْرَةً وَأَصِيلًا
And remember the name of your Lord morning and in the late part of the day.
In these verses bukrah is paired with aṣīl. Aṣīl refers to the late part of the day before full night arrives. This pair covers the span of the day from its beginning to its end. The translation “morning and evening” is smooth, but “evening” in English may be understood after full darkness, while aṣīl can include the last bright part of the day. “At the beginning and end of the day” is more explanatory. These verses speak of remembrance and glorification at the two sides of the day, but from these two words themselves one cannot determine the number of prayers, the form of rites, or their exact hour.
9.4. Bukrah: One Specific Morning
وَلَقَدْ صَبَّحَهُمْ بُكْرَةً عَذَابٌ مُسْتَقِرٌّ
And indeed, in an early morning, a settled punishment reached them.
In this verse bukrah is not paired with a word from the end of the day. It speaks of a specific morning in which the punishment of the people of Lot reached them. The verb ṣabbaḥahum also expresses the coming of punishment in the morning, and bukratan further highlights the early time. Here bukrah is not a sign of daily repetition. Unlike the pairings “morning and evening,” the verse states a specific event at the beginning of a day. This difference shows that sentence structure determines whether the speech is about habit, continuity, or a single event.
10. Bikr: A Cow in the First Stage of Age and Calving
إِنَّهَا بَقَرَةٌ لَا فَارِضٌ وَلَا بِكْرٌ عَوَانٌ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ
It is a cow, neither old nor young and uncalved; middle between that.
Bikr in this verse stands opposite fāriḍ. Fāriḍ is a cow advanced in age, while bikr is a cow in youth that has not yet calved. Then ʿawān bayna dhālik clarifies that the required cow is between these two stages. A simple translation of bikr as “young” conveys the general direction of the verse, but hides part of the lexical background. “Young and uncalved” is more precise, though it should not be translated as if the verse were setting a numerical age or a fully technical biological condition. In this use too, the meaning of being initial is preserved. The animal has not yet passed beyond the first stage of life and calving. Opposite it, fāriḍ stands on the higher side of age, while ʿawān marks the middle stage.
11. Abkār: Before Marital Relations
إِنَّا أَنْشَأْنَاهُنَّ إِنْشَاءً فَجَعَلْنَاهُنَّ أَبْكَارًا
Indeed, We brought them forth in a special bringing forth, and made them abkār.
Abkār is the plural of bikr. In this context it refers to women who have not previously had marital relations. The verb jaʿalnāhunna shows that abkāran is a condition placed for them in that creation or bringing forth. The pairing of ansha’nāhunna inshā’an and fajaʿalnāhunna abkāran can emphasize renewal and being placed in an initial condition. Still, abkār by itself does not say that they are outside time, never change, or remain eternally fixed in one biological stage. Such conclusions, if raised, are reflections on the whole set of descriptions of jannah, not the direct meaning of this root. Nor can age, bodily appearance, or the manner of that creation be extracted from the word itself. The verse states one of their features in humanly understandable language, without explaining the full quality of the reality of jannah.
ثَيِّبَاتٍ وَأَبْكَارًا
Women who have previously had husbands, and women who are bikr.
In this verse abkāran stands opposite thayyibāt. This contrast clarifies the meaning of the word: one group has previously experienced marital relations, and another has not had such experience. The important point is that both groups appear in one list. “Being better” relates to the set of faith-related and behavioral qualities mentioned in the verse, not to being bikr by itself. The verse does not exclude thayyibāt from the possibility of being better, and it also does not count abkār as better merely because of their prior relational condition. Therefore turning abkār into a title for moral purity or human worth goes beyond the capacity of the root. This word states a prior relational condition, not the inner truth of the person.
12. Morphological and Grammatical Notes
Bukratan in most Qur’anic uses is an adverb of time and answers the question “when?” In Al-Qamar 54:38 it also specifies the time of the punishment, though its contextual role differs from the paired constructions of morning and evening. Ibkār occurs in two verses with the preposition bā’ and with the definite article:
بِالْعَشِيِّ وَالْإِبْكَارِ
This form differs structurally from bukratan wa ʿashiyyan. Bukrah is directly the name of the early time of the day. Ibkār is originally the verbal noun of Form IV and can be connected to entering the morning time or acting at its beginning. Still, in its two Qur’anic uses it stands opposite ʿashiyy and functions temporally. Therefore, the more dynamic background of ibkār can be mentioned in lexical analysis, but the base translation should not add ideas such as “active presence,” “spiritual wakefulness,” or “conscious movement” without contextual evidence. Morphological difference creates semantic capacity; it does not mean that all of that capacity is necessarily active in every verse. Bikr in Al-Baqarah 2:68 is an adjective of the cow and stands in contrast with fāriḍ. Its meaning is clarified not by morphology alone, but by the contrast between fāriḍ, bikr, and ʿawān. Abkār is the broken plural of bikr. In Al-Waqiah 56:36, after jaʿalnāhunna, it states the condition of the group in question. In At-Tahrim 66:5, it appears at the end of a chain of qualities and opposite thayyibāt. No verb from the root B K R occurs in the Qur’an. Therefore the verbal meaning of “going early,” “taking initiative,” or “acting at the beginning of the time” is part of the historical language field, but in the Qur’an only nominal, descriptive, and temporal forms of the root appear.
13. Comparison with Nearby Roots and Words
B K R and A W L: Being Initial and Being First
Awwal states the first position in an order. Something can be first without youth, freshness, or being before an experience being emphasized. Bikr also relates to the first stage, but it often shows a condition upon which the next stage or experience has not yet passed. First child, first crop, young animal, and a person who has not previously had marital relations fall within the field of B K R from this angle. Thus the two words are not complete substitutes. Awwal states order more directly; B K R connects initiality to the state, time, or stage of a thing.
B K R and B D A: Beginning an Act and Being at the Beginning
The root B D A indicates beginning an act, process, or creation. In the Qur’an it is used about the beginning of creation, but its use is not limited to creation from nonexistence. In the story of Yusuf it says:
فَبَدَأَ بِأَوْعِيَتِهِمْ قَبْلَ وِعَاءِ أَخِيهِ
So he began with their bags before the bag of his brother. In this verse bada’a means beginning the search from a point, not bringing something from nonexistence into existence. Therefore defining B D A as “bringing out of nonexistence into existence” for all of its uses is not correct. The main difference is that B D A expresses the act of beginning, while B K R more often describes a time, thing, or condition that is located in the beginning part or before the next stage. Bada’a can begin an action from a point; bukrah is the beginning of the day, and bikr is in an initial condition. One is more about the event of beginning; the other is about initial position. Cyclicity is also not a condition of the meaning of B K R. Morning returns in the cycle of the day and bākūrah appears in the process of fruit ripening, but first child or first experience is not necessarily a repeating cycle. The more stable concept is precedence and being initial.
B K R and F J R: Beginning of the Day and the Splitting of Light
Fajr comes from a root connected with splitting and opening. In temporal use, fajr is the stage when light splits the darkness. Bukrah refers to the beginning part of the day and emphasizes its early position. These two temporal fields may overlap, but they are not the same. Fajr highlights how light appears; bukrah highlights temporal position at the beginning of the day. Therefore automatically translating every bukrah as “at fajr” is not precise unless the context provides another sign.
B K R and Ṣ B Ḥ: Morning and Initiality
Ṣubḥ and its derivatives directly relate to morning and entering morning. Bukrah is also morning, but the element of precedence and being at the beginning is more prominent in it. In Al-Qamar 54:38, both fields appear together:
وَلَقَدْ صَبَّحَهُمْ بُكْرَةً
The verb ṣabbaḥahum expresses the arrival of punishment in the morning, and bukratan specifies more sharply that the time was early. This pairing itself shows that the two words are not complete synonyms, even though they refer to a close time range.
B K R and Gh D W: Morning Time and Movement at the Beginning of the Day
The root Gh D W is often linked with going, moving, or being in the early part of the day. Bukrah highlights the early time itself or the state of being initial. In the Qur’an ghudūw is paired with āṣāl, just as bukrah is paired with aṣīl. This closeness shows that both can appear in structures about the two sides of the day, but ghadw leans more toward morning movement or coming and going, while bukrah leans toward the early time itself. This is a tendency, not an absolute rule for every Arabic use.
B K R and ʿ Sh W or A Ṣ L: Two Sides of Time
ʿAshiyy and aṣīl appear in several verses opposite bukrah or ibkār. These contrasts show that the Qur’anic meaning of the root is not merely abstract “earliness”; its place in the day-cycle is also clear. ʿAshiyy has a broader field in the part of the day moving toward evening and the beginning of night, while aṣīl is closer to the last portion of the day. The Qur’an pairs both with the beginning of the day. Therefore “morning and evening” is smooth in many of these cases, but it does not reflect all the temporal differences of the Arabic words.
Bikr and Thayyib: Two Conditions, Not Two Moral Levels
In At-Tahrim 66:5, thayyibāt and abkār express two different conditions. Bikr is someone who has not previously had marital relations, and thayyib is someone who has passed beyond that initial condition. This contrast is not an ethical classification. Both groups are included among wives who can be “better” through the faith-related and behavioral qualities mentioned in the verse. The lexical difference between the two words should not be turned into a difference in human dignity.
14. Translation Suggestions for Forqan
For the forms of this root, the following renderings can be used according to context:
- بُكْرَةً وَعَشِيًّا: “morning and evening,” or “at the beginning and end of the day.”
- بُكْرَةً وَأَصِيلًا: “morning and in the late part of the day”; in smoother translation, “morning and evening.”
- بِالْعَشِيِّ وَالْإِبْكَارِ: “in the evening and at the beginning of the day.”
- صَبَّحَهُمْ بُكْرَةً: “it reached them in an early morning,” or “it came upon them at the beginning of morning.”
- لَا فَارِضٌ وَلَا بِكْرٌ: “neither old nor young and uncalved.”
- فَجَعَلْنَاهُنَّ أَبْكَارًا: “so We made them abkār.”
- ثَيِّبَاتٍ وَأَبْكَارًا: “women who have previously had husbands and women who are bikr.”
“Virgin” can be a smooth equivalent for bikr in some translations, but in English it can carry social, moral, or identity associations beyond the root. The meaning in this context is more specifically about not having previous marital relations. Therefore, if “virgin” is used in the base translation, the lexical note should clarify it. For bukrah, “morning” and “morning time” are suitable. “Dawn” should only be used when the context points to the time before or at daybreak; the root itself does not impose that restriction.
15. Conclusion
The root B K R indicates beginning, precedence, and being in a stage before passing into the next condition. Bukrah and ibkār express the beginning of the day. Bikr about a young cow points to a stage before increased age and calving. Abkār describes women who have not previously entered marital relations. The link among these uses is the general concept of being initial, not one single bodily or sexual image. Morning, first produce, young animal, and a human before a first experience each stand in a different way at the beginning of a process or condition. B K R is also not identical with B D A. B D A expresses the act of beginning, while B K R more often shows the time, thing, or condition that is at the beginning. Neither of the two roots necessarily indicates creation from nonexistence in all uses. The difference between bukrah and ibkār is morphologically noteworthy, but it should not be turned into a meaning beyond the context. Ibkār may in its background be connected with entering the time of morning, but in its Qur’anic use its temporal role is clearest. This root does not judge the moral worth of people. The contrast thayyibāt wa abkār names two conditions, not two degrees of dignity or purity. In describing the people of jannah, abkār also expresses an initial condition, but by itself it is not proof of timelessness, absence of all change, or the stopping of every transformation. A concise and defensible definition of the root is:
B K R: being or appearing at the beginning of a time, process, or condition, before the first stage has passed; and in some uses, preceding later times or cases.