The Qur’anic Root B R Ḥ (Barāḥ and Burūḥ)
From leaving and departing to remaining and continuing; emergence, hardship, and persistence in three Qur’anic uses
Qur’anic and lexical forms
أَبْرَحَ
(abraḥa)
Form I imperfect, first-person singular, subjunctive after lan; Yūsuf 12:80
أَبْرَحُ
(abraḥu)
Form I imperfect, first-person singular, indicative after negative lā; Al-Kahf 18:60
نَبْرَحَ
(nabraḥa)
Form I imperfect, first-person plural, subjunctive after lan; Ṭā Hā 20:91
بَرِحَ / بَرَحَ
(bariḥa / baraḥa)
Lexical perfect forms; these forms themselves do not occur in the Qur’an
بَراح
(barāḥ)
Open ground; in another use, departure from a place; non-Qur’anic noun
تَبَارِيح
(tabārīḥ)
Severe hardships and pains; not Qur’anic
أَبْرَحْتِ
(abraḥti)
Poetic form IV perfect; distinct from the Qur’anic first-person imperfect
الْبَارِح
(al-bāriḥ)
Animal passing from right to left; not Qur’anic
الْبَوَارِح / الْبَارِحَة
(al-bawāriḥ / al-bāriḥah)
Hot winds / the previous night; non-Qur’anic lexical uses
1. Introducing the root and its Qur’anic forms
In early Arabic, B R Ḥ comprises a family of words associated with leaving a place, departing, coming into view, and also severe hardship and pressure. One important use occurs when the verb بَرِحَ is negated and expresses a continuing state or not giving up an activity.
This distinction matters in the Qur’an. In one sentence, the verb برح can refer to leaving a place; in another construction, لا أبرح can mean not giving up or continuing an activity. Accordingly, a single fixed English equivalent cannot cover every use of the root.
The root B R Ḥ occurs three times in the Qur’an, in three verses of three surahs. All three occurrences are form I verbs; no noun or adjective belonging to this family appears in the Qur’anic text.
The forms examined are:
All three forms belong to the verb بَرِحَ. The forms أَبْرَحُ / أَبْرَحَ are first-person singular imperfect verbs in these verses, while نَبْرَحَ is first-person plural.
An important morphological point is that the initial hamzah in أَبْرَحُ marks the first person of the imperfect. It must not be confused with the form IV perfect أَبْرَحَ. The Qur’anic verb under discussion belongs to form I, not form IV.
In Yūsuf 12:80, the verb follows لَنْ and is therefore subjunctive. In Al-Kahf 18:60, the imperfect remains indicative after the negative لا. In Ṭā Hā 20:91, نَبْرَحَ is likewise subjunctive after لن.
Beyond the differences of mood, the three uses have different semantic roles. In the story of Joseph, the speaker will not leave a land; in Moses’ journey, he will keep traveling; in the calf episode, a group will persist in a particular behavior.
2. Semantic centers in early Arabic
Two main branches: departure and intensity
Ibn Fāris writes about this root in Maqāyīs al-lughah:
«فَالْأَوَّلُ: الزَّوَالُ وَالْبُرُوزُ وَالِانْكِشَافُ. وَالثَّانِي: الشِّدَّةُ وَالْعِظَمُ وَمَا أَشْبَهَهُمَا»
fa-al-awwalu al-zawālu wa-al-burūzu wa-al-inkishāfu wa-al-thānī al-shiddatu wa-al-ʿiẓamu wa-mā ashbahahumā
Translation: “The first is removal, emergence, and uncovering; the second is severity, greatness, and similar meanings.”
Thus Ibn Fāris does not reduce this family to a single meaning, but distinguishes two branches.
This classification matters for research. Leaving a place, severe hardship, and expressions of emergence are recorded within one lexical family, but they need not represent successive historical stages of a single development.
Leaving a place
According to Ibn Fāris’ report, al-Khalīl ibn Aḥmad uses بَرَحَ يَبْرَحُ بَرَاحًا of someone who moves from a position or intends to leave it.
Lisān al-ʿArab also records:
«بَرِحَ مَكَانَهُ أَيْ زَالَ عَنْهُ»
bariḥa makānahu ay zāla ʿanhu
That is: “He left his place; he moved away from it.”
In this use, a person or animal has occupied a place and then leaves it. Departure may mean moving from a particular point, leaving a territory, or separating from a previous position.
For example, someone leaving a house or moving out of a territory may be described with a verb from this family.
Yet برح itself does not mean a long journey, migration, flight, or exile. Each of these may involve leaving a place, but each has additional features that cannot be derived from the root alone.
The meaning of leaving a place is explicit in Yūsuf 12:80, because الْأَرْضَ is the object of the verb.
Barāḥ: open, exposed ground
In Arabic, بَراح denotes open, expansive ground without a prominent obstruction or covering.
In al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī’s Mufradāt, براح is described as an exposed, spacious place without buildings or trees.
Manifestness and coming into view have also been explained through this image.
The Arabic expression بَرِحَ الْخَفَاءُ means that a hidden matter has become clear and its obscurity has been removed. In other words, what was concealed has become apparent.
The expression allows two related perspectives: concealment has departed, and something previously hidden has appeared.
This does not establish that every use of the root originally arose from open, treeless ground. Al-Rāghib offers a concrete connection between exposed space and emergence, but that is insufficient to prove a single earliest origin for the entire family.
Hardship, pressure, and exhaustion
Another branch of the root concerns intensity and difficulty.
Lexical sources record بَرْح for severe difficulty and suffering, and تَبَارِيح for repeated hardships or great pains.
بَرَّحَ بِهِ الْأَمْرُ means that the matter bore heavily upon someone and caused suffering and pressure.
بُرَحَاءُ الْحُمَّى is also used for the intensity of a fever.
Likewise, ضَرْبٌ مُبَرِّحٌ describes severe, injurious striking or beating.
These uses show that intensity and pressure are established branches of this family in Arabic.
None of the three Qur’anic occurrences of برح, however, directly means a severe blow, fever, or bodily suffering. Sharing a root does not justify importing that branch into the translation of these verses.
3. Pre-Islamic poetic witnesses and social uses
Lā barāḥu: standing one’s ground
An important witness for this family occurs in a verse attributed to Saʿd ibn Mālik ibn Ḍubayʿah, a poet and warrior of the pre-Islamic period:
مَنْ صَدَّ عَنْ نِيرَانِهَا
man ṣadda ʿan nīrānihā
فَأَنَا ابْنُ قَيْسٍ لَا بَرَاحُ
fa-anā ibnu Qaysin lā barāḥu
Translation: “Whoever turns away from its fires, I am the son of Qays: I will not leave my ground.” The fires are those of battle.
Some transmissions have مَنْ فَرَّ, “whoever flees,” in place of مَنْ صَدَّ, “whoever turns away.”
The verse is transmitted in Arabic martial poetry and early grammatical sources, including Sībawayh’s Kitāb and Abū Tammām’s Ḥamāsah. Grammatical commentaries explain لا براح as the absence of departure or retreat.
Linguistically, this witness matters because براح is negated, with the resulting emphasis on remaining and refusing to retreat.
The poet does not claim that the basic meaning of براح is steadfastness. Rather, براح concerns leaving or moving away; negating it gives the sense of remaining.
The same distinction will appear in the Qur’anic uses.
Some transmissions in Lisān al-ʿArab attribute the verse to Saʿd ibn Nāshib, whereas established grammatical commentaries identify Saʿd ibn Mālik ibn Ḍubayʿah. These are different people, and the attribution dispute should remain visible. Despite that dispute, the linguistic use of لا براح is clearly recorded in the early grammatical tradition.
Abraḥti: wonder and greatness
A verse by al-Aʿshā of Qays reads:
أَقُولُ لَهَا حِينَ جَدَّ الرَّحِيلُ
aqūlu lahā ḥīna jadda al-raḥīlu
أَبْرَحْتِ رَبًّا وَأَبْرَحْتِ جَارًا
abraḥti rabban wa-abraḥti jāran
Sense translation on the magnification analysis, addressing the she-camel: “I say to her, when departure becomes urgent: What a great master you are traveling toward, and what a great neighbor!”
Here أبرحت occurs in an expression of wonder or magnification. One grammatical analysis explains it through the greatness or distinction of the master or neighbor being discussed. In the wording أقول لها, the speaker addresses his she-camel; the feminine ending in أَبْرَحْتِ agrees with that address. رَبّ here denotes a human master or king, not The God.
The first hemistich also has textual variants: some sources transmit أقول لها and others تقول ابنتي. In Muḥammad Muḥyī al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd’s editorial notes to the edition of Ibn Hishām’s Awḍaḥ al-masālik, the former wording is attributed to al-Aʿshā’s Dīwān. Alongside the analysis of magnification, those notes report analyses involving causing wonder or choosing. These explanations should therefore not all be attributed directly to Ibn Hishām or presented as an undisputed single analysis.
This witness shows that early Arabic used forms belonging to B R Ḥ to express magnification or wonder.
It should not be equated with the Qur’anic لَا أَبْرَحُ. The former occurs in an exclamatory construction, while the latter is a negated first-person imperfect verb.
Even when two forms belong to one lexical family, their morphology and syntax affect the meaning of the sentence.
Al-bāriḥ: an animal passing in a particular direction
Dictionaries use البارح of a bird or animal passing from the observer’s right toward the left, in contrast to السانح, which moves in the opposite direction.
In some old Arab beliefs, one of these movements was considered auspicious and the other ominous.
Ibn Fāris discusses this use under removal, emergence, and movement from one direction to another.
This example matters for understanding early Arabic linguistic culture, but it cannot define every derivative of the root.
Recording a belief about good or bad omens does not endorse that belief. It describes a word’s use in the context of social beliefs.
Harsh winds and the previous night
الْبَوَارِح is recorded in Arabic for strong, hot winds, particularly summer winds carrying dust.
الْبَارِحَة denotes the previous night. Ibn Fāris connects the name with the night’s having departed or passed.
In the same semantic field, بَرِحَ الْخَفَاءُ is known as an expression for the removal of concealment and the emergence of truth.
These uses show the broad semantic range of B R Ḥ in Arabic, from movement and departure to emergence and intensity.
None of the three verses under discussion, however, uses it to mean wind, the previous night, an omen, or severe suffering.
4. Negation in lā abraḥu and lan nabraḥa
The most important grammatical feature of this root in the Qur’an is that all three occurrences are negated.
In Arabic, بَرِحَ can concern removal, departure, or leaving a state. When negated by ما, لا, or لن in a construction of continuation, it can express remaining in a condition or continuing an activity.
For example, مَا بَرِحَ يَفْعَلُ means that a person continues to do something.
Semantically, this construction is close to مَا زَالَ.
Al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī explains that negating removal yields the continuation of a state.
Yet this relation must not become a mechanical formula that assigns precisely the same translation to لا أبرح in every sentence.
There is a real difference between not leaving a place and continuing a behavior.
When the verb is accompanied by a place, its direct meaning may be that the person does not leave that place.
By contrast, when it is an incomplete verb whose predicate states a condition or activity, the negation of cessation concerns the continuation of that condition.
Both constructions appear in the three Qur’anic verses.
Complete and incomplete verbs
In Yūsuf 12:80, أَبْرَحَ has الْأَرْضَ as its object. Here the verb is complete and refers to leaving a place.
In Ṭā Hā 20:91, نَبْرَحَ is an incomplete verb and عَاكِفِينَ is its predicate. The sentence means remaining in that state.
In Al-Kahf 18:60, لَا أَبْرَحُ has no overt predicate. Analyses include an omitted predicate and a complete verb whose complement is understood from context. On either analysis, Moses speaks of continuing the journey and not giving up the search for his destination.
Al-Zamakhsharī addresses this point in al-Kashshāf and presents an omitted predicate such as أَسِيرُ, “I travel,” as one clear analysis of the verse.
The grammatical distinction matters for translation. Applying “I am not going” or “I do not leave” to all three verses without considering the subject matter could reverse the meaning of one of them.
5. Yūsuf 12:80: remaining in the land until his situation is resolved
Yūsuf 12:80
فَلَمَّا اسْتَيْأَسُوا مِنْهُ خَلَصُوا نَجِيًّا ۖ قَالَ كَبِيرُهُمْ أَلَمْ تَعْلَمُوا أَنَّ أَبَاكُمْ قَدْ أَخَذَ عَلَيْكُمْ مَوْثِقًا مِنَ اللَّهِ وَمِنْ قَبْلُ مَا فَرَّطْتُمْ فِي يُوسُفَ ۖ فَلَنْ أَبْرَحَ الْأَرْضَ حَتَّىٰ يَأْذَنَ لِي أَبِي أَوْ يَحْكُمَ اللَّهُ لِي ۖ وَهُوَ خَيْرُ الْحَاكِمِينَ
fa-lammā istayʾasū minhu khalaṣū najiyyan qāla kabīruhum a-lam taʿlamū anna abākum qad akhadha ʿalaykum mawthiqan mina llāhi wa-min qablu mā farraṭtum fī Yūsufa fa-lan abraḥa al-arḍa ḥattā yaʾdhana lī abī aw yaḥkuma llāhu lī wa-huwa khayru al-ḥākimīna
Translation: “When they despaired of him, they withdrew to confer privately. Their eldest said: Do you not know that your father took a pledge from you in the name of The God, and that you had previously failed concerning Joseph? So I will not leave this land until my father permits me, or The God judges for me; and He is the best of judges.”
The meaning of fa-lan abraḥa al-arḍa
Here أَبْرَحَ concerns leaving a place; الْأَرْضَ is its object.
The narrative makes clear that the land is the place to which Joseph’s brothers had come for provisions and where their brother had been detained.
Al-Ṭabarī likewise explains فَلَنْ أَبْرَحَ الْأَرْضَ as not leaving the land of Egypt.
The Arabic phrase itself does not name Egypt. Accordingly, “I will not leave this land” is preferable in a direct translation, with the location explained in the contextual analysis.
Here لن negates a future action: the speaker announces his decision not to leave the land.
That decision has two stated limits: permission from his father, or a judgment by The God for him.
Thus لن in this construction does not mean that the speaker will never leave the land under any circumstances. The phrase introduced by حَتَّىٰ specifies the limit and condition of his continued stay.
Does barḥ here mean faithfulness?
No. The verb itself means leaving.
Why, then, does the speaker refuse to go?
Before stating his decision, he recalls the pledge his father took from them and their earlier failure concerning Joseph.
His remaining in this land is therefore connected with responsibility and commitment.
That responsibility is not part of the lexical meaning of برح. One person might not leave out of fear, another through inability, and another because of a commitment.
In each case, if برح is used, the word itself concerns leaving or not leaving a place; the reason and value of the behavior emerge from context.
In Joseph’s story, the decision to remain follows the recollection of a pledge and a previous failure. That setting gives the action an ethical significance, but برح should not be translated as “keeping one’s pledge.”
Remaining in a territory differs from staying at a single point
Another point matters here: الارض does not refer to a tiny spot.
Saying “I will not leave the land” does not necessarily mean refusing to take a single step from one’s present position.
The person may move within the territory while not leaving it.
The meaning of فَلَنْ أَبْرَحَ الْأَرْضَ should therefore not be reduced to bodily immobility.
What is negated is departure from the area specified in the sentence.
This distinction becomes especially important in comparison with Al-Kahf 18:60.
6. Al-Kahf 18:60: continuing the journey to its destination
Al-Kahf 18:60
وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِفَتَاهُ لَا أَبْرَحُ حَتَّىٰ أَبْلُغَ مَجْمَعَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ أَوْ أَمْضِيَ حُقُبًا
wa-idh qāla Mūsā li-fatāhu lā abraḥu ḥattā ablugha majmaʿa al-baḥrayni aw amḍiya ḥuquban
Translation: “And when Moses said to his young companion: I will not give up traveling until I reach the meeting place of the two seas, or journey on for a long period.”
Why lā abraḥu here does not mean “I am not going”
At first glance, someone might take the departure sense in Yūsuf 12:80 and likewise translate لا أبرح as “I will not move from my place.”
That rendering conflicts with the rest of the sentence.
Moses says he will not give up his undertaking until reaching the meeting place of the two seas, or until a long period has passed. The following narrative also concerns his journey with his companion.
The point is to continue traveling, rather than to stay in one place.
Al-Ṭabarī explains لَا أَبْرَحُ here as لَا أَزَالُ أَسِيرُ: “I will keep traveling.”
One clear grammatical analysis is that the incomplete verb’s predicate has been omitted, as with أَسِيرُ, “I travel.”
On that analysis, the sentence means: “I will not give up traveling until I reach the meeting place of the two seas.”
Al-Zamakhsharī also presents another possibility: the verb may retain its complete sense, with its complement—his current journey and search—understood from context.
Both analyses yield a similar meaning: Moses intends to continue his journey and search.
This example shows how syntax and context can lead to apparently different English renderings of the same root.
In Yūsuf 12:80: “I will not leave.”
In Al-Kahf 18:60: “I will not give up.”
This is no contradiction in the root. It follows from different complements and sentence structures.
Ḥattā and aw amḍiya ḥuquban
حَتَّىٰ introduces a limit for the continued action: reaching the meeting place of the two seas.
The phrase أَوْ أَمْضِيَ حُقُبًا follows. حُقُبًا refers to a period or a long stretch of time; lexical sources record different accounts of its exact duration.
The verse itself gives no particular number of years.
Accordingly, “I will walk for eighty years,” or any other definite numerical value for حقبا, would go beyond what the verse itself establishes.
Moses expresses his determination to continue, even if reaching his destination takes a long time.
Here too, the verb’s meaning must be distinguished from its contextual implications.
برح does not itself mean scholarly effort, seeking knowledge, or patience. In a narrative of a journey undertaken to gain new knowledge, however, continuing to travel may express perseverance in the search.
That idea comes from the course of the narrative and the purpose of the journey; B R Ḥ does not lexically mean acquiring knowledge.
Does lā abraḥu imply physically uninterrupted motion?
The expression does not mean that Moses never rested, never slept, or never stopped moving for even a moment during the journey.
In ordinary language, continuing a journey can include rest and brief stops without abandoning the goal.
The Qur’an subsequently describes the two travelers reaching the meeting place of the seas and then passing beyond it.
Thus لا أبرح expresses continued determination and travel in this setting, rather than impossible, uninterrupted bodily motion.
7. Ṭā Hā 20:91: persistence in wrongful behavior
Ṭā Hā 20:91
قَالُوا لَنْ نَبْرَحَ عَلَيْهِ عَاكِفِينَ حَتَّىٰ يَرْجِعَ إِلَيْنَا مُوسَىٰ
qālū lan nabraḥa ʿalayhi ʿākifīna ḥattā yarjiʿa ilaynā Mūsā
Translation: “They said: We will not give up our devotion to it until Moses returns to us.”
This verse gives the reply of a group of Israelites to Aaron.
The preceding verses concern a calf taken as an object of worship. Aaron had warned them that they were being tested and had called them to follow him.
They replied that they would not give up their devotion to it until Moses returned.
Lan nabraḥa ʿalayhi ʿākifīna
Here نَبْرَحَ is an imperfect verb in the subjunctive after لن.
عَاكِفِينَ is the predicate of the incomplete verb. As a sound masculine plural, its accusative case is marked by yāʾ.
عَلَيْهِ depends on عاكفين, and its pronoun refers, in context, to the calf.
The construction thus states that they will remain in a condition of ʿukūf toward it.
نبرح here concerns ceasing or leaving a condition; negating it means continuing that condition.
Accordingly, لن نبرح عليه عاكفين means that they will not give up their attendance and devotion to it.
Al-Qurṭubī and other commentators likewise explain this construction as continuing to worship the calf.
Why ʿākifīna is not part of the meaning of B R Ḥ
عاكفين belongs to the root ʿ K F and concerns close attendance, turning toward something, and remaining devoted to it.
The two words have different functions in this verse.
نبرح, with negation, expresses the continuation of a condition; عاكفين identifies that condition.
Thus برح should not be defined here as worshiping, performing devotional retreat, or worshiping the calf.
Worship of the calf is understood from the context and their devoted attendance upon it.
This distinction is essential to a precise reading: B R Ḥ also occurs in Al-Kahf 18:60, where the subject is entirely different.
Is persisting in a behavior always a virtue?
Comparing Al-Kahf 18:60 with Ṭā Hā 20:91 gives a clear answer.
In Al-Kahf, Moses will not give up his journey.
In Ṭā Hā, a group of Israelites will not give up their devotion to the calf.
Both involve continuation and not giving something up, but the two behaviors do not have the same ethical value.
In the story of Moses and his companion, continuing the journey serves the destination he is seeking.
In the calf episode, they persist in conduct against which Aaron has warned them.
Remaining committed to an activity is therefore not, by itself, evidence of either rightness or error. Its value depends on its object and direction.
This also relates to the Qur’anic study of patience. Perseverance is praiseworthy when rightly directed; stubborn persistence in falsehood does not become a virtue merely because it continues.
That conclusion follows from comparing the verses and the objects of the actions; it does not make patience or obstinacy the lexical meaning of B R Ḥ.
Did Moses’ return guarantee that their behavior would end?
The verse says:
«حَتَّىٰ يَرْجِعَ إِلَيْنَا مُوسَىٰ»
ḥattā yarjiʿa ilaynā Mūsā
That is: “until Moses returns to us.”
The phrase gives the time limit stated in their claim.
It does not establish that every one of them certainly abandoned the practice without resistance after Moses returned. This sentence reports their own claim about maintaining their devotion until his return.
Nor does the phrase establish that Moses approved of that conduct. Reporting a group’s claim is different from endorsing it.
9. Translation proposals for Forqan
For the general spatial use of بَرِحَ, suitable renderings include “left,” “departed,” and “moved away from a place.”
For ما برح and comparable negative constructions, the sentence may call for “continued,” “remained,” “did not give up,” or “did not cease to be in that condition.”
The three Qur’anic uses should nonetheless be distinguished in translation.
Yūsuf 12:80
For فَلَنْ أَبْرَحَ الْأَرْضَ, the main proposal is:
“So I will not leave this land.”
This makes the departure sense clear without adding Egypt to the translation.
Al-Kahf 18:60
For لَا أَبْرَحُ in the setting of Moses’ journey, a suitable proposal is:
“I will not give up traveling.”
This is slightly more explanatory than the Arabic wording. Because the activity being continued is omitted and understood from the journey’s context, it conveys the sense more naturally in English.
“I will not leave here” is misleading in this context: Moses is speaking of continuing his movement, rather than stopping.
Ṭā Hā 20:91
For لَنْ نَبْرَحَ عَلَيْهِ عَاكِفِينَ, a suitable rendering is:
“We will not give up our devotion to it.”
This conveys the continuing condition and the role of عاكفين. The contextual explanation can clarify that the pronoun refers to the calf and that their continued attendance involves worshiping it.
In the basic translation, نبرح itself should not be turned into “we worship,” because that meaning comes from عاكفين and the context.
These proposals show why a single fixed English equivalent is not always adequate for a root. A sound translation must attend to each sentence’s structure, object, predicate, and context.
10. Conclusion
In early Arabic, B R Ḥ has two prominent semantic fields: removal, departure, and emergence; and intensity, hardship, and pressure.
In the first branch, برح can concern leaving a place or condition. Negating that meaning in the appropriate construction yields remaining, continuing, or not giving up an activity.
The root occurs three times in the Qur’an, solely as a form I imperfect verb.
In Yūsuf 12:80, Joseph’s elder brother decides not to leave the land until his situation is resolved.
In Al-Kahf 18:60, لا أبرح concerns continuing the journey and not giving up until the destination is reached.
In Ṭā Hā 20:91, لن نبرح concerns continued devotion to the calf, a behavior censured in the verse’s context.
These uses show that remaining or continuing does not carry a fixed ethical value in itself. Someone may remain somewhere to honor a commitment, continue a journey toward a worthy destination, or stubbornly persist in wrongdoing.
In each case, برح or its negative construction concerns departure or continuation; the kind of behavior and its value emerge from other parts of the sentence and its context.
Arabic witnesses also record meanings involving emergence, intense suffering, hot winds, animal movements, and the previous night. These matter for the history of the language, but none should be imported into the three verses without justification.
A suitable final definition for Forqan:
B R Ḥ in Arabic concerns leaving, ceasing, or departing from a place or condition; other branches include emergence and severity or hardship. In the Qur’an, the root appears only in the negative constructions فَلَنْ أَبْرَحَ, لَا أَبْرَحُ, and لَنْ نَبْرَحَ. Depending on the sentence structure, negating departure can express remaining in a place or continuing a behavior. Its precise meaning is therefore determined by the object, predicate, and context of each verse; the resulting persistence does not by itself indicate whether the behavior is right or wrong.