The Qur’anic root B R J (burj and tabarruj)
Lofty, fortified towers, celestial burūj, and displaying adornment: connections and distinctions in early Arabic and the Qur’an
Qur’anic and lexical forms
بُرُوج
(burūj)
Qur’anic broken plural of burj; four earthly and celestial occurrences
تَبَرَّجْنَ
(tabarrajna)
Form V imperfect, second-person feminine plural, in a prohibition; Al-Aḥzāb 33:33
تَبَرُّجَ
(tabarruja)
Qur’anic accusative verbal noun, cognate accusative; Al-Aḥzāb 33:33
مُتَبَرِّجَاتٍ
(mutabarrijātin)
Feminine plural active participle, genitive after ghayr; Al-Nūr 24:60
بُرْج
(burj)
Lexical singular; the Qur’an uses its plural
أَبْرَاج
(abrāj)
Alternative lexical plural; not Qur’anic
بَرَج
(baraj)
Lexical noun in eye descriptions; not Qur’anic
أَبْرَج، بَرْجَاء
(abraj, barjāʾ)
Lexical masculine and feminine adjectives; not Qur’anic
مُبَرَّج
(mubarraj)
Lexical and poetic form; not Qur’anic
1. Introduction and Qur’anic forms
B R J in Arabic includes words relating to architectural towers, celestial burūj, prominence and visibility, and the display of beauty and adornment.
Architectural بُرْج (burj) denotes a high, projecting part of a building, fortress, or defensive wall. Its plurals are بُرُوج (burūj) and أَبْرَاج (abrāj). Arabic also uses the noun for recognized divisions or stations in the sky.
The related تَبَرُّج (tabarruj) concerns displaying beauty and adornment before others. Sharing a root does not make an architectural tower, celestial burj, and tabarruj identical in every use.
B R J occurs seven times in the Qur’an, in six verses of six surahs: four occurrences of the noun burūj, one verb تَبَرَّجْنَ, one verbal noun تَبَرُّج, and one plural active participle مُتَبَرِّجَات.
The Qur’anic forms are:
- بُرُوجٍ in Al-Nisāʾ 4:78, concerning fortified towers.
- بُرُوجًا in Al-Ḥijr 15:16 and Al-Furqān 25:61, concerning celestial burūj.
- الْبُرُوجِ in Al-Burūj 85:1, in an oath by the sky.
- تَبَرَّجْنَ and تَبَرُّجَ in Al-Aḥzāb 33:33, concerning the display of the former jāhiliyyah.
- مُتَبَرِّجَاتٍ in Al-Nūr 24:60, concerning not displaying adornment in a provision for older women.
Two principal Qur’anic fields are thus apparent: towers, in earthly and celestial settings; and tabarruj, in the display of adornment.
Arabic sources also record forms such as بَرَج (baraj), أَبْرَج (abraj), بَرْجَاء (barjāʾ), مُبَرَّج (mubarraj), and أَبْرَاج (abrāj), but these forms do not occur in the Qur’an.
2. Semantic bases in early Arabic
Does the family have a single semantic origin?
In Maqāyīs al-lughah, Ibn Fāris identifies two semantic bases for B R J:
«أَحَدُهُمَا الْبُرُوزُ وَالظُّهُورُ، وَالْآخَرُ الْوَزَرُ وَالْمَلْجَأُ»
aḥaduhumā al-burūzu wa-l-ẓuhūru wa-l-ākharu al-wazaru wa-l-maljaʾu
That is: “One is prominence and visibility; the other is refuge and shelter.”
Under the first, he discusses the eye’s size and beauty and women’s tabarruj. Under the second, he connects burj with fortresses, palaces, and celestial burūj.
The distinction matters. An architectural tower can be a high, protected location; in tabarruj, appearance and the display of beauty are more prominent.
A high tower is also conspicuous because of its elevation. Some lexicographers therefore connect the uses through visibility and prominence.
Lisān al-ʿArab states:
«وَكُلُّ ظَاهِرٍ مُرْتَفِعٍ فَقَدْ بَرَجَ»
wa-kullu ẓāhirin murtafiʿin fa-qad baraja
That is: “Whatever is visible and elevated has become prominent.”
It then explains the towers’ name through their conspicuousness and height.
This explanation should not become a definite derivational history. It does not establish whether the architectural name first arose from elevation or refuge, or whether different uses converged over time.
For Qur’anic study, each form’s actual contextual meaning matters more.
Burj: a high structure and place of protection
Kitāb al-ʿAyn describes burūj as parts of a structure built on a fortress wall or at a palace’s corners.
Al-Jawharī’s Al-Ṣiḥāḥ likewise identifies بُرْجُ الْحِصْنِ as a corner or projecting part of a fortress.
A tower may serve observation and protection, distinguished by its height and strength. It does not follow that every burj intrinsically means an impregnable refuge. Elevation, strength, and protective function vary with the structure and context.
In Al-Nisāʾ 4:78, the separate adjective مُشَيَّدَة makes this clear: burūj identifies the towers, while the adjective emphasizes their fortified or elevated construction.
Baraj in descriptions of the eye
Lexical sources also record الْبَرَج, with fatḥah vowels, for a feature of the eye.
Descriptions include the extent of the eye’s white, large eyes, and the conspicuous contrast between white and black.
أَبْرَج is recorded for someone with such eyes, and بَرْجَاء for an eye or woman possessing that feature.
The family is therefore not restricted to tall buildings. The eye description concerns the visibility and extent of part of the eye, rather than refuge or architecture.
This does not make Qur’anic tabarruj mean large eyes. A natural feature differs from the act of displaying adornment.
3. Arabic evidence: towers, patterned decoration, and displayed beauty
Towers in architecture and poetic imagery
A well-known rajaz passage by al-ʿAjjāj, born in the pre-Islamic period and active into Umayyad times, describes a large camel:
كَأَنَّ بُرْجًا فَوْقَهَا مُبَرَّجَا
ka-anna burjan fawqahā mubarrajā
Translation: “As though an ornamented, prominent tower stood above her.”
The poet compares the camel’s hump with a tower above a building.
The line occurs in al-ʿAjjāj’s Dīwān and lexical sources including Kitāb al-ʿAyn and Tahdhīb al-lughah. The lexicographers explicitly relate the hump’s image to a tower on a wall or fortress.
Two points follow: burj could designate a high, projecting structure suitable for comparison; and mubarraj also has uses associated with decoration and patterned ornament.
Another rajaz line attributed to al-ʿAjjāj contains وَشْيَهُ الْمُبَرَّجَا, its decorated patterning. Its wording varies, however, and some Dīwān versions have another form in place of al-mubarrajā. It is therefore less secure than the first witness for this precise form.
Al-ʿAjjāj died around 90 AH. Although born before Islam, the date of this particular rajaz passage is uncertain. It should not be presented unqualifiedly as evidence preceding revelation.
Thawb mubarraj: a patterned garment
Kitāb al-ʿAyn describes ثَوْبٌ مُبَرَّج as a garment bearing patterns resembling towers on a wall or fortress.
The family thus also acquired uses involving decoration and conspicuous beauty in objects.
A patterned garment must nevertheless be distinguished from a wearer’s act of displaying adornment.
A garment’s beauty or pattern does not by itself establish Qur’anic tabarruj. Conduct, the manner of display, and the provision’s context also require examination.
From being visible to making visible
Lexical sources explain تَبَرَّجَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ as a woman displaying her beauty and adornment before others.
In Kitāb al-ʿAyn, al-Khalīl ibn Aḥmad gives examples such as displaying the beauty of the neck and face.
Lisān al-ʿArab records related explanations: displaying adornment, revealing the beauty of face and neck, and, in some reports, conduct and walking that draw attention to adornment.
Tabarruj is thus more than the name of a garment type. Conduct, manner of presentation, and display also enter its usage.
These explanations do not establish that every visible face, social presence of a woman, or beautiful garment is necessarily tabarruj regardless of context.
The Qur’anic expressions occur with تَبَرُّجَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ الْأُولَىٰ and بِزِينَةٍ. Those complements matter for identifying the conduct under discussion.
Did tabarruj originate in leaving a tower or palace?
Al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī reports two explanations of burj’s relationship with tabarruj in Al-Mufradāt.
One relates it to ornament and visible beauty, as in a patterned garment. The other speaks of a woman appearing from a tower or palace.
The second should not become a proven historical origin. The evidence does not establish that women originally lived in towers and that leaving them acquired the name tabarruj.
Qur’anic tabarruj should therefore not simply be translated as leaving home. Displaying adornment and the act of going out are different matters.
4. بُرُوجٍ مُشَيَّدَةٍ: fortified towers and the inability to escape death
Al-Nisāʾ 4:78
أَيْنَمَا تَكُونُوا يُدْرِكْكُمُ الْمَوْتُ وَلَوْ كُنْتُمْ فِي بُرُوجٍ مُشَيَّدَةٍ ۗ وَإِنْ تُصِبْهُمْ حَسَنَةٌ يَقُولُوا هَٰذِهِ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ ۖ وَإِنْ تُصِبْهُمْ سَيِّئَةٌ يَقُولُوا هَٰذِهِ مِنْ عِنْدِكَ ۚ قُلْ كُلٌّ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ ۖ فَمَالِ هَٰؤُلَاءِ الْقَوْمِ لَا يَكَادُونَ يَفْقَهُونَ حَدِيثًا
aynamā takūnū yudrikkumu al-mawtu wa-law kuntum fī burūjin mushayyadatin wa-in tuṣibhum ḥasanatun yaqūlū hādhihi min ʿindi llāhi wa-in tuṣibhum sayyiʾatun yaqūlū hādhihi min ʿindika qul kullun min ʿindi llāhi fa-māli hāʾulāʾi al-qawmi lā yakādūna yafqahūna ḥadīthan
Translation: “Wherever you may be, death will overtake you, even if you are in fortified towers. If something good befalls them, they say: This is from The God. If something bad befalls them, they say: This is from you. Say: All is from The God. What is the matter with these people that they scarcely understand any discourse?”
The meaning of burūj here
بُرُوجٍ is the broken plural of بُرْج, genitive after the preposition فِي. مُشَيَّدَةٍ describes those towers.
Tashyīd in Arabic concerns building high and strengthening a structure. Lexical sources also record plastering and firmly constructing a building within that family.
Burūj mushayyadah thus evokes tall, strong, protected towers.
Height and strength nevertheless cannot prevent death absolutely. The verse uses precisely that image: even hiding in a secure, inaccessible building does not remove mortality.
Burj itself does not mean death, taking refuge, or failed protection. Those meanings arise from the sentence and its contrast between a fortified tower and approaching death.
Could celestial burūj be intended?
Al-Rāghib also considers a figurative reference to celestial burūj: death would reach a person even in the most distant, elevated, inaccessible stations.
He illustrates the possibility through Zuhayr ibn Abī Sulmā’s image of death reaching someone even if a ladder gives access to the sky.
The reading merits rhetorical consideration, but earthly indicators are stronger in Al-Nisāʾ 4:78. Mushayyadah directly suits lofty, fortified structures, and the passage concerns seeking refuge from death’s danger.
“Fortified towers” is therefore appropriate. The image can extend to any elevated, protected position without making celestial divisions the verse’s primary meaning.
The tower does not express absolute human power
Al-Nisāʾ 4:77 concerns people frightened by danger and the command to fight. The next verse recalls that death is not confined to the battlefield.
This does not negate precaution, protecting life, or using safety measures. The verse does not say that towers have no benefit; even fortified towers cannot ward off death forever.
Burj should therefore not be defined as a useless refuge. A tower’s defensive benefit is distinct from absolute power to prevent death.
5. Celestial burūj: stars, stations, and heavenly order
The other three occurrences of the noun concern the sky.
Classical Arabic and its explanations relate بُرُوج السَّمَاء to recognized celestial stations, prominent stars, or figuratively heavenly palaces.
Ancient astronomical practice also divided the heavens into twelve burūj and measured the sun’s and moon’s apparent courses relative to them.
That system should not independently become the word’s entire Qur’anic meaning. None of the three verses states twelve, names constellations, or supplies astrological predictions.
A. Al-Ḥijr 15:16: celestial burūj and visible beauty
Al-Ḥijr 15:16
وَلَقَدْ جَعَلْنَا فِي السَّمَاءِ بُرُوجًا وَزَيَّنَّاهَا لِلنَّاظِرِينَ
wa-la-qad jaʿalnā fī al-samāʾi burūjan wa-zayyannāhā li-l-nāẓirīna
Translation: “We have indeed placed burūj in the sky and adorned it for those who look.”
بُرُوجًا is the object of جَعَلْنَا. فِي السَّمَاءِ identifies their location.
وَزَيَّنَّاهَا لِلنَّاظِرِينَ concerns adorning the sky for observers.
The context connects burūj with the sky and its visible appearance. Some commentators therefore explain them as stars, others as celestial stations.
Al-Ṭabarī transmits Qatādah’s explanation through stars. Other reports discuss stations of the sun and moon.
The verse connects celestial burūj with the sky’s adornment without precisely identifying them as individual stars, stellar groupings, or divisions of the apparent celestial courses.
Rendering burūj exclusively as “the twelve constellations” would therefore insert a particular technical system into the translation.
Rendering it simply as materially constructed heavenly palaces would likewise replace the word with an architectural reality whose physical construction the verse does not describe.
Retaining burūj, with an explanation of its celestial usage, is therefore a cautious base choice.
B. Al-Furqān 25:61: burūj, a lamp, and the moon
Al-Furqān 25:61
تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ فِي السَّمَاءِ بُرُوجًا وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا سِرَاجًا وَقَمَرًا مُنِيرًا
tabāraka alladhī jaʿala fī al-samāʾi burūjan wa-jaʿala fīhā sirājan wa-qamaran munīran
Translation: “Abundant in blessing is He who placed burūj in the sky, and placed in it a lamp and an illuminating moon.”
The verse mentions burūj alongside سِرَاجًا and قَمَرًا مُنِيرًا.
Sirāj denotes a lamp or source of light and has a clear connection with the sun here. Qamar names the moon.
Burūj itself means neither sun nor moon; the verse names them in separate expressions.
Al-Ṭabarī transmits several explanations here: heavenly palaces, great stars, and stars generally.
The differences caution against treating one proposed referent as the word’s sole certain meaning.
Its association with the sun and moon nevertheless strongly supports celestial bodies and stations. That setting fits better than earthly architectural towers.
C. Al-Burūj 85:1: the sky possessing burūj
Al-Burūj 85:1
وَالسَّمَاءِ ذَاتِ الْبُرُوجِ
wa-l-samāʾi dhāti al-burūji
Translation: “By the sky possessing burūj.”
This short verse opens the oaths of Al-Burūj.
ذَاتِ الْبُرُوجِ describes the sky as possessing burūj. Unlike Al-Ḥijr 15:16 and Al-Furqān 25:61, it contains no verb jaʿala.
Al-Ṭabarī reports stars, palaces, and celestial stations as interpretations, preferring stations of the sun and moon. He explains them through the twelvefold division used in the astronomy of his time.
This matters for exegetical history, but the verse’s meaning should be distinguished from a commentator’s astronomical model.
Dividing the sun’s apparent course into twelve thirty-degree sections was an established ancient astronomical method. The verse nevertheless specifies neither twelve, angular measures, nor the names of those divisions.
Burūj also does not independently authorize predicting human fate from birth months or stellar positions. The verse concerns the sky and its burūj, rather than assigning human choice and destiny to horoscope signs.
What the three celestial uses establish
Taken together, the verses relate celestial burūj to recognized divisions, stations, or prominent features of the sky: a field connected in astronomical language with stars and apparent celestial courses.
The Qur’anic word alone does not establish their precise identity within a particular physical or astronomical model.
The study should therefore explain established astronomical usage while preserving the boundary between ancient technical models and the Qur’an’s own wording.
6. وَلَا تَبَرَّجْنَ: displaying adornment in the address to the Prophet’s wives
Al-Aḥzāb 33:33
وَقَرْنَ فِي بُيُوتِكُنَّ وَلَا تَبَرَّجْنَ تَبَرُّجَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ الْأُولَىٰ ۖ وَأَقِمْنَ الصَّلَاةَ وَآتِينَ الزَّكَاةَ وَأَطِعْنَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ ۚ إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًا
wa-qarna fī buyūtikunna wa-lā tabarrajna tabarruja al-jāhiliyyati al-ūlā wa-aqimna al-ṣalāta wa-ātīna al-zakāta wa-aṭiʿna llāha wa-rasūlahu innamā yurīdu llāhu li-yudhhiba ʿankumu al-rijsa ahla al-bayti wa-yuṭahhirakum taṭhīran
Translation: “Remain in your houses and do not display yourselves as in the display of the former jāhiliyyah. Establish ṣalāt, give zakāt, and obey The God and His Messenger. The God only intends to remove impurity from you, people of the household, and purify you thoroughly.”
The structure of tabarrajna tabarruja
تَبَرَّجْنَ is a form V imperfect addressed to a feminine plural. Its full form is تَتَبَرَّجْنَ, with one of the two tāʾ letters omitted. With the feminine plural nūn, the verb is built on sukūn; following prohibitive لَا, it occupies a jussive position.
تَبَرُّجَ is its verbal noun, an accusative cognate construction. Its annexation to الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ الْأُولَىٰ identifies the kind of display prohibited.
وَلَا تَبَرَّجْنَ تَبَرُّجَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ الْأُولَىٰ thus concerns more than revealing something generally: it relates specific conduct to a recognized jāhiliyyah pattern.
Lexical sources explain tabarruj through displaying adornment and beauty. Al-Ṭabarī likewise transmits explanations concerning both visible adornment and styles of walking or behavior associated with display.
The word can therefore extend beyond wearing or removing one garment. Conduct and manner of presentation also matter.
That range should not become a vague definition treating every social presence or possession of beauty as tabarruj.
The verse specifies the prohibited conduct through the former jāhiliyyah’s display. Its bounds require the word’s established meaning, the audience’s context, and other relevant verses on adornment.
What period does the former jāhiliyyah designate?
Exegetical reports differ about its date.
Some place it near the period before Islam; others much earlier, including reports concerning the interval between Adam and Noah or other Prophets.
After transmitting those differences, al-Ṭabarī does not identify one particular such period as certain.
The wording refers to a previous period or pattern, but supplies no precise date, people’s name, or chronological limits.
A particular story about women’s clothing in an uncertain period should therefore not become the verse’s meaning without supporting evidence.
“The former jāhiliyyah,” the earlier age or condition of ignorance, suits the base rendering. Particular dates and practices require separate historical investigation.
Does tabarruj simply mean leaving home?
The opening contains two expressions:
«وَقَرْنَ فِي بُيُوتِكُنَّ»
wa-qarna fī buyūtikunna
«وَلَا تَبَرَّجْنَ»
wa-lā tabarrajna
They are related but not lexically identical.
The first concerns remaining in houses; the second prohibits tabarruj.
Two commands occurring together do not by themselves prove complete semantic separation: commands can overlap or reinforce one another. Here the distinction is supported by lexical witnesses to displaying adornment and by غَيْرَ مُتَبَرِّجَاتٍ بِزِينَةٍ in Al-Nūr 24:60.
Leaving home may provide a setting for tabarruj in some circumstances, but the verb does not lexically mean going out alone.
Al-Nūr 24:60 makes this clearer: certain older women can set aside garments under specified conditions without engaging in tabarruj.
Being visible before others and tabarruj are thus not wholly identical concepts.
The audience and limits of generalization
The address in Al-Aḥzāb 33:32 begins يَا نِسَاءَ النَّبِيِّ, “O wives of the Prophet.”
It states that, if mindful, the Prophet’s wives are not like other women, followed by particular instructions to them.
The immediate audience of Al-Aḥzāb 33:33 is therefore the Prophet’s wives. That cannot be omitted from analysis.
Tabarruj itself is not confined to them, however: Al-Nūr 24:60 also uses it concerning older women.
Two questions must be distinguished: the word’s semantic range in the Qur’an and the binding scope of each particular instruction in Al-Aḥzāb 33:33.
A shared word does not instantly establish that every detail addressed to the Prophet’s wives applies identically to all women in all circumstances. Relevant verses on covering, adornment, and addressees require independent examination.
Conversely, one verse’s particular audience does not mean tabarruj lacks any wider Qur’anic use.
7. غَيْرَ مُتَبَرِّجَاتٍ بِزِينَةٍ: adornment and older women
Al-Nūr 24:60
وَالْقَوَاعِدُ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ اللَّاتِي لَا يَرْجُونَ نِكَاحًا فَلَيْسَ عَلَيْهِنَّ جُنَاحٌ أَنْ يَضَعْنَ ثِيَابَهُنَّ غَيْرَ مُتَبَرِّجَاتٍ بِزِينَةٍ ۖ وَأَنْ يَسْتَعْفِفْنَ خَيْرٌ لَهُنَّ ۗ وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
wa-l-qawāʿidu mina al-nisāʾi allātī lā yarjūna nikāḥan fa-laysa ʿalayhinna junāḥun an yaḍaʿna thiyābahunna ghayra mutabarrijātin bi-zīnatin wa-an yastaʿfifna khayrun lahunna wa-llāhu samīʿun ʿalīmun
Translation: “Older women who no longer expect marriage incur no blame if they set aside their garments without displaying adornment. To exercise restraint is better for them. The God is Hearing, Knowing.”
The morphology of mutabarrijāt
مُتَبَرِّجَاتٍ is the feminine plural of the active participle مُتَبَرِّجَة, from تَبَرَّجَ.
In غَيْرَ مُتَبَرِّجَاتٍ بِزِينَةٍ, غَيْرَ is an accusative circumstantial expression and mutabarrijāt its genitive complement. Mutabarrijāt is genitive with kasrah here; the accusative circumstantial role belongs to ghayr.
The phrase specifies the women’s condition when setting aside garments: they should not be displaying adornment.
بِزِينَةٍ matters as it further specifies the object of the display.
Mutabarrijāt alone would introduce display or making adornment visible. Bi-zīnah explicitly names adornment within the phrase.
Zīnah’s meaning should therefore not be extracted from B R J while the separate word is ignored.
What garments does thiyābahunna denote?
ثِيَاب is the plural of ثَوْب, “garment.” The contextual question concerns how much clothing is being set aside.
Most early exegetical reports relate the permission to outer coverings, such as a cloak or jilbāb.
Al-Ṭabarī transmits different reports about the covering: one discusses the outer layer above the khimār, while another also brings the khimār itself into the discussion.
That variation shows that identifying the exact garment goes beyond B R J.
The verse’s own construction nevertheless clearly conditions setting aside garments through غَيْرَ مُتَبَرِّجَاتٍ بِزِينَةٍ.
The permission should therefore not be detached from that condition and converted into permission for every display of adornment or complete nakedness.
Nor should the base translation independently insert precise garment types or bodily boundaries that the verse does not name.
Setting aside a covering and displaying adornment
The verse is particularly relevant to tabarruj’s meaning.
It permits a particular group of women, in specified circumstances, to set aside garments while requiring avoidance of tabarruj.
The two acts are therefore not semantically identical.
Someone may set aside a covering because of heat, work, age, or a practical need without seeking to display adornment.
Conversely, tabarruj can occur through conspicuous ornament or attention-attracting conduct, rather than being restricted to one garment or complete lack of covering.
The distinction alone does not establish the ruling for every covering. Other verses also concern adornment and clothing, including Al-Nūr 24:31 and Al-Aḥzāb 33:59; their relationship requires a broader study.
وَأَنْ يَسْتَعْفِفْنَ خَيْرٌ لَهُنَّ
The provision ends by saying that restraint is better for these women.
This distinguishes removal of blame from preferring a particular course.
The verse first removes blame from setting aside garments under specified conditions, then identifies restraint as better.
A better course should not instantly turn the other permitted course into a prohibition.
This matters for understanding Qur’anic provisions, but does not come from tabarruj alone. فَلَيْسَ عَلَيْهِنَّ جُنَاحٌ and وَأَنْ يَسْتَعْفِفْنَ خَيْرٌ لَهُنَّ each have their own role.
9. Translation proposals for Forqan
“Tower” is the main architectural equivalent of burj. In celestial contexts, retaining burūj with an explanation preserves the term’s range without forcing one technical identification.
In Al-Nisāʾ 4:78, burūj mushayyadah can be “fortified towers” or “lofty, fortified towers.” The first is concise and preserves the adjective; further details can be explained separately.
In Al-Ḥijr 15:16, Al-Furqān 25:61, and Al-Burūj 85:1, the study can explain burūj through celestial divisions or recognized stations without imposing one model on the base wording.
“The twelve constellations” restricts the base translation despite the absence of a number or names. “Heavenly palaces” is likewise a lexical and exegetical reading, rather than a proven physical description to insert into the translation.
For تَبَرَّجَ, “display oneself,” “display one’s adornment,” or “make one’s beauty conspicuous” can suit the context.
For وَلا تَبَرَّجْنَ تَبَرُّجَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ الْأُولَىٰ in Al-Aḥzāb 33:33, “do not display yourselves as in the display of the former jāhiliyyah” preserves the verb and verbal noun.
For غَيْرَ مُتَبَرِّجَاتٍ بِزِينَةٍ in Al-Nūr 24:60, “without displaying adornment” is natural because the verse itself explicitly names adornment.
A short gloss of tabarruj should not insert a particular garment, bodily part, cosmetic practice, or social behavior unless explicitly supplied by the expression or its context.
Those details belong to a separate study of covering and adornment.
10. Conclusion
B R J occurs seven times in six Qur’anic verses: four nouns burūj and three form V uses—a verb, verbal noun, and active participle.
Early Arabic shows two prominent semantic fields: visibility and display, and towers or elevated, protected positions.
In Al-Nisāʾ 4:78, burūj are fortified towers where people may seek protection, yet even such buildings cannot prevent death absolutely.
Al-Ḥijr 15:16, Al-Furqān 25:61, and Al-Burūj 85:1 use the noun celestially. Early interpretations include stars, solar and lunar stations, and heavenly palaces. The verses establish celestial burūj, but their exact number and identity within one astronomical system require independent evidence.
Al-Aḥzāb 33:33 uses the verb and verbal noun for the former jāhiliyyah’s display. Al-Nūr 24:60 uses mutabarrijāt bi-zīnah concerning adornment in a provision for older women.
Both connect tabarruj with displaying adornment and beauty without making every social presence, visibility, or possession of adornment tabarruj.
A proposed derivation likewise should not reduce tabarruj to a woman’s leaving home or equate it lexically with every lack of covering.
A suitable final definition for Forqan:
B R J has two recognized Arabic semantic fields: prominence and visibility, and towers or elevated, protected positions. Qur’anic burūj denotes fortified earthly towers and celestial burūj. Tabarruj concerns display and making adornment and beauty visible. Visibility offers an intelligible connection between the uses, but each form requires its own context. Burūj alone establishes no precise astronomical system, and tabarruj alone supplies none of the complete details of provisions concerning covering and social conduct.