The Qur’anic Root Ḍ L L

A witness from early poetry: guidance and ḍalāl

The lexicons transmit a poetic witness contrasting guidance and ḍalāl, which they attribute to the period before Islam.

Lisān al-ʿArab quotes the following verse from Labīd and assigns it to his pre-Islamic poetry. This dating is the report of that source:

مَنْ هَدَاهُ سُبُلَ الْخَيْرِ اهْتَدَى
نَاعِمَ الْبَالِ وَمَنْ شَاءَ أَضَلّ

Man hadā-hu subula l-khayri htadā / nāʿima l-bāli wa-man shāʾa aḍall.

Here, guidance to the paths of good stands opposite leading astray. The verse is a witness within the lexicographical tradition to the association of ḍalāl with a path and direction. Its pre-Islamic dating should likewise remain attributed to that source, rather than presented as an independently established certainty.

Early Arabic also distinguishes something becoming lost from a person losing it. Something ضَلَّ (ḍalla): it became lost or passed out of reach. A person أَضَلَّ (aḍalla) something: they lost or wasted it.

This range matters for Qur’anic usage, since aḍalla is not used only for leading people astray. It also takes deeds as its object:

أَضَلَّ أَعْمَالَهُمْ

Aḍalla aʿmāla-hum.

That is, He deprived their deeds of their intended result and effect.

The root’s underlying image therefore extends beyond “incorrect belief”: something loses its way, place, accessibility, or outcome.

Losing the way, disappearing, and losing the result

One of the clearest Qur’anic uses concerns the path itself:

وَمَنْ يَتَبَدَّلِ الْكُفْرَ بِالْإِيمَانِ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ سَوَاءَ السَّبِيلِ

Wa-man yatabaddali l-kufra bi-l-īmāni fa-qad ḍalla sawāʾa s-sabīl.

“Whoever chooses kufr in place of faith has lost the right way.”

Al-Baqarah 2:108

And:

وَضَلُّوا عَنْ سَوَاءِ السَّبِيلِ

Wa-ḍallū ʿan sawāʾi s-sabīl.

“And they departed from the right way.”

Al-Māʾidah 5:77

Here, ḍalāl is expressed through the image of a path, although the context concerns faith and human conduct. Sawāʾ as-sabīl points to the middle or direct course of the path; “the right way” is a natural rendering here. It should not automatically be taken to mean moderation between two positions.

The Qur’an also uses this root in senses that do not themselves denote religious deviation, even when they appear in a religious narrative or context.

In the story of the garden owners:

فَلَمَّا رَأَوْهَا قَالُوا إِنَّا لَضَالُّونَ ۝ بَلْ نَحْنُ مَحْرُومُونَ

Fa-lammā raʾaw-hā qālū innā la-ḍāllūn. Bal naḥnu maḥrūmūn.

“When they saw it, they said, ‘We must have lost our way. Rather, we have been deprived.’”

Al-Qalam 68:26, 68:27

On the familiar reading of this passage, they find the garden so changed that they initially think they have taken the wrong route. ضالون (ḍāllūn) means “having lost the way” under this reading. That explanation comes from the situation in the story, rather than the word’s form alone.

In other verses, things that people relied upon disappear from their reach:

وَضَلَّ عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَفْتَرُونَ

Wa-ḍalla ʿan-hum mā kānū yaftarūn.

“And what they used to fabricate vanished from them.”

Al-Anʿām 6:24

And:

وَضَلَّ عَنْكُمْ مَا كُنْتُمْ تَزْعُمُونَ

Wa-ḍalla ʿan-kum mā kuntum tazʿumūn.

“And what you used to claim was lost to you.”

Al-Anʿām 6:94

The construction ضَلَّ عَنْهُمْ (ḍalla ʿan-hum) does not mean that those things became religiously misguided. They are no longer present or available to those who relied on them.

In Al-Sajdah, those denying resurrection say:

أَإِذَا ضَلَلْنَا فِي الْأَرْضِ أَإِنَّا لَفِي خَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ

A-idhā ḍalalnā fī l-arḍi a-innā la-fī khalqin jadīd.

“When we have become lost and dispersed in the earth, will we really be in a new creation?”

Al-Sajdah 32:10

In the soil, the body loses its formerly recognizable form. ضللنا في الأرض (ḍalalnā fī l-arḍ) need not mean absolute nonexistence. It describes something becoming lost, dispersed, and unrecognizable in the earth.

The same range extends to recollection and accurate retention:

أَنْ تَضِلَّ إِحْدَاهُمَا فَتُذَكِّرَ إِحْدَاهُمَا الْأُخْرَىٰ

An taḍilla iḥdā-humā fa-tudhakkira iḥdā-humā l-ukhrā.

“So that, if one of the two errs, the other may remind her.”

Al-Baqarah 2:282

Here, taḍilla has nothing to do with changing religion. The verb responding to it is:

فَتُذَكِّرَ

Fa-tudhakkira.

One may lose track of what she should remember accurately, or make an error concerning it, and the other reminds her.

Ṭā Hā states:

عِلْمُهَا عِنْدَ رَبِّي فِي كِتَابٍ لَا يَضِلُّ رَبِّي وَلَا يَنْسَى

ʿIlmu-hā ʿinda rabbī fī kitābin lā yaḍillu rabbī wa-lā yansā.

“Knowledge of them is with my Lord in a book. My Lord neither errs nor forgets.”

Ṭā Hā 20:52

In this context, يضل (yaḍillu) can be understood as error or a failure of accurate retention, and ينسى (yansā) as forgetting. However, the conjunction of two verbs does not by itself prove that they cannot be synonymous. The interpretive sources record both a distinction and a close correspondence between their meanings here. This distinction should therefore be treated as a contextual analysis, not an absolute boundary governing every use.

Human effort can also ḍalla:

الَّذِينَ ضَلَّ سَعْيُهُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ يَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ يُحْسِنُونَ صُنْعًا

Alladhīna ḍalla saʿyu-hum fī l-ḥayāti d-dunyā wa-hum yaḥsabūna anna-hum yuḥsinūna ṣunʿā.

“Those whose effort in worldly life has gone to waste, while they think they are doing good work.”

Al-Kahf 18:104

ضَلَّ سَعْيُهُمْ (ḍalla saʿyu-hum) means that their effort has not reached its intended destination and result.

The same field appears in:

أَضَلَّ أَعْمَالَهُمْ

Aḍalla aʿmāla-hum.

as seen in:

الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَصَدُّوا عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَضَلَّ أَعْمَالَهُمْ

Alladhīna kafarū wa-ṣaddū ʿan sabīli llāhi aḍalla aʿmāla-hum.

“Those who committed kufr and barred [others] from the way of The God—He brought their deeds to nothing.”

Muḥammad 47:1

And, in contrast:

وَالَّذِينَ قُتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ فَلَنْ يُضِلَّ أَعْمَالَهُمْ

Wa-lladhīna qutilū fī sabīli llāhi fa-lan yuḍilla aʿmāla-hum.

“Those killed in the way of The God—He will never let their deeds go to waste.”

Muḥammad 47:4

The object here is deeds. Iḍlāl does not mean making deeds doctrinally misguided; their result and effect are lost or preserved.

In Al-Fīl:

أَلَمْ يَجْعَلْ كَيْدَهُمْ فِي تَضْلِيلٍ

A-lam yajʿal kayda-hum fī taḍlīl.

“Did He not bring their scheme to ruin and futility?”

Al-Fīl 105:2

تضليل (taḍlīl) here concerns a scheme that fails to reach its goal.

These uses share a recognizable pattern: something loses its proper relationship to a destination, accessibility, or outcome.

Ḍalāl and ḍalālah: two verbal nouns without a fixed semantic boundary

The Qur’an uses both ضَلَال (ḍalāl) and ضَلَالَة (ḍalālah).

Arabic recognizes both as verbal nouns of this root. Both can occupy the field opposite guidance and sound direction. Their different forms alone therefore do not establish two distinct, fixed meanings.

ضَلَال (ḍalāl) frequently appears in Qur’anic constructions such as:

فِي ضَلَالٍ مُبِينٍ

Fī ḍalālin mubīn.

فِي ضَلَالٍ بَعِيدٍ

Fī ḍalālin baʿīd.

Or as a verbal noun following its own verb:

ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا بَعِيدًا

Ḍalla ḍalālan baʿīdā.

And:

ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا مُبِينًا

Ḍalla ḍalālan mubīnā.

In these constructions, ḍalāl broadly expresses a condition of being off course or movement in the wrong direction.

ضَلَالَة (ḍalālah) also occurs in several constructions:

أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ اشْتَرَوُا الضَّلَالَةَ بِالْهُدَىٰ

Ulāʾika lladhīna shtarawu ḍ-ḍalālata bi-l-hudā.

Al-Baqarah 2:16

يَشْتَرُونَ الضَّلَالَةَ

Yashtarūna ḍ-ḍalālah.

Al-Nisāʾ 4:44

فَرِيقًا هَدَىٰ وَفَرِيقًا حَقَّ عَلَيْهِمُ الضَّلَالَةُ

Farīqan hadā wa-farīqan ḥaqqa ʿalayhimu ḍ-ḍalālah.

Al-Aʿrāf 7:30

And:

قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ لَيْسَ بِي ضَلَالَةٌ

Qāla yā qawmi laysa bī ḍalālah.

Al-Aʿrāf 7:61

Also:

وَمَا أَنْتَ بِهَادِي الْعُمْيِ عَنْ ضَلَالَتِهِمْ

Wa-mā anta bi-hādi l-ʿumyi ʿan ḍalālati-him.

Al-Naml 27:81

In these examples, ḍalālah names the error or misguidance under discussion: something purchased, a condition that has become due upon a group, or an error denied of someone. These constructions do not in themselves establish a meaning exclusive to ḍalālah as opposed to ḍalāl.

These are differences in sentence structure and usage. They are insufficient to establish a fixed semantic difference between the two verbal nouns.

It cannot be said that ḍalāl must denote a process and ḍalālah must denote a state: Qur’anic usage overlaps too much. The same language that says:

فِي ضَلَالٍ مُبِينٍ

Fī ḍalālin mubīn.

can also say:

فِي الضَّلَالَةِ

Fī ḍ-ḍalālah.

Both belong to the field of losing the way and error.

Translation should not manufacture two separate concepts to distinguish the forms. The choice among “misguidance,” “error,” “being lost,” or other expressions should depend more on context than on the difference between ḍalāl and ḍalālah.

Ḍalāl is not always religious misguidance

The word’s religious force is real in many verses, but the root alone does not mean kufr or shirk.

Joseph’s brothers say of their father:

إِنَّ أَبَانَا لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُبِينٍ

Inna abā-nā la-fī ḍalālin mubīn.

“Our father is clearly in error.”

Yūsuf 12:8

The issue is Jacob’s greater love for Joseph and his brother:

لَيُوسُفُ وَأَخُوهُ أَحَبُّ إِلَىٰ أَبِينَا مِنَّا

La-Yūsufu wa-akhū-hu aḥabbu ilā abī-nā min-nā.

They are not accusing their father of kufr or doctrinal deviation. In their view, his judgment concerning his children is mistaken.

Later, when Jacob senses Joseph’s scent, they say:

تَاللَّهِ إِنَّكَ لَفِي ضَلَالِكَ الْقَدِيمِ

Ta-llāhi inna-ka la-fī ḍalāli-ka l-qadīm.

“By The God, you are still in your old error.”

Yūsuf 12:95

Again, the issue concerns his belief and expectation about Joseph.

Moses also says:

قَالَ فَعَلْتُهَا إِذًا وَأَنَا مِنَ الضَّالِّينَ

Qāla faʿaltu-hā idhan wa-anā mina ḍ-ḍāllīn.

“He said, ‘I did it then, when I was among the ḍāllīn.’”

Al-Shuʿarāʾ 26:20

Ḍāllīn does not itself establish that Moses was a disbeliever or associated partners with The God. Error, lack of knowledge, or lack of a proper direction are natural possibilities in this context. The more precise meaning must be understood from Moses’ story.

The same caution is needed in Al-Ḍuḥā:

وَوَجَدَكَ ضَالًّا فَهَدَىٰ

Wa-wajada-ka ḍāllan fa-hadā.

“And He found you ḍāllan, then guided you.”

Al-Ḍuḥā 93:7

The contrast between ضال / هدى (ḍāll / hadā) is clear. It concerns not having or finding a way to which guidance subsequently leads. But ḍāll does not itself establish that the person had previously associated partners with The God or denied Him.

Elsewhere, the Qur’an says of the Prophet:

مَا كُنْتَ تَدْرِي مَا الْكِتَابُ وَلَا الْإِيمَانُ وَلَٰكِنْ جَعَلْنَاهُ نُورًا نَهْدِي بِهِ مَنْ نَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا

Mā kunta tadrī mā l-kitābu wa-lā l-īmānu wa-lākin jaʿalnā-hu nūran nahdī bi-hi man nashāʾu min ʿibādi-nā.

“You did not know what the Book was, nor faith; but We made it a light by which We guide whomever We will of Our servants.”

Al-Shūrā 42:52

This verse at least shows that not possessing revealed guidance before receiving it is a situation the Qur’an itself describes. The word ḍāll alone should not be made to establish more than that.

The same principle applies to:

غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ

Ghayri l-maghḍūbi ʿalayhim wa-lā ḍ-ḍāllīn.

Al-Fātiḥah 1:7

as well.

الضالين (al-ḍāllīn), at the lexical level, means those in a condition of ḍalāl. The form is not, in itself, the name of a particular historical people, religion, or sect. Identifying possible referents is a separate question.

Aḍalla: leading astray or bringing something to nothing

Form IV of this root, أَضَلَّ / يُضِلُّ (aḍalla / yuḍillu), has a causative meaning in many verses: causing someone else to lose the way.

Of Pharaoh, the Qur’an says:

وَأَضَلَّ فِرْعَوْنُ قَوْمَهُ وَمَا هَدَىٰ

Wa-aḍalla Firʿawnu qawma-hu wa-mā hadā.

“Pharaoh led his people astray and did not guide them.”

Ṭā Hā 20:79

Of the Sāmirī:

وَأَضَلَّهُمُ السَّامِرِيُّ

Wa-aḍalla-humu s-Sāmirī.

“And the Sāmirī led them astray.”

Ṭā Hā 20:85

Of Satan:

وَلَأُضِلَّنَّهُمْ وَلَأُمَنِّيَنَّهُمْ

Wa-la-uḍillanna-hum wa-la-umanniyanna-hum.

“I will certainly lead them astray, and I will certainly arouse desires in them.”

Al-Nisāʾ 4:119

And:

يُضِلُّوكَ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ

Yuḍillū-ka ʿan sabīli llāh.

“They will lead you away from the way of The God.”

Al-Anʿām 6:116

The preposition عن (ʿan, “away from”) makes the direction clear: the person is drawn away from the path.

Nevertheless, aḍalla does not always take a person as its object. In:

أَضَلَّ أَعْمَالَهُمْ

Aḍalla aʿmāla-hum.

the object is deeds, and the meaning is rendering them wasted and fruitless.

This difference shows that even in form IV, the object is essential to determining the meaning.

With a human object, “leading astray” is a natural rendering; with “deeds,” “bringing to nothing” is more appropriate. Effort and a scheme also appeared in this field of futility, but their morphology was different: ضَلَّ سَعْيُهُمْ (ḍalla saʿyu-hum) contains a form I verb, while فِي تَضْلِيلٍ (fī taḍlīl) contains the verbal noun of form II.

When The God is the subject of iḍlāl

In several verses, The God is the subject of يضل (yuḍillu):

يُضِلُّ بِهِ كَثِيرًا وَيَهْدِي بِهِ كَثِيرًا

Yuḍillu bi-hi kathīran wa-yahdī bi-hi kathīrā.

Al-Baqarah 2:26

And:

مَنْ يُضْلِلِ اللَّهُ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ

Man yuḍlili llāhu fa-lā hādiya la-hu.

Al-Aʿrāf 7:186

Alongside this verb, the Qur’an provides further information about those who come to be in this condition.

In the same verse, Al-Baqarah 2:26:

وَمَا يُضِلُّ بِهِ إِلَّا الْفَاسِقِينَ

Wa-mā yuḍillu bi-hi illā l-fāsiqīn.

“And through it He leads none astray except the fāsiqīn”—those who transgress the bounds.

In Ibrāhīm:

وَيُضِلُّ اللَّهُ الظَّالِمِينَ

Wa-yuḍillu llāhu ẓ-ẓālimīn.

“And The God leads the wrongdoers astray.”

Ibrāhīm 14:27

In Ghāfir:

كَذَٰلِكَ يُضِلُّ اللَّهُ مَنْ هُوَ مُسْرِفٌ مُرْتَابٌ

Kadhālika yuḍillu llāhu man huwa musrifun murtāb.

“In this way The God leads astray whoever is excessive and doubtful.”

Ghāfir 40:34

And:

وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيُضِلَّ قَوْمًا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَاهُمْ حَتَّىٰ يُبَيِّنَ لَهُمْ مَا يَتَّقُونَ

Wa-mā kāna llāhu li-yuḍilla qawman baʿda idh hadā-hum ḥattā yubayyina la-hum mā yattaqūn.

“The God would not lead a people astray after guiding them unless He had made clear to them what they should guard against.”

Al-Tawbah 9:115

The root Ḍ L L does not itself settle the full mechanism of guidance and leading astray. Other verses place transgression, wrongdoing, excess, doubt, and clarification of the way within the same network of meaning.

A theological theory about human choice and the action of The God should therefore not be built into the lexical meaning of يضل (yuḍillu). The root supplies the sense of a lost way; its causes and conditions are clarified by the wider Qur’anic context.

Ḍ L L (ḍalāl), H D Y (hudā), and GH W Y (ghayy): error, guidance, and unsound direction

The clearest Qur’anic counterpart to ḍalāl is guidance.

In Al-Baqarah:

أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ اشْتَرَوُا الضَّلَالَةَ بِالْهُدَىٰ

Ulāʾika lladhīna shtarawu ḍ-ḍalālata bi-l-hudā.

“They are those who acquired misguidance in exchange for guidance.”

Al-Baqarah 2:16

In Yūnus:

فَمَنِ اهْتَدَىٰ فَإِنَّمَا يَهْتَدِي لِنَفْسِهِ وَمَنْ ضَلَّ فَإِنَّمَا يَضِلُّ عَلَيْهَا

Fa-mani htadā fa-innamā yahtadī li-nafsi-hi wa-man ḍalla fa-innamā yaḍillu ʿalay-hā.

“Whoever follows guidance does so for their own good; whoever loses the way does so to their own detriment.”

Yūnus 10:108

And:

فَمَنِ اتَّبَعَ هُدَايَ فَلَا يَضِلُّ وَلَا يَشْقَىٰ

Fa-mani ttabaʿa hudāya fa-lā yaḍillu wa-lā yashqā.

“Whoever follows My guidance will neither lose the way nor fall into misery.”

Ṭā Hā 20:123

This contrast retains the underlying image of the path:

Guidance: finding, having, or showing the way;
ḍalāl: losing or departing from it.

In Al-Najm, ḍalāl and غَيّ (ghayy) are expressed through two separate verbs:

مَا ضَلَّ صَاحِبُكُمْ وَمَا غَوَىٰ

Mā ḍalla ṣāḥibu-kum wa-mā ghawā.

“Your companion has neither lost the way nor fallen into ghayy.”

Al-Najm 53:2

They are two separate verbs.

The Qur’an also gives ghayy a clear counterpart:

قَدْ تَبَيَّنَ الرُّشْدُ مِنَ الْغَيِّ

Qad tabayyana r-rushdu mina l-ghayy.

“Sound direction has become distinct from ghayy.”

Al-Baqarah 2:256

As tendencies, then:

Ḍalāl places greater emphasis on losing the way or direction, or failing to reach the right destination;

hudā is its natural counterpart in finding and showing the way;

and:

ghayy more often stands opposite rushd, sound direction, and approaches unsound orientation and judgment.

This boundary is not absolute, and the fields of ḍalāl and ghayy overlap. The conjunction of two verbs alone does not establish a definite semantic difference. Comparison of their uses and counterparts is what explains this proposed distinction.

Translation proposals for Forqan

This root cannot be restricted to one fixed equivalent, “misguidance.”

In uses concerning a path, “losing the way” or “departing from the path” is natural. For example, ضَلَّ سَوَاءَ السَّبِيلِ (ḍalla sawāʾa s-sabīl) can be rendered “lost the right way,” and ضَلُّوا عَنْ سَوَاءِ السَّبِيلِ (ḍallū ʿan sawāʾi s-sabīl), “departed from the right way.” The image of the middle or direct course in sawāʾ should not, without grounds, be restricted to moderation between two beliefs or behaviors.

In ضَلَّ عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَفْتَرُونَ (ḍalla ʿan-hum mā kānū yaftarūn), “what they used to fabricate vanished from them” or “passed beyond their reach” is more precise than “became misguided.”

أَإِذَا ضَلَلْنَا فِي الْأَرْضِ (a-idhā ḍalalnā fī l-arḍ) can be translated “when we have become lost and dispersed in the earth.”

In أَنْ تَضِلَّ إِحْدَاهُمَا (an taḍilla iḥdā-humā), “if one of the two errs,” or, in view of the continuation, “if one forgets,” fits the context more closely.

ضَلَّ سَعْيُهُمْ (ḍalla saʿyu-hum) means “their effort went to waste,” and أَضَلَّ أَعْمَالَهُمْ (aḍalla aʿmāla-hum), “He brought their deeds to nothing.”

In فِي ضَلَالِكَ الْقَدِيمِ (fī ḍalāli-ka l-qadīm), “in your old error” preserves the force of the Joseph narrative better than “in your old religious misguidance.”

In وَوَجَدَكَ ضَالًّا فَهَدَىٰ (wa-wajada-ka ḍāllan fa-hadā), the verse’s contrast can be retained through a rendering that conveys the absence of the way subsequently shown by guidance, without automatically translating ḍāll as “one who associates partners with The God.”

Where the context clearly concerns guidance in belief and conduct, “misguidance” remains a natural translation. The point is not to eliminate this sense, but to avoid imposing it on every occurrence of the root.

Summary

The uses of Ḍ L L can be understood together through the image of becoming lost, departing from a path, or coming to nothing. A person loses the way; something disappears from reach; what should remain in memory is lost; the body becomes lost and dispersed in the earth; and effort and deeds fail to achieve their outcome. In the field of guidance, the family likewise describes losing or departing from the right way. This semantic synthesis does not, by itself, establish the historical order in which these uses arose.

Ḍalāl and ḍalālah are both verbal nouns of this family. The sentences in which they occur differ, but the evidence is insufficient to establish two independent, fixed meanings. Differences in translation should come from context, rather than morphological pattern alone.

Depending on its object, aḍalla either leads someone astray or brings the result and effect of something, such as a deed, to nothing. When The God is the subject of iḍlāl, the word alone does not explain the full cause of that condition. The Qur’an describes its associated conditions and conduct in other verses.

A concise definition of the root can be:

Ḍ L L: a family covering becoming lost, departing from a path, and coming to nothing. In different uses, a person cannot find the way, something disappears from reach or recognition, or effort and action fail to achieve a result. In the field of guidance, ḍalāl concerns remaining away from or departing from the right way, and iḍlāl concerns causing that condition; iḍlāl of deeds means bringing them to nothing. “Path, place, access, and outcome” offers a way to summarize these uses. The precise meaning is determined by the object, preposition, and context of each verse.