The Qur’anic Root J ʾ R

1. Root forms and the semantic core

The basic verb is جَأَرَ (jaʾara), with the imperfect يَجْأَرُ (yajʾaru) and the verbal nouns جَأْر (jaʾr) and جُؤَار (juʾār).

The Qur’an contains three occurrences, all Form I verbs:

Quranic Arabic Corpus: three Form I verb occurrences

• تَجْأَرُونَ (tajʾarūna): you cry for help; Al-Naḥl 16:53.
• يَجْأَرُونَ (yajʾarūna): they cry for help; Al-Muʾminūn 23:64.
• تَجْأَرُوا (tajʾarū): cry for help, in the prohibition لَا تَجْأَرُوا (lā tajʾarū) at Al-Muʾminūn 23:65.

None of these occurrences is an independent noun or verbal noun. Their differences concern verb form, addressee, and grammatical construction, rather than three separate lexical meanings.

The root’s main sense in human uses may be expressed as:

Raising a voice in lamentation or crying out in need and helplessness, especially to request help and deliverance from distress.

This definition joins two features: the audible, manifest cry and the situation of need and appeal. Nonhuman uses are broader and cannot all be reduced to requesting help.

2. Early Arabic usage and the root’s imagery

Animal sounds and human cries

Arabic lexicons record جُؤَار (juʾār) for the sounds of bulls and cows. They give:

«جَأَرَ الثَّوْرُ يَجْأَرُ جُؤَارًا»

jaʾara al-thawru yajʾaru juʾāran

That is, the bull raised its loud call.

Lexicographers compare this use with خُوَار (khuwār), also the sound of cattle. The latter occurs in the description of the calf of Moses’ people at Al-Aʿrāf 7:148 and Ṭā Hā 20:88.

The comparison shows the prominence of an audible sound in one early use. When applied to people, the sound accompanies lamentation, humble pleading, or an appeal for help.

Thaʿlab explains the human use as raising the voice in supplication. Al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī likewise connects it with intense supplication and humble pleading, comparing it to animal cries.

Al-Rāghib’s Al-Mufradāt and lexical sources: voice, supplication, and humble pleading

This comparison does not mean that every human use refers to a cow’s sound. The resemblance concerns the raised, intense voice, rather than identical human and animal sounds.

A witness from early poetry

A poem attributed to Rabīʿah ibn Maqrūm al-Ḍabbī, who lived through both the pre-Islamic and Islamic periods, describes a monk spending the night in worship:

«جَأَّارِ سَاعَاتِ النِّيَامِ لِرَبِّهِ
حَتَّى تَخَدَّدَ لَحْمُهُ مُسْتَعْمَلِ»

jaʾʾāri sāʿāti al-niyāmi li-rabbihi / ḥattā takhaddada laḥmuhu mustaʿmali

That is: “In the hours when others sleep, he repeatedly calls loudly to his Lord, until his flesh has become worn and furrowed through exertion in worship.”

جَأَّار (jaʾʾār) is an intensive form on the pattern فَعَّال (faʿʿāl), expressing repeated or intense crying out. Here it describes the monk mentioned in the preceding line and is read with kasrah, جَأَّارِ (jaʾʾāri). Transmissions also use the spelling جآر (jaʾʾār); making the hamzah and doubling explicit clarifies the word’s formation. The poet describes lamentation and a raised voice, rather than quiet recitation alone.

Al-Aghānī: Rabīʿah’s witness, the intensive form, and its adjectival role

The verse helps document early literary usage. Since the poet lived across the two periods and the date of this particular line is not independently established, it cannot confidently be called pre-Qur’anic. Al-Aghānī transmits it within an amorous image: the monk’s description forms part of an image of the beloved’s beauty and its effect, rather than making the entire passage an independent prayer.

Al-Aghānī: the lines’ amorous setting and attribution to Rabīʿah ibn Maqrūm

Other uses: vegetation, rain, and the throat

Lexical sources record further uses in this family, including:

جَأَرَ النَّبْتُ (jaʾara al-nabt) for vegetation growing tall; جَأَرَتِ الْأَرْضُ بِالنَّبَاتِ (jaʾarati al-arḍu bi-al-nabāt) for land whose vegetation has risen; and نَبْتٌ جَأْرٌ (nabtun jaʾrun) for plentiful, fresh, or tall-grown plants.

غَيْثٌ جُؤَرٌ (ghaythun juʾarun) is recorded for abundant rain and, in another explanation, noisy rain. These should not be presented as one unanimously accepted definition. Under J ʾ R, الجَائِر (al-jāʾir) is also associated with an internal surging sensation, choking, or throat burning. These uses must be distinguished from jāʾir meaning unjust under J W R, and from certain identical-looking expressions under J Y R.

Tāj al-ʿArūs: vegetation, rain, and the bodily sense of jāʾir

The family is therefore not restricted to human appeals for help. Its other uses, however, do not establish that “rising,” “spreading,” or “internal pressure” is the single certain origin of every branch.

Al-Muʿjam al-Wasīṭ: distinguishing jāʾir under J ʾ R, J W R, and J Y R

The sound use highlights an audible cry; the plant use concerns height and growth; the throat use concerns a bodily condition. Their precise historical relationship requires independent evidence.

For understanding the Qur’anic uses, the documented meaning of crying out and appealing for help is consequently the firmer starting point.

3. Qur’anic occurrences

Al-Naḥl 16:53: turning to God in hardship

وَمَا بِكُم مِّن نِّعْمَةٍ فَمِنَ اللَّهِ ثُمَّ إِذَا مَسَّكُمُ الضُّرُّ فَإِلَيْهِ تَجْأَرُونَ

wa-mā bikum min niʿmatin fa-mina Allāhi thumma idhā massakumu al-ḍurru fa-ilayhi tajʾarūna

“Whatever blessing you have is from The God; then, when harm touches you, you turn to Him, crying for help.”

The verse places enjoyment of blessing alongside being afflicted by hardship. In ordinary circumstances, a person may overlook the blessing’s source; when distress takes hold, the need for help becomes manifest.

In فَإِلَيْهِ تَجْأَرُونَ (fa-ilayhi tajʾarūna), إِلَيْهِ (ilayhi) precedes the verb, foregrounding the direction of the appeal: in that situation the cry for help is directed toward Him.

The continuation also matters. Al-Naḥl 16:54 says that, once hardship is removed, a group of those addressed again associates partners with their Lord.

A cry in adversity therefore does not itself guarantee lasting commitment to truth. Someone may turn to God when helpless and return to earlier conduct once the problem is removed.

Jaʾr here expresses the intense appeal for help, while the following verse raises the question of fidelity after deliverance. The matters are related but distinct.

Al-Muʾminūn 23:64: a sudden cry under punishment

حَتَّىٰ إِذَا أَخَذْنَا مُتْرَفِيهِمْ بِالْعَذَابِ إِذَا هُمْ يَجْأَرُونَ

ḥattā idhā akhadhnā mutrafīhim bi-al-ʿadhābi idhā hum yajʾarūna

“Until, when We seize their pampered, affluent people with punishment, suddenly they cry for help.”

The cry follows the onset of punishment. إِذَا هُمْ يَجْأَرُونَ (idhā hum yajʾarūna) highlights the sudden response: people previously enjoying ease now face circumstances driving them to cries and appeals.

مُتْرَفِيهِمْ (mutrafīhim) also matters. The verse identifies their affluent, pampered people; it does not apply that description indiscriminately to everyone.

Unlike Al-Naḥl 16:53, this verse does not specify the direction of the cry with ilā. Context supports an appeal for deliverance and assistance, but “toward God” should not be inserted into the base translation as though explicitly present in this verse.

Al-Muʾminūn 23:65: a cry that no longer brings help

لَا تَجْأَرُوا الْيَوْمَ إِنَّكُم مِّنَّا لَا تُنصَرُونَ

lā tajʾarū al-yawma innakum minnā lā tunṣarūna

“Do not cry for help today; you will not be helped by Us.”

The verse directly continues the preceding scene. Those crying out under punishment receive a response announcing that help will not arrive.

لَا تَجْأَرُوا الْيَوْمَ (lā tajʾarū al-yawm) concerns that group and that situation. It cannot establish a universal ban on raising the voice in prayer or asking God for assistance.

The next clause clarifies the central point: إِنَّكُم مِّنَّا لَا تُنصَرُونَ (innakum minnā lā tunṣarūna). The matter is more than volume: the cry no longer brings the expected help.

The subsequent verses also recall their earlier conduct. Al-Muʾminūn 23:66 speaks of God’s signs being recited to them and their turning away. The response at Al-Muʾminūn 23:65 cannot therefore be understood independently of that history.

4. Distinguishing a cry for help from humility and sincere return

Does jaʾr invariably mean sincere humble pleading and an inward return to God?

Another verse in Al-Muʾminūn helps examine the question:

وَلَقَدْ أَخَذْنَاهُم بِالْعَذَابِ فَمَا اسْتَكَانُوا لِرَبِّهِمْ وَمَا يَتَضَرَّعُونَ

wa-la-qad akhadhnāhum bi-al-ʿadhābi fa-mā istakānū li-rabbihim wa-mā yataḍarraʿūna

“We indeed seized them with punishment, but they did not humble themselves before their Lord, nor do they plead humbly.” (Al-Muʾminūn 23:76)

Al-Muʾminūn 23:64 and Al-Muʾminūn 23:65 describe a group crying out under punishment, while Al-Muʾminūn 23:76 reports an absence of humility and humble pleading before their Lord.

Comparing these verses alone does not establish an identical event or stage. They should not be used to create an absolute lexical divide or exclude all humble pleading from jaʾr: the dictionaries themselves explain it through taḍarruʿ as well. The limited, clear conclusion is that a loud cry alone does not prove inward sincerity or lasting commitment.

Al-Rāghib: jaʾr explained through supplication and humble pleading

Jaʾr can express an outward response to pressure and helplessness. Taḍarruʿ in religious use involves expressed humility, asking, and turning toward. They may coincide and explain one another lexically; hearing a cry, however, does not prove sincere repentance or lasting commitment after deliverance.

A person may cry out in fear of consequences without abandoning the conduct itself. Someone else may sincerely and humbly request help without a loud voice.

Thus, the intensity of a cry is not a conclusive measure of sincere prayer or repentance. The Qur’an also directs attention to conduct and one’s response to truth: Al-Naḥl 16:54 concerns conduct after relief, and Al-Muʾminūn 23:66 recalls the addressees’ earlier turning away.

5. Related roots and structural points

ج أ ر and ج ه ر (J ʾ R and J H R)

Study of J H R

In speech, jahr concerns making something open or saying it aloud. Someone may speak openly or loudly without distress or an appeal for assistance.

Qur’anic jaʾr, by contrast, accompanies cries arising from adversity and the need for help. It may have an audible, manifest character, but not every open or loud statement can be called jaʾr.

ج أ ر and ص ر خ (J ʾ R and Ṣ R KH)

Study of Ṣ R KH (Not yet published)

Ṣ R KH also concerns cries and sounds. Fāṭir 35:37 uses يَصْطَرِخُونَ (yaṣṭarikhūna) for people crying under punishment and requesting release.

The scene resembles jaʾr in Al-Muʾminūn. The Ṣ R KH family, however, also includes responding to appeals: مُصْرِخ (muṣrikh) at Ibrāhīm 14:22 means a rescuer or one who answers a cry for help.

The roots overlap in some situations, but are not interchangeable in all constructions and derivatives.

ج أ ر and ض ر ع (J ʾ R and Ḍ R ʿ)

Study of Ḍ R ʿ (Not yet published)

In prayer, taḍarruʿ emphasizes expressed humility and pleading, while jaʾr also clearly expresses crying out and appealing for help.

The difference must not be made absolute. Human jaʾr can accompany taḍarruʿ, and dictionaries use them to explain one another. The necessary distinction is between the audible expression of an appeal and conclusions about sincerity or lasting return, rather than a complete separation of the words’ semantic fields.

Distinguishing ج أ ر from ج و ر (J ʾ R and J W R)

Study of J W R (Not yet published)

The roots J ʾ R and J W R are distinct.

Jawr in its familiar use concerns deviation from a path or justice, and wrongdoing. Qur’anic jaʾr expresses crying for help.

Unvocalized resemblance or similar sounds do not establish one root. In particular, jāʾir meaning unjust must not be assigned to Qur’anic J ʾ R on spelling resemblance alone.

The role of grammatical structure

At Al-Naḥl 16:53, تَجْأَرُونَ (tajʾarūna) is imperfect, second-person plural. يَجْأَرُونَ (yajʾarūna) at Al-Muʾminūn 23:64 is the corresponding third-person plural.

At Al-Muʾminūn 23:65, لَا تَجْأَرُوا (lā tajʾarū) is prohibitive; the imperfect’s final nūn is omitted because of the jussive. The morphology does not change the root’s basic meaning, but changes a report of behavior into a prohibition.

الْيَوْمَ (al-yawm) also matters, locating the prohibition within the scene and time under discussion.

6. Translation proposals for Forqan

“Cry for help” and “raise a cry for deliverance” are suitable for the Qur’anic uses, preserving both the audible aspect and the situation of need and appeal.

“Lament and weep” may fit some contexts but does not clearly express seeking help on its own. “Ask for help” conveys the general request, but may omit the cry’s intensity and prominence.

The following renderings are proposed:

Al-Naḥl 16:53: “Then you turn to Him, crying for help.”

Al-Muʾminūn 23:64: “Suddenly they cry for help.”

Al-Muʾminūn 23:65: “Do not cry for help today.”

In Al-Naḥl, “toward Him” comes from the explicit فَإِلَيْهِ (fa-ilayhi). At Al-Muʾminūn 23:64, the addressee of the cry should not be inserted into the Arabic wording without identifying the interpretive addition.

Conclusion

Qur’anic J ʾ R describes a cry or lament raised for help under pressure, distress, or punishment. The audible aspect and appeal for assistance are joined.

Early Arabic records other uses, from animal sounds to growing plants and bodily sensations. These belong to the lexical field, but cannot all be traced to one material image without adequate evidence.

Al-Naḥl 16:53 depicts turning to God in hardship; Al-Muʾminūn 23:64 depicts a sudden cry under punishment; Al-Muʾminūn 23:65 describes a situation in which the cry no longer brings help.

Jaʾr should consequently not be reduced to “praying” or “inward humble pleading.” In these verses it foregrounds a cry for help and deliverance in helplessness. Such a cry may accompany a sincere return to God, but the word itself establishes neither inward sincerity nor lasting commitment to truth after relief.