Qur’anic Root J B Y

1. Forms and the semantic core

J B Y is a final-weak root: its third consonant is yāʾ, which undergoes phonetic and written changes in some derivatives. Lexical sources also record forms and vocalizations with wāw in this family; the J B Y filing label should not be taken to deny them.

Early Arabic records forms including جَبَى (jabā), جَبْي (jaby), جِبَايَة (jibāyah), جَابٍ (jābin), جَابِيَة (jābiyah), جَوَابٍ (jawābin), اجْتَبَى (ijtabā), اجْتِبَاء (ijtibāʾ), and مُجْتَبًى (mujtaban). جَبَّى (jabbā) and تَجْبِيَة (tajbiyah) are also recorded for bending the body into a position resembling bowing or prostration.

The Qur’anic forms are more limited: يُجْبَى (yujbā) in Al-Qaṣaṣ 28:57, كَالْجَوَابِ (ka-al-jawābi) in Sabaʾ 34:13, and ten occurrences of forms of ijtabā.

Quranic Arabic Corpus: twelve occurrences in three forms

Forms such as يَجْتَبِي (yajtabī), يَجْتَبِيكَ (yajtabīka), اجْتَبَيْنَا (ijtabaynā), اجْتَبَاهُ (ijtabāhu), اجْتَبَاكُمْ (ijtabākum), and اجْتَبَيْتَهَا (ijtabaytahā) belong to Form VIII. They differ in tense, person, number, and attached object pronouns.

In Maqāyīs al-Lughah, Ibn Fāris identifies one principal axis: جَمْعُ الشَّيْءِ وَالتَّجَمُّع (jamʿu al-shayʾi wa-al-tajammuʿ), gathering something and coming together.

Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs: gathering and coming together

This explanation fits water, wealth, and basins. Al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī likewise begins with collecting water in a basin and explains ijtibāʾ as gathering through selection.

Not every form can nevertheless be translated “collecting” in every sentence. When God chooses someone, the concern is not simply assembling people in one place, but selecting and setting that person apart.

A defensible semantic core is gathering and obtaining something from available sources or instances. In the ijtibāʾ branch, this extends to selecting and setting apart. Brief root meaning: gathering and bringing something together; in ijtibāʾ, choosing and setting someone or something apart.

This definition must be considered against all Qur’anic uses, since one verse has a particular sense differing from ordinary selection of people.

2. Uses in early Arabic

Collecting water in a basin

One of the clearest uses concerns collecting water.

Kitāb al-ʿAyn records:

«جَبَى الْمُسْتَقِي الْمَاءَ فِي الْحَوْضِ»

jabā al-mustaqī al-māʾa fī al-ḥawḍi

That is: “The water-drawer collected the water in the basin.”

Water is transferred from somewhere to a particular place and collected there. That place may serve human drinking or watering animals.

Jābiyah names a basin where water collects, particularly a large, broad basin from which camels drink.

Arabic distinguishes the water from its collecting place. In some uses, جِبَا (jibā) concerns collected water, whereas jābiyah names its container or storage place.

جَبَا (jabā), with a different vocalization, is also recorded for the surroundings of a well or basin. Lexical accounts differ over the exact boundaries and vocalizations of these uses, so they should not all be treated as interchangeable without examining vowels and structure.

Kitāb al-ʿAyn: water, basins, ijtibāʾ, and tajbiyah

These uses suggest a clear image: something is brought from a place or source to a particular destination and gathered there.

A witness from early poetry

Al-Aʿshā, the well-known pre-Islamic poet, describes the generous table of Al-Muḥallaq’s household:

«تَرُوحُ عَلَى آلِ الْمُحَلَّقِ جَفْنَةٌ
كَجَابِيَةِ الشَّيْخِ الْعِرَاقِيِّ تَفْهَقُ»

tarūḥu ʿalā āli al-muḥallaqi jafnatun / ka-jābiyati al-shaykhi al-ʿirāqiyyi tafhaqu

That is: “Each evening a great food bowl comes to Al-Muḥallaq’s household, like the Iraqi elder’s great basin, brimming over.”

جَفْنَة (jafnah) is a large food bowl. To convey its size and abundance, the poet compares it to a jābiyah.

تَفْهَقُ (tafhaqu) concerns being full and overflowing. The image thus emphasizes the vessel’s size and the abundance of its contents.

Lexical transmissions record variants of this verse, including the phrase concerning the basin. The comparison of a great food bowl to a large basin is nevertheless clear in the principal versions. Al-Ṭabarī transmits nādī al-Muḥallaq where Al-Muḥkam has āl al-Muḥallaq; ka-jābiyati al-sayḥi is also a recorded second-hemistich variant.

This witness attributed to Al-Aʿshā shows that jābiyah was known in literary Arabic as a large basin. By itself it does not establish that this use preceded every financial or administrative use.

Al-Ṭabarī: basins and variants of Al-Aʿshā’s witness

Collecting wealth and revenues

Another use concerns wealth and revenues.

Jabā al-māla is recorded for collecting wealth, and jibāyah for the act of collecting it.

Wealth may be received from different people or places and brought together.

جَابٍ (jābin) names the person doing this: a collector of wealth or revenue.

Poetry attributed to Al-Nābighah al-Jaʿdī contains an expression concerning collecting dinars and revenue from groups of people. This shows the family’s economic and social usage. Al-Nābighah al-Jaʿdī lived across the pre-Islamic and Islamic periods; without dating the poem, it should not be treated as definite pre-Qur’anic evidence.

Al-Muḥkam and Tāj al-ʿArūs: witness attributed to Al-Nābighah al-Jaʿdī

Lexical meaning must nevertheless be distinguished from administrative terminology.

In later governmental systems especially, jibāyah was used for collecting taxes, land revenue, and other public income.

The root’s meaning is not confined to government taxation. Collecting water belongs to the same family, and Qur’anic yujbā concerns produce rather than levying taxes on people.

The administrative sense “tax collection” should therefore not be imported into the verse in Al-Qaṣaṣ.

Bending and bringing the limbs together

Lexical sources record jabbā and tajbiyah for placing the body in a bent position.

Kitāb al-ʿAyn connects tajbiyah with a posture resembling bowing and with bending down onto the face or knees.

Ibn Fāris likewise explains this usage in his discussion of gathering. In such a posture the body leaves its upright, extended position and some parts come closer together.

Maqāyīs: tajbiyah and the body gathering together

The physical image is comparable to gathering together, but it does not mean that every Qur’anic use concerns prayer, bowing, or prostration.

No Qur’anic form of this branch means bending the body. Its role in the study is to establish Arabic’s lexical range, rather than change ijtibāʾ or jibāyah in Qur’anic verses.

3. Yujbā and al-jawāb: gathering and its collecting place

Al-Qaṣaṣ 28:57: produce brought to a secure sanctuary

وَقَالُوا إِنْ نَتَّبِعِ الْهُدَىٰ مَعَكَ نُتَخَطَّفْ مِنْ أَرْضِنَا ۚ أَوَلَمْ نُمَكِّنْ لَهُمْ حَرَمًا آمِنًا يُجْبَىٰ إِلَيْهِ ثَمَرَاتُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ رِزْقًا مِنْ لَدُنَّا وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

wa-qālū in nattabiʿi al-hudā maʿaka nutakhaṭṭaf min arḍinā a-wa-lam numakkin lahum ḥaraman āminan yujbā ilayhi thamarātu kulli shayʾin rizqan min ladunnā wa-lākinna aktharahum lā yaʿlamūna

“They said: ‘If we follow guidance with you, we will be snatched from our land.’ Have We not established for them a secure sanctuary to which fruits of every kind are gathered, as provision from Us? Yet most of them do not know.”

A group speaks of fearing the loss of security in their land. They associate following guidance with the danger of being seized or driven from it.

The Qur’an’s response draws attention to the security and provision they enjoy: a secure sanctuary to which produce and fruits are brought.

Yujbā is a passive imperfect Form I verb. Thamarātu is its grammatical subject: the produce is what is gathered.

إِلَيْهِ (ilayhi) specifies the destination: the produce is brought to the secure sanctuary.

This structure matters. The verse does not say that all this produce grows in that place or arises there spontaneously; it describes its collection and arrival there.

This fits the movement of goods and human trade. The verse nevertheless does not detail a particular economic mechanism, such as caravan types, trade routes, or distribution systems.

Yujbā does not itself mean forcibly taking other people’s produce. It conveys gathering and bringing; the method of receipt and transfer is not specified by the word alone.

The principal sense here is therefore produce arriving and gathering from various sources at a particular destination.

Al-Ṭabarī: produce brought to a secure sanctuary

Sabaʾ 34:13: great vessels like basins

يَعْمَلُونَ لَهُ مَا يَشَاءُ مِنْ مَحَارِيبَ وَتَمَاثِيلَ وَجِفَانٍ كَالْجَوَابِ وَقُدُورٍ رَاسِيَاتٍ ۚ اعْمَلُوا آلَ دَاوُودَ شُكْرًا وَقَلِيلٌ مِنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُورُ

yaʿmalūna lahu mā yashāʾu min maḥārība wa-tamāthīla wa-jifānin ka-al-jawābi wa-qudūrin rāsiyātin iʿmalū āla dāwūda shukran wa-qalīlun min ʿibādiya al-shakūru

“They made for him whatever he wished: sanctuaries, statues, bowls like basins, and firmly set cooking pots. Work gratefully, household of David; few of My servants are grateful.”

The verse concerns things made for Solomon.

These include jifān and qudūr. Jifān is the plural of jafnah, a large food bowl; qudūr is the plural for cooking pots.

Ka-al-jawābi describes the vessels’ size and form.

Al-jawāb is the plural of jābiyah here and denotes large basins. The sentence thus describes vessels comparable to basins in size or capacity.

Ka- marks comparison. The verse does not say that the food vessels were literally water basins; it compares their size to basins.

This differs from Al-Qaṣaṣ 28:57. There the act of gathering is at issue; in Sabaʾ, a collecting place for water or other things is named.

Al-jawāb therefore cannot be understood through the verb’s meaning alone.

Does al-jawāb mean an answer here?

Persian and Arabic both commonly use jawāb for an answer.

Jawāb meaning “answer” belongs to J W B, whereas al-jawāb in Sabaʾ 34:13 is the plural of jābiyah, from J B Y.

These words resemble each other in unvocalized writing but differ in derivation and use.

Context also makes the distinction clear: the verse concerns large vessels and cooking pots, rather than conversation or answering.

Translating ka-al-jawābi as “like answers” therefore does not fit the sentence. Its proper meaning here is “like basins.”

Some readings retain the final yāʾ in كَالْجَوَابِي (ka-al-jawābī); others read كَالْجَوَابِ (ka-al-jawābi).

This concerns retaining or omitting final yāʾ in recitation, including connected reading and pausing. It does not change the meaning or authorize changing the muṣḥaf text being used. Both forms concern the plural of jābiyah.

Itḥāf Fuḍalāʾ al-Bashar: retaining yāʾ in connected reading and pausing

4. Ijtibāʾ: choosing and setting apart

From gathering to selection

Ijtabā is Form VIII and, in its familiar use, means choosing or selecting.

Kitāb al-ʿAyn explains اجْتَبَى الرَّجُلُ الرَّجُلَ (ijtabā al-rajulu al-rajula) as one person drawing another close to himself.

This shows that ijtibāʾ is not only a mental choice between options. A person may be selected from among others and brought into a particular relationship or position.

Al-Rāghib explains ijtibāʾ as gathering through selection. In this analysis, choosing is connected with setting something or someone apart.

Al-Rāghib, Al-Mufradāt: ijtibāʾ through selection

The connection is understandable: from a wider range, one selects something and sets it apart for oneself or a particular purpose.

Not every ijtibāʾ should nevertheless be turned into physically assembling people. Selection is an established Qur’anic sense, and its purpose or result comes from the verse’s continuation.

Joseph: selection with teaching and favor; Yūsuf 12:6

وَكَذَٰلِكَ يَجْتَبِيكَ رَبُّكَ وَيُعَلِّمُكَ مِنْ تَأْوِيلِ الْأَحَادِيثِ وَيُتِمُّ نِعْمَتَهُ عَلَيْكَ وَعَلَىٰ آلِ يَعْقُوبَ كَمَا أَتَمَّهَا عَلَىٰ أَبَوَيْكَ مِنْ قَبْلُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْحَاقَ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ

wa-kadhālika yajtabīka rabbuka wa-yuʿallimuka min taʾwīli al-aḥādīthi wa-yutimmu niʿmatahu ʿalayka wa-ʿalā āli yaʿqūba kamā atammahā ʿalā abawayka min qablu ibrāhīma wa-isḥāqa inna rabbaka ʿalīmun ḥakīmun

“Thus your Lord chooses you, teaches you some interpretation of sayings and events, and completes His favor upon you and Jacob’s household, as He completed it earlier upon your two forefathers, Abraham and Isaac. Your Lord is knowing and wise.” (Yūsuf 12:6)

Jacob speaks here about Joseph’s future.

Yajtabīka means choosing you. Teaching interpretation and completing favor follow it.

Their association shows selection connected here with particular knowledge and divine favor.

Yajtabīka itself does not mean “teaching interpretation.” Teaching is conveyed by the separate verb yuʿallimuka.

The verse also names Jacob’s household, Abraham, and Isaac. Those names alone do not establish ijtibāʾ as an automatic hereditary privilege for every member of a lineage.

Joseph himself is the person chosen here, and the sentence continues by explaining its effects.

Abraham: selection with gratitude and guidance; Al-Naḥl 16:121

شَاكِرًا لِأَنْعُمِهِ اجْتَبَاهُ وَهَدَاهُ إِلَىٰ صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ

shākiran li-anʿumihi ijtabāhu wa-hadāhu ilā ṣirāṭin mustaqīmin

“Grateful for His favors; He chose him and guided him to a straight path.” (Al-Naḥl 16:121)

The verse concerns Abraham.

Al-Naḥl 16:120 describes Abraham as ḥanīf, devoted to God, and not one of the polytheists. His gratitude is then mentioned, followed by his selection and guidance.

Ijtibāʾ occurs within a network of positive qualities and conduct, but ijtabāhu alone does not contain all these features.

Gratitude comes from shākiran, guidance from hadāhu, and selection from ijtabāhu.

This distinction matters in translation. Rendering ijtibāʾ as “guiding” or “purifying” would erase the difference between the verse’s separate verbs.

Adam: selection after a lapse; Ṭā Hā 20:122

ثُمَّ اجْتَبَاهُ رَبُّهُ فَتَابَ عَلَيْهِ وَهَدَىٰ

thumma ijtabāhu rabbuhu fa-tāba ʿalayhi wa-hadā

“Then his Lord chose him, accepted his repentance, and guided him.” (Ṭā Hā 20:122)

This follows the account of Adam and his lapse.

Notably, ijtibāʾ is mentioned after that event. Acceptance of repentance and guidance follow it.

The meaning of ijtibāʾ therefore does not establish that everyone chosen never made a mistake before being chosen.

Selection and acceptance of repentance stand alongside one another here, each with its own meaning.

Fa-tāba ʿalayhi should not be incorporated into the meaning of ijtabāhu itself. Acceptance of repentance is understood from a separate verb and phrase.

Jonah: selection and inclusion among the righteous; Al-Qalam 68:50

فَاجْتَبَاهُ رَبُّهُ فَجَعَلَهُ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ

fa-ijtabāhu rabbuhu fa-jaʿalahu mina al-ṣāliḥīna

“Then his Lord chose him and placed him among the righteous.” (Al-Qalam 68:50)

This concerns Jonah.

Al-Qalam 68:48 and Al-Qalam 68:49 describe his difficult situation and the blame that might have befallen him. Selection and inclusion among the righteous are then mentioned.

Here too, selection does not mean that all preceding events disappear from the account or are ignored.

Making him righteous is expressed by jaʿalahu. This result is connected with ijtibāʾ in context but is not the meaning of ijtibāʾ alone.

Together with Adam’s verse, this use shows that ijtibāʾ should not simply be treated as evidence of a state with no preceding lapse or trial.

Selection and guidance across generations

Al-Anʿām 6:87, after naming prophets and referring to their fathers, descendants, and brothers, states:

«وَاجْتَبَيْنَاهُمْ وَهَدَيْنَاهُمْ إِلَىٰ صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ»

wa-ijtabaynāhum wa-hadaynāhum ilā ṣirāṭin mustaqīmin

“And We chose them and guided them to a straight path.”

Maryam 19:58 concerns prophets favored by God. In identifying them, it mentions Adam’s descendants, those carried with Noah, Abraham’s and Israel’s descendants, and those guided and chosen.

Ijtibāʾ accompanies guidance in these verses. Selection and guidance nevertheless remain separate concepts conveyed by separate verbs.

Family relationship should not become a rule granting all descendants or relatives of chosen people the same position unconditionally.

These verses concern people and groups identified by particular descriptions and circumstances.

5. The scope of selection and a different use of ijtibāʾ

Is ijtibāʾ only for prophets? Al-Ḥajj 22:78

وَجَاهِدُوا فِي اللَّهِ حَقَّ جِهَادِهِ هُوَ اجْتَبَاكُمْ وَمَا جَعَلَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ مِنْ حَرَجٍ مِلَّةَ أَبِيكُمْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ هُوَ سَمَّاكُمُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَفِي هَٰذَا لِيَكُونَ الرَّسُولُ شَهِيدًا عَلَيْكُمْ وَتَكُونُوا شُهَدَاءَ عَلَى النَّاسِ فَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِاللَّهِ هُوَ مَوْلَاكُمْ فَنِعْمَ الْمَوْلَىٰ وَنِعْمَ النَّصِيرُ

wa-jāhidū fī Allāhi ḥaqqa jihādihi huwa ijtabākum wa-mā jaʿala ʿalaykum fī al-dīni min ḥarajin millata abīkum ibrāhīma huwa sammākumu al-muslimīna min qablu wa-fī hādhā li-yakūna al-rasūlu shahīdan ʿalaykum wa-takūnū shuhadāʾa ʿalā al-nāsi fa-aqīmū al-ṣalāta wa-ātū al-zakāta wa-iʿtaṣimū bi-Allāhi huwa mawlākum fa-niʿma al-mawlā wa-niʿma al-naṣīru

“Strive for The God as striving for Him deserves. He has chosen you and placed no hardship upon you in religion: the way of your father Abraham. He named you Muslims before and in this, so that the messenger may be a witness over you and you may be witnesses over people. Establish ṣalāh, give zakāh, and hold fast to The God. He is your protector: an excellent protector and an excellent helper.” (Al-Ḥajj 22:78)

Ijtabākum addresses a plural audience.

The audience is not a single prophet, but a group of believers called to strive for God, establish ṣalāh, give zakāh, and hold fast to Him.

This shows that Qur’anic ijtibāʾ is not confined to choosing a prophet or a particular individual.

It does not establish that all members of the addressed community have the same rank or become immune to error regardless of conduct and responsibility.

In this verse, selection accompanies responsibility, striving, and bearing witness over people.

The lexical meaning is choosing, while the chosen people’s position and responsibility must be understood from context.

Choosing messengers and knowledge of the unseen

Āl ʿImrān 3:179 states:

«وَلَٰكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَجْتَبِي مِنْ رُسُلِهِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ»

wa-lākinna Allāha yajtabī min rusulihi man yashāʾu

“But The God chooses from His messengers whomever He wills.”

The verse concerns disclosing the unseen to human beings.

Min rusulihi specifies the range of selection: from among His messengers.

This use therefore should not be extended to all people or all believers. It concerns selection among messengers in the context of knowledge of the unseen.

The distinction from Al-Ḥajj 22:78 matters: there a group of believers is addressed; here selection among messengers is at issue.

Ijtibāʾ itself therefore does not assign one fixed position to every instance.

Selection, divine will, and returning to God; Al-Shūrā 42:13

شَرَعَ لَكُمْ مِنَ الدِّينِ مَا وَصَّىٰ بِهِ نُوحًا وَالَّذِي أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ وَمَا وَصَّيْنَا بِهِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمُوسَىٰ وَعِيسَىٰ أَنْ أَقِيمُوا الدِّينَ وَلَا تَتَفَرَّقُوا فِيهِ كَبُرَ عَلَى الْمُشْرِكِينَ مَا تَدْعُوهُمْ إِلَيْهِ اللَّهُ يَجْتَبِي إِلَيْهِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيَهْدِي إِلَيْهِ مَنْ يُنِيبُ

sharaʿa lakum mina al-dīni mā waṣṣā bihi nūḥan wa-alladhī awḥaynā ilayka wa-mā waṣṣaynā bihi ibrāhīma wa-mūsā wa-ʿīsā an aqīmū al-dīna wa-lā tatafarraqū fīhi kabura ʿalā al-mushrikīna mā tadʿūhum ilayhi Allāhu yajtabī ilayhi man yashāʾu wa-yahdī ilayhi man yunību

“He prescribed for you of religion what He entrusted to Noah, what We revealed to you, and what We entrusted to Abraham, Moses, and Jesus: establish religion and do not divide in it. What you call them to weighs heavily on the polytheists. The God chooses toward Himself whomever He wills and guides toward Himself whoever turns back.” (Al-Shūrā 42:13)

Ijtibāʾ is accompanied here by ilayhi.

The preposition clarifies the direction of selection: God chooses someone toward Himself.

Guidance is then also accompanied by ilayhi and connected with man yunību, whoever turns back and returns.

These clauses should not be identified without evidence. The first concerns selection and divine will; the second, guidance and turning back.

Their juxtaposition nevertheless shows selection and guidance directed toward God in this context.

This verse alone cannot yield a complete theory of divine will and human choice; other verses must also be examined.

Nor does man yashāʾ alone establish that selection is without wisdom or independent of every divine criterion. It expresses the choice’s dependence on divine will without explaining all its grounds.

Al-Aʿrāf 7:203: why not provide it yourself?

وَإِذَا لَمْ تَأْتِهِمْ بِآيَةٍ قَالُوا لَوْلَا اجْتَبَيْتَهَا قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَتَّبِعُ مَا يُوحَىٰ إِلَيَّ مِنْ رَبِّي هَٰذَا بَصَائِرُ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةٌ لِقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ

wa-idhā lam taʾtihim bi-āyatin qālū lawlā ijtabaytahā qul innamā attabiʿu mā yūḥā ilayya min rabbī hādhā baṣāʾiru min rabbikum wa-hudan wa-raḥmatun li-qawmin yuʾminūna

“When you do not bring them a sign, they say: ‘Why did you not choose it yourself?’ Say: ‘I only follow what is revealed to me from my Lord.’ These are insights from your Lord, guidance and mercy for people who believe.”

This use of ijtibāʾ differs from most of the other verses.

In most instances God is the agent choosing people. Here ijtabaytahā is a second-person singular past verb quoted from the Prophet’s opponents.

The pronoun hā refers to āyah, a sign.

They speak of a sign the Prophet has not brought them and ask why he has not performed ijtibāʾ of it.

Lexical and exegetical explanations report two important readings.

The first concerns selecting or obtaining a sign: why did you not choose or provide it yourself?

The second, considering their tone and the Prophet’s reply, concerns making or producing speech on his own initiative: why did you not make it or bring it from yourself?

Context supports this second reading, since the reply is إِنَّمَا أَتَّبِعُ مَا يُوحَىٰ إِلَيَّ مِنْ رَبِّي (innamā attabiʿu mā yūḥā ilayya min rabbī): the Prophet only follows what is revealed to him.

This highlights the distinction between receiving and following revelation and producing speech from oneself.

“Fabricating falsehood” should nevertheless not be presented as the root’s primary, constant meaning. Other uses of ijtibāʾ do not have this sense.

The opponents’ words must also be distinguished from the Qur’an’s judgment: the verse quotes their claim rather than endorsing it.

“Why did you not choose it yourself?” preserves selection and fits the verb’s lexical range. Contextual explanation can add that their words may imply providing or making a sign from himself.

Al-Ṭabarī: choosing, receiving, and producing from oneself

Ijtibāʾ here concerns neither choosing a person nor collecting wealth or produce: selecting or producing a sign is the object of the reported speech.

6. Distinctions from related roots

J B Y (jaby) compared with J M ʿ (jamʿ)

Jamʿ concerns gathering and bringing things together.

Jaby has this sense in some uses too. Its familiar examples nevertheless emphasize obtaining something from different sources or places and bringing it to a particular destination, such as collecting water in a basin or produce reaching a secure sanctuary.

This is a tendency rather than an absolute boundary.

Jamʿ cannot always be reduced to placing things side by side, nor jaby to transfer from somewhere distant. Lexical and Qur’anic examples nevertheless show the importance of gathering accompanied by obtaining or bringing together in J B Y.

Study of J M ʿ

J B Y (ijtibāʾ) compared with Ṣ F W (iṣṭifāʾ)

Iṣṭifāʾ belongs to Ṣ F W and concerns choosing and making pure.

Ijtibāʾ also concerns choosing in many uses.

The Qur’an can use the two in similar situations. Choosing Moses in Al-Aʿrāf 7:144 is expressed by iṣṭafaytuka, whereas Joseph in Yūsuf 12:6 has yajtabīka.

Their closeness does not make the roots identical in every derivative and use.

Ṣ F W concerns clarity, purity, and selection. J B Y, besides selection, has independent uses for collecting water, wealth, and produce.

This does not mean that every ijtibāʾ necessarily includes physical relocation or every iṣṭifāʾ necessarily means morally purifying someone.

Study of Ṣ F W

J B Y (ijtibāʾ) compared with KH Y R (ikhtiyār)

Ikhtiyār belongs to KH Y R and concerns choosing or selecting.

Ijtabāhu and ikhtārahu can be equivalent in some Arabic contexts.

Some lexical sources nevertheless emphasize ijtibāʾ as drawing someone close or setting them apart.

This helps in understanding divine selection but does not establish an absolute rule assigning permanent rank to every ijtibāʾ and only temporary choice to every ikhtiyār.

Such a distinction would require independent evidence; different roots alone are insufficient.

Study of KH Y R

J B Y (jaby) compared with J W B (jawb)

Some derivatives resemble each other in form, but the roots are independent.

Qur’anic J B Y concerns gathering, basins, and selection.

Arabic J W B also concerns splitting, traversing, and answering.

Jawāb meaning “answer” belongs to J W B, whereas al-jawāb in Sabaʾ 34:13 is the plural of jābiyah, from J B Y.

Morphology and context, rather than appearance alone, distinguish them.

Study of J W B

J B Y (jaby) compared with J B ʾ (jabʾ)

J B ʾ is another independent family. Lexical sources connect some forms with fear, retreat, or holding back from advancing.

The shared first two letters and possible misreading of unvocalized words do not establish one root.

In Qur’anic study especially, ijtibāʾ should not be transferred to the root containing hamzah. The cited Qur’anic forms belong to J B Y.

Lexical sources: the separate family containing hamzah

7. Translation proposals for Forqan

Translation should distinguish three principal uses.

In Al-Qaṣaṣ 28:57, yujbā ilayhi means “is gathered to it,” preserving both the gathering and the produce’s destination.

In Sabaʾ 34:13, ka-al-jawābi can be rendered “like basins.” Al-jawāb is the plural of jābiyah here, not “answers.”

In verses concerning divine ijtibāʾ, “choosing” is natural and defensible. Where ilā accompanies it, the direction should be conveyed separately, as in “chooses toward Himself” in Al-Shūrā 42:13.

In Al-Aʿrāf 7:203, the existing Persian Forqan rendering, “Why did you not choose it yourself?”, preserves the established sense. “Why did you not provide or make it yourself?” can be examined contextually, but should not replace the lexical meaning as a certainty without evidence.

A brief root explanation may read:

“J B Y: gathering and bringing something together; in ijtibāʾ, choosing and setting someone or something apart.”

Each form’s contextual meaning must be specified separately: yujbā in Al-Qaṣaṣ concerns produce, al-jawāb in Sabaʾ names basins, and ijtibāʾ usually concerns selection.

Conclusion

Arabic J B Y concerns gathering, obtaining, and bringing things together from various sources. Collecting water in a basin, collecting wealth, and produce arriving at one place are clear uses.

Jābiyah names a large collecting basin. Its plural, jawāb or jawābī, occurs in Sabaʾ 34:13 to compare great food bowls to basins.

In ijtibāʾ, meaning extends to choosing and setting apart. The Qur’an uses the verb for Joseph, Abraham, Adam, Jonah, groups of prophets, and a community of believers. The selection’s character and effects vary: teaching, guidance, or religious responsibility accompany it in different verses.

Al-Aʿrāf 7:203 differs: the Prophet’s opponents speak of selecting or producing a sign. Ijtibāʾ is therefore not confined to choosing people.

Thus a defensible central sense is gathering and bringing together; the ijtibāʾ branch emphasizes choosing and setting someone or something apart.

This connection should neither reduce every use to material gathering nor assign a fixed rank or privilege to everyone chosen. The exact sense follows the form, object, accompanying prepositions, and verse context.