Qur’anic Root J H Z

1. Forms and derivatives

Important Arabic forms include:

• جَهَّزَ ـ يُجَهِّزُ: prepared, provided the necessary equipment, equipped someone or something for a task.
• تَجْهِيز: the act of preparation and providing necessary requisites.
• جَهَاز / جِهَاز: the equipment, requisites, and supplies provided for a task, journey, or particular occasion.
• تَجَهَّزَ ـ يَتَجَهَّزُ: got ready, supplied oneself with necessities.
• مُجَهِّز: someone who prepares the necessary equipment and resources.
• مُجَهَّز: someone or something prepared or furnished with the required supplies.
• جَاهِز: ready, prepared; also widely used in modern Arabic.
• أَجْهَزَ عَلَى: in one classical use, killed or finished off a wounded person, bringing their life swiftly to an end.
• جَهِيز: in some early uses, an adjective for speed, including a swift horse.

Not all these forms occur in the Qur’an.

The root occurs four times in two Qur’anic forms: جَهَّزَهُمْ and بِجَهَازِهِمْ, each appearing in Yūsuf 12:59 and Yūsuf 12:70.

Quranic Arabic Corpus: four occurrences in two forms

جَهَّزَ is a Form II perfect verb; جَهَاز names the equipment and supplies prepared. In both verses, the noun has fatḥah on jīm: jahāz.

2. Semantic core and early Arabic usage

Providing what a purpose requires

In Maqāyīs al-Lughah, Ibn Fāris describes ج ه ز through something gathered and held, such as jahāz, household belongings. He then relates جَهَّزْتُ فُلَانًا to undertaking to provide someone’s traveling equipment.

His expression يُعْتَقَدُ وَيُحْوَى concerns something bound, provided, gathered, and held; it does not mean mental conviction or belief here.

Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs: gathering and holding requisites

This gives the root a concrete image: separate requisites brought together for a particular need so that someone can use them.

Preparation becomes clear through this image. Someone who gathers traveling equipment, provides baggage, and readies what the journey requires has equipped the traveler.

This must not become an absolute rule requiring every use to involve physically binding or collecting objects. Arabic تَجَهَّزَ لِأَمْرٍ can also mean preparing for an undertaking without mentioning particular material equipment.

Equipment for travel and caravans

In early Arabic travel, a journey involved more than movement between places. Travelers needed food, water, a mount, vessels, clothing, and other requisites appropriate to the route.

Depending on the journey, this collection could be called jahāz.

Al-Jawharī’s Al-Ṣiḥāḥ records جَهَّزْتُ فُلَانًا for preparing someone’s traveling equipment. جَهَّزْتُ الْجَيْشَ similarly concerns supplying an army’s needs.

Equipping here therefore means more than ordering departure. Someone may order a journey; the person who equips also contributes to providing its necessary means and supplies.

The Qur’anic story of Joseph emphasizes this aspect: a caravan has come for food and must return with its load.

Examples of early usage

Lexical sources record جَهَازُ الرَّاحِلَةِ for a mount’s equipment and load. Jahāz therefore need not belong only to the person: equipment and baggage carried by the mount can also fall under it.

Al-Ṣiḥāḥ records the proverbial expression ضَرَبَ فِي جَهَازِهِ.

It concerns going away or becoming distant. Al-Aṣmaʿī explains its image through a camel whose pack saddle and equipment fall from its back between its legs, causing it to bolt. Ibn Fāris also records the expression for departure and separation.

Al-Ṣiḥāḥ and Lisān: the proverb ḍaraba fī jahāzihi

Jahāz here is the mount’s equipment and load; the complete expression has acquired a figurative meaning.

Its presence in classical sources establishes an early use of the family, but does not establish when the proverb originated. Without independent evidence, it cannot be assigned to a particular pre-Islamic period.

Dictionaries also transmit a poetic fragment, يَبِتْنَ يَنْقُلْنَ بِأَجْهِزَاتِهَا, about movement with equipment, in a discussion of loads carried by mounts. The reviewed citation does not identify the poet or date securely; nor is the fragment alone sufficient to settle every detail of the scene. It cannot therefore be treated as securely dated pre-Qur’anic poetry.

Lisān and Tāj: the bi-ajhizatihā poetic fragment

Equipping a bride, home, or army

جَهَازُ الْعَرُوسِ concerns the belongings supplied for a bride to enter the shared home or begin family life.

جَهَازُ الْبَيْتِ similarly names household equipment; جَهَازُ الْجَيْشِ the supplies and equipment an army needs.

The subject changes, but the main relationship remains: equipment or resources are provided for a particular purpose.

Travelers, brides, and armies require different things. Food and a mount in one context become clothing, household belongings, or military equipment in another.

Jahāz alone therefore does not specify the exact supplies. Context establishes what has been prepared and why.

The meaning of أَجْهَزَ عَلَى الْجَرِيحِ

Arabic sources also record أَجْهَزَ عَلَى الْجَرِيحِ: finishing off a wounded person by killing them.

This use differs clearly from preparing traveling baggage. It emphasizes bringing something to an end or completion.

A semantic relationship between completing an undertaking and bringing it to an end is conceivable. This alone does not prove that both uses arose from one particular historical image.

In particular, killing a wounded person or ending a life must not be transferred to the two Qur’anic instances of جَهَّزَهُمْ. Joseph’s story concerns preparation and providing food and baggage.

Al-Ṣiḥāḥ, Lisān, and Al-Miṣbāḥ: the ajhaza ʿalā al-jarīḥ branch

3. Qur’anic uses

Yūsuf 12:59: equipping the brothers with baggage and provisions

Verse text:

وَلَمَّا جَهَّزَهُمْ بِجَهَازِهِمْ قَالَ ائْتُونِي بِأَخٍ لَكُمْ مِنْ أَبِيكُمْ أَلَا تَرَوْنَ أَنِّي أُوفِي الْكَيْلَ وَأَنَا خَيْرُ الْمُنْزِلِينَ

wa-lammā jahhazahum bi-jahāzihim qāla iʾtūnī bi-akhin lakum min abīkum a-lā tarawna annī ūfī al-kayla wa-anā khayru al-munzilīna

Proposed Persian translation, rendered here in English:

“When he had equipped them with their baggage and provisions, he said: Bring me a brother of yours from your father. Do you not see that I give full measure and am the best of hosts?”

Two words from ج ه ز occur together: جَهَّزَهُمْ and بِجَهَازِهِمْ.

جَهَّزَهُمْ describes Joseph’s act of equipping his brothers. بِجَهَازِهِمْ specifies the equipment and supplies with which he prepares them.

In the sentence itself, jahāz can generally refer to baggage and traveling requisites. The narrative context, however, makes food supplies central.

Joseph’s brothers have come to Egypt to obtain food for their family. Joseph’s أُوفِي الْكَيْلَ also shows that delivering the full quantity of measured goods was an important part of this provision.

جَهَّزَهُمْ بِجَهَازِهِمْ therefore concerns more than fastening their personal belongings: it describes providing the load and supplies they receive for their return and their family’s needs.

Jahāz must nevertheless not be restricted to wheat or another particular food. The word does not name that product. The verse mentions measuring, but the expression itself does not specify the measured commodity.

Al-Ṭabarī: food loads and full measure

جَهَّزَ is also transitive. Joseph equips them; he does not simply find them ready. Translation should preserve this distinction.

After preparing them, Joseph asks them to bring another brother from their father. His request accompanies his statement about full measure and hospitality.

The story continues with Joseph ordering that the goods his brothers brought for exchange be put into their baggage, so that they may recognize them on returning and perhaps come back.

This appears in Yūsuf 12:62. The caravan’s baggage is consequently more than personal belongings: exchanged goods and the means of carrying them also feature in the story.

Yūsuf 12:70: preparing them again and placing the drinking vessel in the brother’s baggage

Verse text:

فَلَمَّا جَهَّزَهُمْ بِجَهَازِهِمْ جَعَلَ السِّقَايَةَ فِي رَحْلِ أَخِيهِ ثُمَّ أَذَّنَ مُؤَذِّنٌ أَيَّتُهَا الْعِيرُ إِنَّكُمْ لَسَارِقُونَ

fa-lammā jahhazahum bi-jahāzihim jaʿala al-siqāyata fī raḥli akhīhi thumma adhdhana muʾadhdhinun ayyatuhā al-ʿīru innakum la-sāriqūna

Proposed Persian translation, rendered here in English:

“When he had equipped them with their baggage and provisions, he placed the drinking vessel in his brother’s baggage. Then a caller proclaimed: Caravan, you are certainly thieves.”

The verse repeats the expression from Yūsuf 12:59: جَهَّزَهُمْ بِجَهَازِهِمْ.

This time, however, Joseph’s brothers have returned with the brother he had asked them to bring.

After their baggage and supplies have been prepared, Joseph places السِّقَايَةَ in رَحْلِ أَخِيهِ.

The distinction between jahāz and raḥl matters here.

Jahāz concerns the assembled supplies and prepared load; raḥl here is the baggage and belongings of Joseph’s brother, among which the vessel is placed.

Jahāz and raḥl are therefore not complete synonyms in this verse, although what they refer to can overlap.

Al-Ṭabarī: supplies and Joseph’s brother’s baggage

جَهَّزَهُمْ emphasizes equipping the caravan and providing its supplies. جَعَلَ السِّقَايَةَ فِي رَحْلِ أَخِيهِ describes the specific act of putting a vessel into one caravan member’s baggage.

Preparing the baggage forms the setting for the next event. The root ج ه ز itself does not reveal the purpose of concealing the vessel or the details of Joseph’s plan. These come from the continuation and other words in the verses.

Repeating جَهَّزَهُمْ بِجَهَازِهِمْ at two stages also connects the journeys. First, the brothers are prepared to return and asked to bring another brother. Second, after that brother arrives, equipping them accompanies the incident of the drinking vessel.

In both cases the root means the same thing: providing the necessary equipment and supplies.

4. Comparison with related words and roots

ج ه ز (جَهَّزَ) and ع د د (أَعَدَّ): preparing and supplying

Study of ʿ D D

أَعَدَّ also concerns preparing and making something ready. It occurs in different settings, from military readiness to providing resources or preparing a particular outcome.

The Qur’anic uses of جَهَّزَ, however, concern preparation with specific equipment and supplies.

أَعَدَّ has a broader Qur’anic range and need not mean supplying baggage, provisions, or material tools.

The distinction is not absolute: both verbs can sometimes describe preparing the same thing. In Joseph’s story, however, جَهَّزَهُمْ accompanied by بِجَهَازِهِمْ emphasizes preparation’s material and logistical aspect.

ج ه ز (جَهَاز) and م ت ع (مَتَاع): supplies and accompanying baggage

Study of M T ʿ

Qur’anic matāʿ has a broad range, including equipment, possessions, merchandise, and things people use or benefit from.

In Yūsuf 12:65, the brothers open their مَتَاعَهُمْ after returning and discover that their goods have been returned to them.

Matāʿ here concerns their accompanying baggage and possessions. Jahāz in the earlier and later verses emphasizes supplies provided for the journey and return.

Both words can describe the same material collection, but from different perspectives.

ج ه ز (جَهَاز) and ز و د (زَاد): equipment and provisions

Study of Z W D

Zād concerns provisions carried for travel and continuing along the way. In Al-Baqarah 2:197, وَتَزَوَّدُوا commands providing oneself with provisions.

Jahāz can include provisions, but need not be confined to food or consumable travel supplies: equipment, tools, and other necessities may also belong to it.

Food supplies are an important part of jahāz in Joseph’s story. “Provisions” therefore suits these verses, preferably alongside “baggage” or “supplies” to preserve the word’s breadth.

ج ه ز (جَهَاز) and ر ح ل (رَحْل): prepared supplies and a traveler’s baggage

Raḥl in Joseph’s story concerns a traveler’s baggage and belongings.

In Yūsuf 12:62, Joseph orders that the brothers’ goods be placed in رِحَالِهِمْ. In Yūsuf 12:70, the drinking vessel is placed in رَحْلِ أَخِيهِ.

Jahāz, by contrast, concerns the supplies provided for travel.

Both can concern the caravan’s baggage in the same situation. Here, however, raḥl more particularly identifies where objects are placed, while jahāz names the assembled equipment and prepared supplies.

5. Questions of understanding and translation

Does جَهَاز mean a modern machine or device?

Modern Persian and Arabic often use jahāz for an apparatus, technical instrument, or system of coordinated parts: medical equipment, the nervous system, the respiratory system, or electrical equipment.

These uses relate to a set of tools or components brought together for a particular purpose.

The modern meaning of a technical apparatus must nevertheless not be transferred to Qur’anic jahāz.

Yūsuf 12:59 and Yūsuf 12:70 concern a caravan and its equipment and food, rather than a device with a technical mechanism.

“Equipment” can therefore be understandable in some translations, but “baggage and provisions” or “travel supplies” more accurately evokes these verses’ setting.

The distinction between جَهَاز and جِهَاز

Lexical sources record both jahāz, with fatḥah on jīm, and jihāz, with kasrah.

Some lexicographers, especially when reporting Basran usage, disapprove of kasrah; other sources transmit both vocalizations for travelers’ and brides’ equipment.

This disagreement prevents the two pronunciations from establishing two distinct, certain meanings.

The common Qur’anic text has بِجَهَازِهِمْ with fatḥah on jīm. Study should preserve this vocalization.

Al-Ṣiḥāḥ and Lisān: jahāz and jihāz vocalizations

Does جَهَّزَ always mean preparing someone for travel?

No. Arabic also uses the verb for equipping a bride, an army, and other undertakings.

Travel is consequently not an invariant part of the root’s meaning, but one important setting of its use.

In the two Qur’anic verses, Joseph’s narrative favors preparation for the caravan’s return.

The verb alone does not specify whether someone performs the preparation personally or through their orders and management. Someone may supply the necessities, or provide the orders and means by which they are supplied.

Joseph is the grammatical agent, but the word does not reveal the operational details of preparing every load.

6. Translation proposals for Forqan

For جَهَّزَهُمْ in both verses, “he prepared them” directly renders the verb. On its own, however, it may not adequately convey supplying baggage and equipment.

The complete جَهَّزَهُمْ بِجَهَازِهِمْ can be rendered:

• “He equipped them with their baggage and provisions.”
• “He provided their baggage and provisions and made them ready to leave.”
• “He supplied their traveling needs.”

The first version follows the Arabic construction more closely. The second makes the practical preparation clearer, but is more explanatory. The third is fluent and compact, but does not directly reproduce the transitive “equipped them.”

For Forqan’s verse translations, “he equipped them with their baggage and provisions” is preferable. Reflection can explain that these supplies mainly concern obtaining food and meeting the journey’s needs in this story.

The expression should also preferably receive the same translation in both verses, since the Qur’an repeats the same wording.

7. Conclusion

ج ه ز concerns providing equipment and preparing for a specific purpose. جَهَّزَ expresses preparing and supplying; جَهَاز names the requisites and supplies prepared for that undertaking. Brief root meaning: Providing requisites and preparing for a specific purpose; jahāz: the assembled baggage, equipment, and supplies.

Early Arabic uses the family for travel, homes, brides, mounts, and armies. Other branches record different meanings, including speed and finishing something off; these must not be transferred without evidence to the Qur’anic uses.

In the Qur’an, the family occurs only in Joseph’s story. On both occasions he equips his brothers with the necessary supplies and baggage. The different situations do not change the verb’s meaning, but place the same preparation at two stages of the narrative.

The appropriate meaning of جَهَّزَهُمْ بِجَهَازِهِمْ is therefore equipping them by supplying the baggage and provisions they need. This preserves the root meaning and fits the narrative’s journey and obtaining food.