The Qur’anic Root J L W

1. Introducing the Root

The three-consonant Arabic root J L W concerns becoming manifest, revealing, uncovering, and leaving a former place. Its family includes jalā, “became manifest” or “revealed something”; jallā, “made clear and manifest”; tajallā, “became manifest” or “manifested itself”; and jalāʾ, which in one important usage means leaving a homeland.

In physical uses, something concealed beneath a covering may become visible when that covering is removed. A cloudless sky is clear; a sword stripped of rust reveals its shining surface; a face seen from behind a covering becomes visible to the observer.

In uses concerning knowledge, an obscure report may become clear through explanation or evidence. Here ambiguity and ignorance are removed rather than a material curtain.

Concerning residence, jalā al-qawmu ʿan manāzilihim describes people leaving their homes and homeland. People formerly present in a place depart, leaving it empty of their presence.

These uses suggest a connection: something formerly concealed, obscure, or situated in a particular place leaves that state. They should nevertheless not all become one action. The sun appearing, a report’s truth becoming clear, and people being expelled from their homes differ in reality and consequence.

Ibn Fāris identifies becoming uncovered and manifest as this family’s semantic core in Maqāyīs al-Lughah. This helps explain connections within the root, but each form’s particular contextual meaning must remain distinct in translation.

The Qur’an uses J L W five times in five verses:

Quranic Arabic Corpus:five occurrences in five verses

• Al-Aʿrāf 7:143: tajallā, the Lord’s manifestation to the mountain.
• Al-Aʿrāf 7:187: yujallīhā, disclosing the Hour at its time.
• Al-Ḥashr 59:3: al-jalāʾa, departure decreed for a group of the People of the Book.
• Al-Shams 91:3: jallāhā, concerning the day and revealing.
• Al-Layl 92:2: tajallā, the day as it becomes manifest.

These five usages concern three principal fields: becoming manifest, revealing, and departure from a homeland.

The Qur’an uses one linguistic family for different subjects. Tajallā describes the day in Al-Layl 92:2 and the Lord in Al-Aʿrāf 7:143. Sharing a verb does not equate the realities of the day and the Lord or the manner of their manifestation.

Al-jalāʾa in Al-Ḥashr 59:3 likewise denotes departure from a homeland and should not be translated as clarification or manifestation merely because the root is shared. Brief root meaning: Becoming manifest, revealing, and concealment lifting; in territorial use, departing and leaving a former place.

2. The Semantic Core in Early Arabic

Uncovering and Emergence

Ibn Fāris writes in Maqāyīs al-Lughah:

الْجِيمُ وَاللَّامُ وَالْحَرْفُ الْمُعْتَلُّ أَصْلٌ وَاحِدٌ، وَقِيَاسٌ مُطَّرِدٌ، وَهُوَ انْكِشَافُ الشَّيْءِ وَبُرُوزُهُ.

al-jīmu wa-al-lāmu wa-al-ḥarfu al-muʿtallu aṣlun wāḥidun wa-qiyāsun muṭṭaridun wa-huwa inkishāfu al-shayʾi wa-burūzuhu

Translation: “Jīm, lām, and the weak consonant have one consistent principle and a regular pattern: a thing’s becoming uncovered and manifest.”

Maqāyīs al-Lughah:uncovering and emergence

Two words matter in this definition.

Inkishāf concerns the removal of concealment and something’s becoming manifest.

Burūz concerns emergence and appearing.

Something may already exist yet remain unseen because of covering, distance, darkness, or another obstacle. When that obstacle disappears or the thing emerges, one may speak of its becoming manifest.

Becoming manifest therefore does not necessarily mean coming into existence from nothing.

The sun may emerge from behind a cloud, for example. It has not just been created at that moment; the possibility of observing it has changed.

This distinction matters for Qur’anic usage.

Becoming Manifest and Making Manifest

Lisān al-ʿArab states:

جَلَا الْأَمْرَ وَجَلَّاهُ: كَشَفَهُ وَأَظْهَرَهُ.

jalā al-amra wa-jallāhu kashafahu wa-aẓharahu

Translation: “He jalā or jallā the matter: he uncovered and revealed it.”

Conversely, it states:

وَتَجَلَّى الشَّيْءُ: انْكَشَفَ.

wa-tajallā al-shayʾu inkashafa

Translation: “Something tajallā: it became uncovered.”

Lisān al-ʿArab:becoming manifest and revealing

The roles differ clearly in these constructions.

In the first, an agent reveals something.

In the second, the thing itself becomes manifest.

The Qur’an also displays this difference.

In Al-Shams 91:3, jallāhā has a subject and an object: something reveals something else.

In Al-Layl 92:2, tajallā has no direct object: the day becomes manifest.

Both concern manifestation, but their verbal construction and direction of action differ.

Jalāʾ and Removing an Obstacle

Some Arabic usages associate revealing with removing something that prevents sight.

Rust may obscure the shining surface of a sword or mirror.

Removing it makes the surface clearer and more visible.

Arabic expresses this through jalā al-sayfa and jalā al-mirʾāta.

Revealing therefore need not add light or create something new. Removing an obstacle can reveal something already present.

This is only one use of the root, however.

It does not establish that every manifestation necessarily involves removing a material covering.

3. Important Forms and Derivatives

Jalā: Became Manifest, Revealed, or Left a Place

Jalā is a Form I verb.

One use describes something becoming clear or manifest.

Transitively, it can denote revealing, removing rust, or removing an obstacle to sight.

In another use, jalā al-qawmu ʿan manāzilihim concerns people leaving their homes and residence.

The verb can thus be intransitive or transitive; its prepositions and complements help determine its meaning.

Jalw and Jalāʾ

Jalw and jalāʾ are recorded verbal nouns in this family.

Jalāʾ can concern becoming manifest or leaving a homeland.

The first consonant’s vowel matters, however.

Jalāʾ with fatḥah on jīm denotes departure from a homeland in Al-Ḥashr 59:3.

Jilāʾ with kasrah on jīm sometimes denotes polishing and removing rust from a sword or mirror.

Unvocalized writing should not obscure this difference in pronunciation and usage.

Mukhtār al-Ṣiḥāḥ and Lisān:jalāʾ and jilāʾ

Jallā: Revealed

Jallā is a Form II verb.

It occurs twice in the Qur’an.

In Al-Aʿrāf 7:187, its semantic agent is The God and its object is al-sāʿah, the Hour or appointed resurrection time.

In Al-Shams 91:3, the day reveals something in idhā jallāhā.

Both uses concern revealing.

What is revealed differs, however.

One concerns the Hour itself being disclosed at its time; the other concerns the natural image of day and light.

Tajallā: Became Manifest or Manifested Itself

Tajallā is a Form V verb.

In Arabic, it concerns becoming manifest or manifesting itself.

It occurs twice in the Qur’an: Al-Aʿrāf 7:143 and Al-Layl 92:2.

In Al-Layl, its subject is the day.

In Al-Aʿrāf, its subject is rabbuhu, “his Lord.”

Both concern manifestation, but their subjects’ realities and manner of manifestation differ.

Form V alone does not determine whether manifestation is necessarily bodily, visual, direct, or mediated.

Such features require contextual evidence.

Injalā: Concealment Cleared Away

Injalā is a Form VII verb.

Injalā al-ẓalāmu describes darkness clearing away and the surroundings becoming light.

The same verb also describes grief or difficulty lifting.

That second use does not concern physical darkness. The image of concealment and obscurity disappearing describes a person’s inner condition lifting.

This verb does not occur in the Qur’an.

Ajlā: Expelled or Revealed

Ajlā is a Form IV verb.

A familiar use, ajlā al-qawma, describes expelling people from their homes or homeland.

Other uses can concern removing an obstacle or making something clear.

Its verbal noun is ijlāʾ.

Today, ijlāʾ also describes evacuating and transferring people from a war zone, dangerous area, or disaster zone.

That contemporary use alone does not determine the full meaning of the Qur’anic word.

Al-Ḥashr 59:3 concerns a group of the People of the Book departing from their residence.

Jalwah and Jilwah: Presenting a Bride

Early Arabic uses jalwah and its other vocalizations for the occasion when a bride is adorned and presented before the bridegroom.

Jalā al-ʿarūsa and jallāhā are likewise recorded in this setting.

Here becoming visible involves removing a covering or placing someone before an observer.

Some sources also use jilwah for something given to the bride on that occasion.

This particular social use should not become the meaning of every derivative.

Ijtalā: Looked At and Observed

Ijtalā al-shayʾa denotes looking at and seeing something in Arabic.

In the bridal use, the bridegroom sees the adorned bride.

More generally, someone finds something manifest before them and looks at it.

Looking and becoming manifest are nevertheless distinct concepts.

Something may be manifest without a person looking at it.

Someone may also try to see something that remains concealed.

Jalī and the J L Y Family

Jalī means clear or manifest in Arabic.

Jaliyyah also denotes a matter’s clear truth or a reliable report.

These forms are closely related in meaning to J L W.

In Arabic weak-final roots, however, forms ending in wāw and yāʾ require individual morphological examination.

Not every written J L Y form should automatically be treated as directly identical to a form containing J L W.

Lexical sources record both wāw and yāʾ forms for some uses of revealing.

Each derivative’s historical root and structure should therefore rest on morphological and lexical evidence.

4. Polishing, Revealing, and Removing Concealment

Polishing a Sword

Lisān al-ʿArab states:

وَجَلَوْتُ السَّيْفَ جِلَاءً: صَقَلْتُهُ.

wa-jalawtu al-sayfa jilāʾan ṣaqaltuhu

Translation: “I polished the sword: I burnished it.”

Lisān al-ʿArab:polishing a sword

Here the purpose is removing rust and revealing the metal’s smooth, shining surface.

The action may improve the sword’s reflection of light.

Polishing is not the same as creating light, however.

The sword’s surface already existed and becomes clearer and more visible when rust is removed.

A similar image appears in polishing a mirror.

Polishing a Mirror

Jalā al-mirʾāta denotes polishing a mirror.

A dirty or clouded mirror may not show objects clearly.

Cleaning and polishing it improves reflection and image clarity.

The root can thus concern removing something that prevents visibility.

This does not make every instance of tajallī the reflection of light in a mirror.

That image can serve as a literary or philosophical analogy, but is not every Qur’anic occurrence’s direct meaning.

A Report or Truth Becoming Clear

Arabic uses the expression:

“جَلَا الْأَمْرَ” (jalā al-amra).

That is: “He clarified the matter.”

This may involve explaining, presenting evidence, or removing ambiguity.

Jaliyyatu al-amri likewise denotes the matter’s clear reality.

A report’s clarity and truth, though potentially related, remain distinct questions.

A claim may be stated very clearly and intelligibly yet be factually false.

Jalī, “clear,” should therefore not become “certain truth” without evidence.

Establishing a claim’s truth requires evidence pertinent to that claim.

Jalwāʾ: A Clear Sky

Al-Kisāʾī, as reported by Ibn Fāris, says:

السَّمَاءُ جَلْوَاءُ، أَيْ مُصْحِيَةٌ.

al-samāʾu jalwāʾu ay muṣḥiyatun

Translation: “The sky is jalwāʾ, meaning clear.”

Maqāyīs:Al-Kisāʾī on jalwāʾ

Clouds or another covering obstructing the sky are absent or have cleared away.

This fits the semantic core of becoming manifest.

It does not establish that every blue sky in every circumstance was necessarily described by this word by every Arabic speaker.

A clear sky and a bright day are related but not identical phenomena.

5. Jalāʾ: Leaving a Homeland

Jalā al-Qawmu ʿan Awṭānihim

Lisān al-ʿArab states:

جَلَا الْقَوْمُ عَنْ أَوْطَانِهِمْ يَجْلُونَ وَأَجْلَوْا، إِذَا خَرَجُوا مِنْ بَلَدٍ إِلَى بَلَدٍ.

jalā al-qawmu ʿan awṭānihim yajlūna wa-ajlaw idhā kharajū min baladin ilā baladin

Translation: “The people left their homeland: they went from one settlement to another.”

Here the subject extends from something becoming clear to people departing from their residence.

Homes and land formerly occupied by a community may become empty of them.

The verb itself does not determine the reason for departure in every use.

War, threats, drought, or other pressures may force people to leave.

Another departure may be voluntary.

The actual circumstances require context.

Distinguishing Jalaw from Ajlāhum

Jalaw ʿani al-baladi describes the group itself leaving the land.

Ajlāhumu al-sulṭānu means the ruler expelled them from the land.

In the first construction, the departing group is the subject.

In the second, the person or power causing departure is the subject.

This difference matters for understanding jalāʾ.

Lexical sources also record a transitive use of jalā: the Form I verb itself can sometimes mean expelling.

Verbal pattern alone should consequently not establish that one instance is necessarily voluntary and another necessarily forced.

Lisān:transitive and intransitive jalā and ajlā

Jalāʾ and Ordinary Travel

In its territorial usage, jalāʾ concerns leaving a place of residence.

Not every journey or movement should be called jalāʾ without evidence.

Travel for trade, visiting relatives, or recreation does not necessarily mean leaving one’s home and homeland behind.

Jalāʾ in usages concerning a community and its residence is more closely associated with departing from a former place of life.

This is the setting in Al-Ḥashr 59:3.

Jalāʾ and Migration

Hijrah concerns leaving or separating from something in Arabic; Qur’anic uses can concern leaving home and homeland in The God’s cause.

Jalāʾ likewise concerns leaving a homeland.

The roots and usages are distinct, however.

Al-Ḥashr 59:3 uses jalāʾ for a group departing from its homeland.

Al-Ḥashr 59:8 uses al-muhājirīn for another group expelled from their homes and property, seeking The God’s bounty and approval.

Within one surah, concepts of leaving a homeland thus appear with different settings and orientations.

They should not all be equated without considering cause, choice, and objective.

6. Witnesses from Early Arabic Poetry

Anā Ibnu Jalā: Manifest Standing and Social Recognition

Suḥaym ibn Wathīl al-Riyāḥī’s poetry includes:

أَنَا ابْنُ جَلَا وَطَلَّاعُ الثَّنَايَا
مَتَى أَضَعِ الْعِمَامَةَ تَعْرِفُونِي

anā ibnu Jalā wa-ṭallāʿu al-thanāyā / matā aḍaʿi al-ʿimāmata taʿrifūnī

Interpretive translation: “I am the man whose standing and deeds are manifest and known, a climber of difficult passes; whenever I remove my turban, you will recognize me.”

The line appears in Al-Aṣmaʿiyyāt and other literary sources.

Ibnu Jalā here concerns being manifest and socially recognized.

Sharḥ Qaṭr al-Nadā:readings of Ibnu Jalā

The poet suggests that his standing and ability need no lengthy introduction.

Ṭallāʿu al-thanāyā denotes someone advancing through difficult paths and mountain passes.

Jalā in this image concerns being manifest and known rather than climbing a mountain; climbing comes from the line’s other part.

Suḥaym ibn Wathīl was a mukhaḍram poet who lived through pre-Islamic times and Islam.

The line is thus early Arabic evidence, but cannot be declared definitely pre-Islamic without dating its composition.

Later speakers and writers also quoted it. Those famous later quotations should not replace investigation of its original attribution.

Ṭabaqāt Fuḥūl al-Shuʿarāʾ:attribution to Suḥaym ibn Wathīl

Driving Bees from Their Place in Abū Dhuʾayb al-Hudhalī’s Poetry

Abū Dhuʾayb al-Hudhalī says of bees and a honey-gatherer using smoke:

فَلَمَّا جَلَاهَا بِالْإِيَامِ تَحَيَّزَتْ
ثُبَاتٍ عَلَيْهَا ذُلُّهَا وَاكْتِئَابُهَا

fa-lammā jalāhā bi-al-iyāmi taḥayyazat / thubātin ʿalayhā dhulluhā wa-iktiʾābuhā

Translation: “When he drove them from their place with smoke, the bees withdrew in groups, overcome with abasement and distress.”

Jalāhā here denotes driving the bees from their place.

Lexical explanations connect al-iyām to smoke.

Lisān al-ʿArab:iyām and smoking out bees

The image is of someone using smoke to drive bees away to reach their honey.

Jalā here concerns displacing creatures from their position, rather than the appearance of light or a report becoming clear.

Sources also transmit ijtalāhā in place of jalāhā.

Some other words have variant readings as well, including taḥayyarat in place of taḥayyazat, and words in the second hemistich.

Lisān:Abū Dhuʾayb’s witness and ijtalāhā/taḥayyarat variants

Historical citation should retain these differences.

Abū Dhuʾayb was a mukhaḍram poet; this witness’s exact composition date is not established.

Nevertheless, driving bees away fits the lexical account of departure from a residence.

Appearance After Concealment in Qays ibn al-Khaṭīm’s Poetry

A poem by the pre-Islamic poet Qays ibn al-Khaṭīm includes:

تَبَدَّتْ لَنَا كَالشَّمْسِ تَحْتَ غَمَامَةٍ
بَدَا حَاجِبٌ مِنْهَا وَضَنَّتْ بِحَاجِبِ

tabaddat lanā ka-al-shamsi taḥta ghamāmatin / badā ḥājibun minhā wa-ḍannat bi-ḥājibi

Translation: “She appeared to us like the sun beneath a cloud: one part of her face became visible, while she withheld the other.”

The line does not use J L W itself; its verb tabaddat belongs to another family.

Its image of something appearing from behind a covering nevertheless offers a useful semantic comparison.

Some commentaries cite it when explaining jallāhā in Al-Shams 91:3 as an example of the sun or a face becoming visible.

Because the transmitted poetic wording contains no J L W verb, however, it should not be presented as direct evidence for this root.

Ḥamāsat al-Khālidiyyayn:Qays ibn al-Khaṭīm’s witness from another root

This distinction matters in linguistic research: a line can offer a related semantic image without supplying a form of the root under study.

Findings from the Historical Witnesses

Early evidence shows two important fields for J L W: being manifest and recognized, and displacing or driving something from its place.

Suḥaym’s line concerns the person’s manifest standing.

Abū Dhuʾayb’s line depicts bees driven away by smoke.

The image of the sun emerging from behind a cloud was likewise familiar in pre-Islamic poetry, although Qays ibn al-Khaṭīm’s witness uses another root.

These witnesses assist understanding of Qur’anic usage, but should not automatically determine the verses’ full meaning.

7. The First Qur’anic Use: The Lord’s Manifestation to the Mountain

Al-Aʿrāf 7:143

وَلَمَّا جَاءَ مُوسَىٰ لِمِيقَاتِنَا وَكَلَّمَهُ رَبُّهُ قَالَ رَبِّ أَرِنِي أَنظُرْ إِلَيْكَ ۚ قَالَ لَن تَرَانِي وَلَٰكِنِ انظُرْ إِلَى الْجَبَلِ فَإِنِ اسْتَقَرَّ مَكَانَهُ فَسَوْفَ تَرَانِي ۚ فَلَمَّا تَجَلَّىٰ رَبُّهُ لِلْجَبَلِ جَعَلَهُ دَكًّا وَخَرَّ مُوسَىٰ صَعِقًا ۚ فَلَمَّا أَفَاقَ قَالَ سُبْحَانَكَ تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ

wa-lammā jāʾa Mūsā li-mīqātinā wa-kallamahu rabbuhu qāla rabbi arinī anẓur ilayka qāla lan tarānī wa-lākini unẓur ilā al-jabali fa-ini istaqarra makānahu fa-sawfa tarānī fa-lammā tajallā rabbuhu li-al-jabali jaʿalahu dakkan wa-kharra Mūsā ṣaʿiqan fa-lammā afāqa qāla subḥānaka tubtu ilayka wa-anā awwalu al-muʾminīna

Proposed translation based on this study:

“When Moses came to Our appointment and his Lord spoke to him, he said: My Lord, show me, that I may look at You. He said: You will not see Me, but look at the mountain: if it remains in its place, you will see Me. When his Lord manifested Himself to the mountain, He crushed it, and Moses fell unconscious. When he recovered, he said: Glory be to You; I turn back to You, and I am the first of the believers.”

Tajallā here describes Moses’s Lord.

Moses first asks his Lord to show Himself so that he may look at Him.

The answer is that Moses will not see Him, but should look at the mountain.

The Lord’s manifestation to the mountain is then stated; the mountain is crushed and Moses falls unconscious.

The Meaning of Tajallā

Tajallā in Arabic concerns becoming manifest or manifesting itself.

Its subject here is rabbuhu, “his Lord.”

The preposition li- in li-al-jabali relates the manifestation to the mountain.

The sentence directly states that the Lord manifested Himself to the mountain.

The verb alone, however, does not specify every detail of how this occurred.

How it happened, whether it involved the appearance of an effect of divine power or a manner beyond our knowledge, are separate questions.

Some commentaries explain the manifestation as the Lord’s appearance. Others discuss the manifestation of light belonging to Him or an effect of His power.

The text clearly states that manifestation occurred, while its manner has received different readings.

Al-Qurṭubī:manifestation and differing accounts of its manner

Does Tajallī Mean Moses Saw The God with His Eyes?

At the verse’s beginning, Moses requests sight.

The response states lan tarānī, “You will not see Me.”

He is then directed to the mountain.

The manifestation subsequently occurs to the mountain, and Moses falls unconscious.

The text distinguishes the request for sight, the Lord’s answer, and the manifestation.

These should not be equated without examination.

The verse also says Moses recovered, but does not explicitly state that he saw the Lord’s reality in the manner he requested.

Turning tajallā into “Moses saw The God with his eyes” therefore adds beyond the wording.

Nor does the root itself establish that manifestation necessarily means the appearance of a material body.

Jaʿalahu Dakkan: The Manifestation’s Consequence

The mountain subsequently becomes dakkan.

This comes from D K K and concerns crushing and leveling.

Manifestation and the mountain’s transformation are thus connected in the verse.

Dakkan is not the meaning of tajallā itself, however.

Tajallī concerns manifestation, while the mountain’s being crushed is an event subsequently stated.

Root research should preserve this distinction.

Defining tajallī directly as “crushed the mountain” obscures the separate verb jaʿalahu.

Wa-Kharra Mūsā Ṣaʿiqan

After the manifestation and the mountain’s transformation, Moses falls unconscious.

Other verbal and descriptive elements occur here as well.

Kharra concerns falling.

Ṣaʿiqan in this context denotes Moses’s unconsciousness or loss of awareness.

J L W itself therefore does not mean losing consciousness.

That event belongs to the scene’s consequences.

Manifestation and The God’s Reality

Later theological discussions use this verse to debate whether seeing The God is possible and the manner of His manifestation.

Root research should distinguish verbal evidence from philosophical conclusions.

Linguistically, tajallā concerns manifestation and becoming apparent.

The verb alone neither establishes a bodily structure for The God nor fully explains His mode of existence.

Its application to the day in Al-Layl 92:2 also does not make the Lord’s manifestation identical in nature to the sky becoming light.

A shared root does not imply identical realities for its subjects.

For Forqan, the Persian jelveh kard, “manifested Himself,” is consequently a natural, cautious rendering of Al-Aʿrāf 7:143 that retains the verb’s meaning without specifying an unstated manner.

8. Disclosing the Hour: Al-Aʿrāf 7:187

يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ السَّاعَةِ أَيَّانَ مُرْسَاهَا ۖ قُلْ إِنَّمَا عِلْمُهَا عِندَ رَبِّي ۖ لَا يُجَلِّيهَا لِوَقْتِهَا إِلَّا هُوَ ۚ ثَقُلَتْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۚ لَا تَأْتِيكُمْ إِلَّا بَغْتَةً ۗ يَسْأَلُونَكَ كَأَنَّكَ حَفِيٌّ عَنْهَا ۖ قُلْ إِنَّمَا عِلْمُهَا عِندَ اللَّهِ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

yasʾalūnaka ʿani al-sāʿati ayyāna mursāhā qul innamā ʿilmuhā ʿinda rabbī lā yujallīhā li-waqtihā illā huwa thaqulat fī al-samāwāti wa-al-arḍi lā taʾtīkum illā baghtatan yasʾalūnaka ka-annaka ḥafiyyun ʿanhā qul innamā ʿilmuhā ʿinda Allāhi wa-lākinna akthara al-nāsi lā yaʿlamūna

Proposed translation based on this study:

“They ask you about the Hour: when will it occur? Say: Knowledge of it belongs only to my Lord; none but He discloses it at its time. It weighs heavily in the heavens and the earth; it comes to you only suddenly. They ask you as though you were fully informed about it. Say: Knowledge of it belongs only to The God, but most people do not know.”

Yujallīhā is Form II.

The pronoun hā refers to al-sāʿah, the Hour.

The God is the semantic agent of disclosure.

The expression concerns disclosing the Hour at its appointed time.

Knowledge of the Hour and Its Disclosure

The verse begins with:

“إِنَّمَا عِلْمُهَا عِندَ رَبِّي” (innamā ʿilmuhā ʿinda rabbī).

That is, knowledge of it belongs only to my Lord.

It then states:

“لَا يُجَلِّيهَا لِوَقْتِهَا إِلَّا هُوَ” (lā yujallīhā li-waqtihā illā huwa).

This also attributes the Hour’s disclosure to The God.

The verse thus mentions both knowledge of its time and its disclosure at its own time.

The concepts are related but distinct.

Someone may know of a future event before it becomes manifest.

Conversely, when an event occurs, its effects may become apparent to people previously unaware of its timing.

Both complete knowledge of the Hour and its disclosure are presented as belonging to The God.

Does Yujallīhā Mean Only Announcing the Date of Resurrection?

The verse raises a question about when the Hour will occur.

Its time becoming clear is therefore an important aspect of meaning.

Yujallīhā li-waqtihā can also concern the event itself becoming manifest at its appointed time.

The verse continues that the Hour comes to its addressees only suddenly.

The subject consequently extends beyond communicating an ordinary report about a future date to the event’s occurrence itself.

Translation should retain disclosure rather than restrict it without explanation to “announcing the exact date.”

The Role of Li-Waqtihā

Li-waqtihā introduces the disclosure’s appointed time.

J L W itself does not mean an appointed time.

Time comes from waqt and its relationship to the verb.

The expression therefore means that none but The God discloses the Hour at its time.

Lā Taʾtīkum Illā Baghtatan

The verse continues that the Hour arrives suddenly.

Baghtatan belongs to another root and concerns suddenness.

This feature clarifies the Hour’s manifestation in context.

Yujallīhā itself does not mean suddenness, however.

In Arabic something may become manifest gradually or suddenly; adverbs and context specify its manner.

Here suddenness comes from baghtatan.

Al-Ṭabarī:knowledge of the Hour and sudden arrival

9. Jalāʾ in Al-Ḥashr 59:3

وَلَوْلَا أَن كَتَبَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْجَلَاءَ لَعَذَّبَهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا ۖ وَلَهُمْ فِي الْآخِرَةِ عَذَابُ النَّارِ

wa-lawlā an kataba Allāhu ʿalayhimu al-jalāʾa la-ʿadhdhabahum fī al-dunyā wa-lahum fī al-ākhirati ʿadhābu al-nāri

Proposed translation based on this study:

“Had The God not decreed departure for them, He would have punished them in this world; in the Hereafter theirs is the punishment of the Fire.”

This is the Qur’an’s only nominal use of al-jalāʾa.

Jalāʾ here concerns neither light appearing nor a matter becoming clear.

It concerns a group leaving its homeland and residence.

The Verse’s Context

Al-Ḥashr 59:2 describes a group of the People of the Book expelled from their homes.

The addressees had not expected them to leave, while they thought their fortresses would protect them from divine power.

Events proceeded differently, however, and they had to leave their homes.

Al-Ḥashr 59:3 then uses al-jalāʾa.

The word continues the same event.

The context makes clear that this departure is not ordinary voluntary travel for trade or a visit.

It relates to an event in which a group leaves its residence.

Kataba Allāhu ʿAlayhimu al-Jalāʾa

Departure is here presented as something decreed upon them.

This construction distinguishes the circumstances from ordinary movement.

Jalāʾ alone, however, does not supply every detail of warfare, treaty, or the group’s conduct.

Its causes and circumstances require examining Al-Ḥashr 59:2, Al-Ḥashr 59:3, Al-Ḥashr 59:4, Al-Ḥashr 59:5, and relevant subsequent verses.

The verse should also not yield a general rule authorizing the expulsion of every religious group from its homes.

It concerns a particular event whose associated judgment or conduct requires the whole context.

Departure and Punishment

Al-Ḥashr 59:3 presents departure against another form of worldly punishment.

Leaving the homeland thus had a significant, grave consequence in that event.

Jalāʾ should not consequently be defined as punishment in every lexical use.

People may leave their place for different reasons.

The verse places this departure within a punitive context; it does not make punishment the lexical meaning of J L W.

Al-Ṭabarī:jalāʾ and departure from a homeland

Is the Persian Kūch Appropriate?

Kūch in Persian denotes moving from one place to another.

It can describe voluntary or forced movement.

In Al-Ḥashr 59:3, the preceding verse makes clear that the departure occurred amid pressure and expulsion.

Forqan’s kūch is understandable in a general sense, but contextual explanation should clarify that ordinary, freely chosen travel is not intended.

“Leaving the homeland” or “forced departure from the homeland” can clarify this in analysis.

Adding “forced” to the base translation requires a separate translation decision, since this feature comes from the preceding verse’s context rather than the noun jalāʾ alone.

10. Revealing in Al-Shams 91:3

وَالنَّهَارِ إِذَا جَلَّاهَا

wa-al-nahāri idhā jallāhā

Proposed translation based on this study:

“And by the day when it reveals it.”

This is the root’s third verbal occurrence in Qur’anic order, but its construction differs from tajallā.

Jallāhā is Form II.

Its subject in the immediate construction is al-nahār, the day.

Hā is the verb’s object.

The day therefore reveals something.

The Referent of Hā

Al-Shams 91:1 states:

وَالشَّمْسِ وَضُحَاهَا

wa-al-shamsi wa-ḍuḥāhā

Proposed translation based on this study: “By the sun and its morning brightness.”

Al-Shams 91:2 states:

وَالْقَمَرِ إِذَا تَلَاهَا

wa-al-qamari idhā talāhā

Proposed translation based on this study: “And by the moon when it follows it.”

Al-Shams 91:3 then states wa-al-nahāri idhā jallāhā.

In this sequence, the clear nearby antecedent of feminine hā is the sun.

The natural reading is therefore that the day reveals the sun.

Some commentaries nevertheless suggest darkness, the earth, or the world as the referent, although none has previously been named explicitly.

Those readings can be considered as natural imagery, since day reveals the earth and things concealed in darkness.

The verbal sequence more clearly supports the sun as antecedent, however, because al-shams begins this passage.

Al-Ṭabarī:the pronoun referent and the darkness reading

Does the Day Reveal the Sun?

Scientifically, the sun is a principal source of daylight for an observer on earth.

The question may therefore arise: how does the day itself reveal the sun?

Natural language does not always express scientific cause and effect with technical precision.

In human experience, the sun becomes apparent as day arrives and spreads.

For an observer, the day brightens as the sun rises, and the sun is visible in the sky. This association explains the verse’s poetic image rather than specifying a physical mechanism.

In that image, attributing the sun’s revealing to the day is a natural, intelligible expression.

It does not itself propose that day exists independently of the sun.

Contrast with Night

Al-Shams 91:4 states:

وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَغْشَاهَا

wa-al-layli idhā yaghshāhā

Proposed translation based on this study: “And by the night when it covers it.”

Yaghshāhā comes from GH SH W, also recorded with GH SH Y forms, and concerns covering.

Day and night therefore appear in two related images: revealing and covering.

This contrast clarifies jallāhā.

Day is associated with visibility and night with covering.

This should not become a moral judgment that day is inherently truth and night inherently falsehood.

The Qur’an includes both among creation’s signs.

The surah later discusses moral values through the self, wrongdoing, mindfulness, and human conduct.

Jallāhā and Tajallā

Here the day reveals something.

In Al-Layl 92:2, the day itself becomes manifest.

This clearly illustrates morphology’s role in meaning.

Al-Shams uses a transitive verb with an object.

Al-Layl describes the subject itself becoming manifest.

The expressions should not become one identical sentence without attention to their construction.

11. The Day Becoming Manifest: Al-Layl 92:2

وَالنَّهَارِ إِذَا تَجَلَّىٰ

wa-al-nahāri idhā tajallā

Proposed translation based on this study:

“And by the day when it becomes manifest.”

Tajallā is Form V here.

Its subject is al-nahār, the day.

Unlike Al-Shams 91:3, it has no direct object.

The day itself becomes manifest.

The Contrast of Night and Day

Al-Layl 92:1 states:

وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَغْشَىٰ

wa-al-layli idhā yaghshā

Proposed translation based on this study: “By the night when it covers.”

Verse 2 then mentions the day as it becomes manifest.

Two natural states are contrasted.

Night is associated with covering and reduced visibility.

Day accompanies manifestation and light.

This fits J L W’s use for concealment lifting.

Tajallā itself does not mean the sun; its subject is the day.

The day’s manifestation also does not itself establish that everything is visible without obstruction.

The weather may be cloudy, misty, or dusty.

The verse presents the general image of day’s manifestation against night’s covering.

Is Day a Symbol of Truth Here?

The surah subsequently discusses the diversity of human striving and presents two different paths of conduct.

The literary structure may connect the contrast of night and day to differing human paths.

This does not make al-nahār itself mean truth or al-layl mean falsehood.

Night and day are actual natural phenomena.

Any proposed symbolic reading requires its own contextual evidence and identification as analysis rather than the root’s direct meaning.

Is This Tajallā Identical to the Lord’s Manifestation?

Both are the same verb morphologically.

Their subjects differ, however.

In Al-Layl 92:2, the day becomes manifest.

In Al-Aʿrāf 7:143, the Lord manifests Himself to the mountain.

A shared verb does not make the events’ manner identical.

Arabic may apply one verb to humans, nature, reports, or subjects beyond ordinary human experience without making all their characteristics identical.

Each manifestation’s meaning and manner consequently require its own context.

12. Distinguishing J L W from Related Roots

J L W (Tajallī) and J L L (Jalāl)

Study of J L L

These families resemble one another in form but have different roots.

J L W concerns becoming manifest and revealing.

J L L in Qur’anic use concerns greatness and majesty.

Al-Raḥmān 55:27 and Al-Raḥmān 55:78 use al-jalāl for the Lord’s majesty.

Al-Aʿrāf 7:143 uses tajallā for the Lord’s manifestation to the mountain.

Religious analysis may relate the concepts, for example by discussing the manifestation of a sign of divine greatness.

Tajallā itself, however, does not derive from J L L.

Jalāl should not become manifestation, or tajallī greatness, without supporting evidence.

J L W (Jalāʾ) and Ẓ H R (Ẓuhūr)

Study of Ẓ H R

Ẓuhūr concerns becoming manifest or apparent in Arabic.

One use of jalāʾ likewise concerns becoming manifest.

The two can be very close in some contexts.

J L W also concerns polishing and departing from a homeland, however; these do not occur identically throughout the derivatives of Ẓ H R.

Semantic proximity does not make entire families identical.

J L W (Tajallī) and B D W (Buduww)

Study of B D W

Badā concerns appearing in Arabic.

Tajallā can likewise mean becoming manifest.

J L W nevertheless has its particular range concerning manifestation and concealment lifting.

Badā does not supply every sense of departure from a homeland or polishing metal.

Qays ibn al-Khaṭīm uses tabaddat for a face appearing. Its image is close to manifestation, but its root differs.

J L W (Jalāʾ) and K SH F (Kashf)

Kashf concerns removing a covering and revealing something.

Jalāʾ in its manifestation use belongs to a related field.

Lexical definitions repeatedly explain jalāʾ through kashf.

Kashf nevertheless has a broad range, including removing harm, revealing truth, and removing an obstacle.

J L W in Al-Ḥashr 59:3 instead concerns leaving a homeland.

Al-jalāʾa in that verse therefore cannot be translated as “becoming uncovered.”

J L W (Jallā) and B Y N (Bayyana)

Study of B Y N

Bayyana concerns clarifying and distinguishing something in Arabic.

Some uses of jallā likewise concern clarifying and revealing.

The two approach one another when explaining a truth or revealing a matter.

The Qur’an often uses bayyana concerning explanation and clarification of signs and rulings.

Jallā occurs twice, each with a particular object of disclosure: the Hour and what the day reveals.

Not every instance of explanation should therefore become tajallī.

J L W (Jalāʾ) and KH R J (Khurūj)

Study of KH R J

Khurūj concerns going out.

Jalāʾ in its territorial use also concerns departure.

Al-Ḥashr 59:2 uses akhraja.

Al-Ḥashr 59:3 uses al-jalāʾa.

Going out and jalāʾ are thus related within one historical event.

Khurūj can describe leaving a house, a plant emerging, leaving another condition, and many other uses.

Jalāʾ concerning residence instead involves leaving a homeland or the homeland becoming empty of a group’s presence.

Every departure is therefore not necessarily jalāʾ.

J L W (Jalāʾ) and H J R (Hijrah)

Both can concern leaving one’s residence.

Their roots and contextual roles differ, however.

Some verses connect hijrah to leaving a homeland to preserve faith and fulfill responsibility.

Al-Ḥashr 59:3 uses jalāʾ for a particular group of the People of the Book departing.

Movement alone should therefore not make the two identical in every use.

J L W (Tajallā) and N W R (Nūr)

Study of N W R

Nūr concerns light.

Tajallā concerns becoming manifest.

Light may reveal things, but the words do not share one meaning.

Something may become manifest without itself being a light source.

Light may also be present while another obstacle prevents an object from being seen.

In Al-Aʿrāf 7:143, tajallā alone does not establish that the event necessarily involved physical light shining.

Such an explanation requires independent evidence.

J L W (Jallā) and W Ḍ Ḥ (Wuḍūḥ)

Wuḍūḥ concerns being clear or apparent.

Jallā can express the action of revealing.

Something clear may have become so through explanation, uncovering, or direct observation.

The description wāḍiḥ itself does not always specify why it became clear.

Jallā as a verb can instead emphasize the act of revealing.

Translation should preserve this distinction between state and action.

13. Questions of Understanding and Translation

Does Tajallā Always Mean Seeing with the Eyes?

No.

Tajallī concerns becoming manifest.

Something may become apparent to sensory observation, but language is not confined to that case.

The verb alone does not establish that every manifestation reveals a subject’s entire reality to human eyes.

Moses’s request for sight and the manifestation’s occurrence require separate examination in Al-Aʿrāf 7:143.

Does Tajallī Mean Being Created?

No.

Something may exist before becoming manifest.

The day becoming manifest in Al-Layl 92:2 does not mean all daytime phenomena are created from nothing at that instant.

A fact becoming clear in a report likewise differs from the fact itself coming into existence.

Does the Lord’s Manifestation to the Mountain Establish a Bodily Structure?

The verb itself does not establish that.

The verse describes manifestation to the mountain and its consequence.

It does not describe the Lord’s mode of existence or this manifestation through bodily details.

Later theological or philosophical claims should therefore not be presented as tajallā’s lexical meaning.

Does Jallāhā in Al-Shams 91:3 Concern Darkness?

Some commentaries present that reading.

The nearby explicit antecedent for feminine hā, however, is the sun named at the surah’s beginning.

The next verse likewise has a feminine pronoun in yaghshāhā.

The verbal sequence thus more clearly supports the sun as referent.

Other readings should be explained as possibilities rather than becoming the principal translation without evidence.

Is the Day’s Manifestation in Al-Layl 92:2 Identical to Revealing the Sun in Al-Shams 91:3?

Their semantic fields are close, but the verbal construction differs.

In Al-Layl, the day becomes manifest.

In Al-Shams, the day reveals something.

The intransitive/transitive distinction should therefore be preserved.

Does Jalāʾ in Al-Ḥashr 59:3 Mean Brightness?

No.

Jalāʾ in that context concerns leaving a homeland.

The previous verse describes a group expelled from its homes.

The appropriate meaning here is consequently departure and leaving one’s residence.

Is Every Migration or Journey Jalāʾ?

No.

Arabic territorial jalāʾ concerns leaving a former residence.

A short trading journey or visit is not necessarily jalāʾ.

Context also determines whether movement is forced or voluntary.

Do Jalī and Jalāl Share One Root?

No.

Qur’anic jalāl comes from J L L and concerns greatness and majesty.

Jalī belongs to the family concerning clarity and visibility and structurally relates to weak-consonant forms.

Their written resemblance should not confuse their roots.

14. Translation Proposals for Forqan

Equivalents for J L W should follow verbal construction and context.

Jalā concerning a report can mean “became clear” or “clarified.”

Territorial jalā al-qawmu means “the group left its homeland.”

Ajlā al-qawma means “expelled the group.”

Jalw and jalāʾ concerning manifestation can mean “becoming manifest” or “revealing.”

Territorial al-jalāʾ means “departure” or “leaving the homeland,” and in a coercive context “being expelled.”

Jilāʾ in the polishing use concerns burnishing or polishing.

Jallā means “revealed.”

Tajallā means “became manifest” or, where appropriate, “manifested itself.”

Injalā can mean “became apparent,” “was uncovered,” or “cleared away.”

Jalwah in bridal usage concerns presenting and seeing the bride.

Ijtalā in observational usage means “looked at” or “observed closely.”

Al-Aʿrāf 7:143

“فَلَمَّا تَجَلَّىٰ رَبُّهُ لِلْجَبَلِ” (fa-lammā tajallā rabbuhu li-al-jabali).

Existing Persian Forqan translation, rendered here in English:

“When his Lord manifested Himself to the mountain.”

This rendering preserves manifestation without deciding its unstated manner.

Al-Aʿrāf 7:187

“لَا يُجَلِّيهَا لِوَقْتِهَا إِلَّا هُوَ” (lā yujallīhā li-waqtihā illā huwa).

Existing Persian Forqan translation, rendered here in English:

“None but He discloses it at its time.”

Yujallīhā is transitive here and concerns disclosing the Hour.

Al-Ḥashr 59:3

“وَلَوْلَا أَن كَتَبَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْجَلَاءَ” (wa-lawlā an kataba Allāhu ʿalayhimu al-jalāʾa).

Existing Persian Forqan translation, rendered here in English:

“Had The God not decreed departure for them.”

Contextual explanation should connect this departure to leaving the homeland and the event in Al-Ḥashr 59:2.

Al-Shams 91:3

“وَالنَّهَارِ إِذَا جَلَّاهَا” (wa-al-nahāri idhā jallāhā).

Existing Persian Forqan translation, rendered here in English:

“And by the day when it reveals it.”

This preserves hā without adding an interpretive referent. Analysis may explain why the sun is the closer textual reading.

Al-Layl 92:2

“وَالنَّهَارِ إِذَا تَجَلَّىٰ” (wa-al-nahāri idhā tajallā).

Existing Persian Forqan translation, rendered here in English:

“And by the day when it becomes manifest.”

Here the day itself becomes manifest and the verb has no direct object.

These five renderings fit the root’s principal morphological and semantic distinctions. Versions differing from the current Forqan wording are labeled proposals here.

15. Conclusion

J L W in Arabic concerns becoming manifest, revealing, and concealment lifting.

Ibn Fāris identifies its semantic core as inkishāfu al-shayʾi wa-burūzuhu: something’s becoming uncovered and manifest.

This meaning appears throughout different uses of the family.

A sword is polished by removing rust.

The sky becomes clear and visible when clouds disappear.

An obscure matter becomes clear through explanation and evidence.

A bride is presented in a social setting to be seen and introduced.

People may also leave their residence and depart from a homeland they previously occupied.

These should nevertheless not become one physical action. Truth becoming manifest, light traveling, metal being polished, and forced departure differ in reality and consequence.

Early poetic witnesses from Suḥaym ibn Wathīl and Abū Dhuʾayb al-Hudhalī illustrate being manifest and expelling from a place.

Historical attribution and differences of transmission should remain explicit.

The Qur’an uses this root five times in five verses.

Al-Aʿrāf 7:143 uses tajallā for the Lord’s manifestation to the mountain. It states the manifestation and its consequence without detailing its ontological manner or establishing a bodily form.

Al-Aʿrāf 7:187 uses yujallīhā for disclosing the Hour at its appointed time. Both knowledge of its time and its disclosure belong to The God.

Al-Ḥashr 59:3 uses al-jalāʾa for a group leaving its homeland. Context connects it to expulsion from homes in the previous verse, not clarification or manifestation.

Al-Shams 91:3 uses jallāhā for revealing; the verbal sequence supports the sun as the pronoun’s antecedent.

Al-Layl 92:2 uses tajallā for the day itself becoming manifest.

These last two verses clearly distinguish revealing from becoming manifest.

J L W also requires distinction from J L L. Jalāl in Al-Raḥmān concerns greatness and majesty, whereas tajallā in Al-Aʿrāf and Al-Layl concerns manifestation.

“Revealed” suits jallā, while “became manifest” or “manifested itself” suits tajallā.

Jalāʾ in Al-Ḥashr 59:3 concerns departure and leaving a homeland.

The defensible semantic core of J L W is emergence from concealment and becoming manifest; in territorial usages, the family also extends to departing and leaving a former place.

Distinguishing these branches, especially becoming manifest from revealing, allows all five Qur’anic uses to be studied without adding unstated details of divine manifestation, reducing jalāʾ to ordinary travel, or confusing it with majesty and greatness.