The Qur’anic Root K R R (ك ر ر)
Returning and repeating: from coming back and renewed attack to repeated looking and the wish for another opportunity
Qur’anic and lexical forms
كَرَّة / كَرَّةً / كَرَّةٌ
(karrah / karratan / karratun)
Qur’anic noun for a return; indefinite singular forms
الْكَرَّةَ
(al-karrata)
Definite accusative form; Al-Isrāʾ 17:6
كَرَّتَيْنِ
(karratayni)
Accusative dual form; Al-Mulk 67:4
كَرَّ / يَكُرُّ
(karra / yakurru)
Returning and bringing back; lexical forms, not Qur’anic
كَرَّرَ
(karrara)
Repeated; form II verb, not Qur’anic
كَرّ / كُرُور
(karr / kurūr)
Lexical verbal nouns for returning; not Qur’anic
تَكْرَار / تَكْرِير
(takrār / takrīr)
Lexical verbal nouns for repetition; not Qur’anic
كَرَّار / مِكَرّ
(karrār / mikarr)
Frequent returner / agile in charging; not Qur’anic
مُكَرَّر
(mukarrar)
Repeated; lexical passive participle, not Qur’anic
كَرِير
(karīr)
A throat sound in lexical usage; not Qur’anic
In Arabic, K R R concerns returning, turning toward something again, and repeating an action. Karra (كَرَّ) describes someone or something returning after moving away or making a movement. Karrara (كَرَّرَ) concerns doing or saying something again; karrah (كَرَّة) is one instance of such returning or repetition.
In earlier Arabic, the family occurs in human and animal movement, battle, speech, and repeated activities. A warrior renewing an attack after withdrawal, someone repeating a statement, and a person looking at something again can all be described with forms from this family.
In the Qur’an, karrah sometimes concerns the return of an opportunity and the ability to confront opponents, sometimes the wish to return to an earlier life, and sometimes repeated looking. In Al-Nāziʿāt, it also appears in the speech of people questioning a return to life after death.
These uses are related but differ. Karrah does not itself mean victory, an opportunity to repent, resurrection, or renewed observation. Returning or a renewed occasion is the shared meaning; the sentence’s construction and context establish what kind of return occurs and what happens in it.
1. Linguistic forms and earlier Arabic usage
The root occurs six times in six Qur’anic verses: Al-Baqarah 2:167, Al-Isrāʾ 17:6, Al-Shuʿarāʾ 26:102, Al-Zumar 39:58, Al-Mulk 67:4, and Al-Nāziʿāt 79:12. Its forms are karratan (كَرَّةً), al-karrata (الْكَرَّةَ), karratayni (كَرَّتَيْنِ), and karratun (كَرَّةٌ). These are inflected forms of one noun. Their differences concern definiteness, grammatical case, and singular or dual number, rather than separate derivations from the root.
Arabic also records karra yakurru (كَرَّ يَكُرُّ), karrara, the verbal nouns karr (كَرّ), kurūr (كُرُور), takrār (تَكْرَار), and takrīr (تَكْرِير), and descriptions such as karrār (كَرَّار), mikarr (مِكَرّ), and mukarrar (مُكَرَّر). These verbs, verbal nouns, and descriptions do not occur in these forms in the Qur’an.
Karra may be intransitive or transitive: karra bi-nafsihi (كَرَّ بِنَفْسِهِ) means that the person returned, while karrahu (كَرَّهُ) means bringing someone or something back. In karra ʿalā al-ʿaduwwi (كَرَّ عَلَى الْعَدُوِّ), someone turns back toward the enemy and attacks. In karra ʿanhu (كَرَّ عَنْهُ), the return turns away from something. Karrara al-kalāma (كَرَّرَ الْكَلَامَ) means repeating speech.
Returning and repeating in earlier usage
In Maqāyīs al-Lughah, Ibn Fāris identifies gathering and repetition within this family. He explains karrartu (كَرَّرْتُ) through returning to something after the first occasion.
Lisān al-ʿArab likewise defines al-karr as returning, explaining renewed attack and repeated speech through that meaning.
Returning and repeating must be distinguished. A return may happen once; repetition concerns an action or condition occurring again after its first occurrence.
Someone may, for example, return home once after leaving. This return is a karrah, but it need not mean repeated journeys back and forth. If the same action happens many times, one speaks of its repetition.
Every karrah therefore does not itself imply endless repetition. The word can express one renewed occasion; the sentence establishes how many occasions occur.
Al-karr wa-l-farr: returning in battle
A familiar use of the family belongs to the language of warfare and horsemanship.
Here al-karr concerns turning toward or charging an enemy; al-farr concerns withdrawal or moving away from the confrontation.
A warrior or horseman may withdraw, change direction, and turn back toward the enemy. In such a situation, karr is more than returning to an earlier location: the return may begin a fresh attack.
The Muʿallaqah of the pre-Islamic poet Imruʾ al-Qays describes a horse:
مِكَرٍّ مِفَرٍّ مُقْبِلٍ مُدْبِرٍ مَعًا
كَجُلْمُودِ صَخْرٍ حَطَّهُ السَّيْلُ مِنْ عَلِ
mikarrin mifarrin muqbilin mudbirin maʿan / ka-julmūdi ṣakhrin ḥaṭṭahu al-saylu min ʿali
“Agile in charging and withdrawing, advancing and retreating alike, like a hard boulder swept down from a height by the torrent.”
Mikarr describes a horse agile in turning back and charging; mifarr (مِفَرّ) expresses its ability to withdraw and move away quickly.
The poet does not mean that the horse literally moves in opposite directions at the same instant. He praises its ability and agility in both movements: it can swiftly advance or turn back when needed.
The witness shows that the returning sense of K R R was known before the Qur’an and could concern renewed attack in a martial setting.
Fighting and victory are nevertheless not intrinsic root meanings. The same family also occurs in ordinary speech for repeating a statement or returning to an activity.
Repeating speech and action
Karrartu ʿalayhi al-ḥadītha (كَرَّرْتُ عَلَيْهِ الْحَدِيثَ) means that I repeated a statement to someone.
There is no bodily return to a location here. What occurs again is the act of speaking.
Someone may repeat a question, perform an action again, or make another attempt after failure.
These uses show that the root’s range extends from movement in space to repeating an action.
Lexicons record karīr (كَرِير) for a sound resembling a rattle or repeated sound in the throat. Ibn Fāris also explains this usage through a sound’s recurring repetition.
Karr also names a kind of rope, with its strands’ gathering proposed as a connection. Such explanations belong to the lexical family’s range but do not independently establish the historical origin of every root meaning.
Returning and repetition are clearer in the Qur’anic uses. Neither the rope meaning nor the throat sound needs to be imposed on them.
2. Al-karrata: the return of ascendancy and the ability to confront opponents
Al-Isrāʾ states:
ثُمَّ رَدَدْنَا لَكُمُ الْكَرَّةَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَأَمْدَدْنَاكُمْ بِأَمْوَالٍ وَبَنِينَ وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ أَكْثَرَ نَفِيرًا
thumma radadnā lakumu al-karrata ʿalayhim wa-amdadnākum bi-amwālin wa-banīna wa-jaʿalnākum akthara nafīrā
“Then We restored to you the turn of ascendancy over them, reinforced you with wealth and sons, and made you more numerous in manpower.” (Al-Isrāʾ 17:6)
Here al-karrata concerns a situation in which the opportunity to confront opponents and regain ascendancy returns after defeat or subjection to others.
Al-Isrāʾ 17:5 describes powerful servants raised against the Children of Israel, penetrating their dwellings. The sixth verse then describes restored ascendancy, reinforcement with wealth and children, and increased numbers of forces.
Al-karrah is therefore more than returning to a particular location here. It concerns a changed balance of power and renewed ability to confront a group that had previously prevailed over them.
Radadnā lakumu al-karrata: two related families in one sentence
Radadnā (رَدَدْنَا) belongs to R D D, while al-karrata belongs to K R R.
Radadnā expresses restoring. Al-karrata is what is restored: the renewed turn of confrontation or gaining the upper hand over the other side.
The families are semantically close but play different roles. One is the verb of restoring; the other is the noun naming the renewed turn.
ʿAlayhim (عَلَيْهِمْ) also matters here: the restored ascendancy or attack concerns another group.
“Restored to you the turn of ascendancy over them” therefore fits the sentence’s construction and context.
Karrah does not always mean victory, however. A warrior may attack an enemy and lose. Victory or ascendancy in Al-Isrāʾ 17:6 emerges from the whole sentence and its account of restored power.
Does the verse name a particular war or government?
Historical and exegetical reports have associated the verse with different events in the history of the Children of Israel.
The sixth verse itself, however, names no king, commander, or precise date of a war.
What the text clearly describes is restored ascendancy after the earlier condition and renewed possession of strength and resources.
The root’s meaning must therefore not be restricted to one particular historical event. Identifying a historical referent requires separate study of Al-Isrāʾ 17:4, Al-Isrāʾ 17:5, Al-Isrāʾ 17:6, Al-Isrāʾ 17:7, and Al-Isrāʾ 17:8, together with the relevant historical evidence.
Such a return occurring in one period does not itself promise unconditional and permanent victory to every generation. Al-Isrāʾ 17:7 connects the consequences of doing good or evil with the addressees’ own conduct.
3. Karrah: wishing to return and have another opportunity
Three Qur’anic verses use karrah in the speech of people wishing to return after encountering the consequences of their conduct.
The linguistic meaning is shared, while the speakers’ motives and intended actions after returning differ.
Al-Baqarah 2:167: returning to disavow leaders
Al-Baqarah states:
وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوا لَوْ أَنَّ لَنَا كَرَّةً فَنَتَبَرَّأَ مِنْهُمْ كَمَا تَبَرَّءُوا مِنَّا كَذَٰلِكَ يُرِيهِمُ اللَّهُ أَعْمَالَهُمْ حَسَرَاتٍ عَلَيْهِمْ وَمَا هُمْ بِخَارِجِينَ مِنَ النَّارِ
wa-qāla alladhīna ittabaʿū law anna lanā karratan fa-natabarraʾa minhum ka-mā tabarraʾū minnā kadhālika yurīhimu llāhu aʿmālahum ḥasarātin ʿalayhim wa-mā hum bi-khārijīna mina al-nāri
“And those who followed say, ‘If only we could return, so that we might disavow them as they have disavowed us.’ Thus The God shows them their deeds as regrets weighing upon them; they will not leave the Fire.” (Al-Baqarah 2:167)
Here karratan is not the direct object of a particular verb. It is the accusative noun governed by anna in the wish construction law anna lanā karratan (لَوْ أَنَّ لَنَا كَرَّةً).
The speakers wish for an opportunity to return.
Karrah alone does not establish their purpose. The rest of the sentence supplies it: they want to disavow those they followed, just as those leaders have disavowed them.
Al-Baqarah 2:166 describes the severing of ties between followers and their leaders upon seeing the punishment. The next verse gives the followers’ wish in response to that separation.
This context shows that karrah can refer to an opportunity to return to an earlier life and earlier decisions. They want to change a position whose consequences they now see.
The verse does not report that the wish is fulfilled. Wishing for a return differs from its occurrence. The verse also ends by saying that they will not leave the Fire.
Karrah therefore means a return or renewed opportunity here; it does not itself promise that a second opportunity will be granted.
Al-Shuʿarāʾ 26:102: returning to believe
Al-Shuʿarāʾ states:
فَلَوْ أَنَّ لَنَا كَرَّةً فَنَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
fa-law anna lanā karratan fa-nakūna mina al-muʾminīna
“If only we could return, so that we might be among the believers.” (Al-Shuʿarāʾ 26:102)
Here too the wish construction law anna lanā karratan occurs.
The speakers’ purpose differs from the earlier verse. Al-Baqarah 2:167 expresses a wish to return and disavow leaders; here the wish is to join the believers.
The immediate context concerns regret, misguidance, and having no intercessors or close friends.
Karrah thus refers to a return in which the speakers wish to change their course.
The noun itself does not mean believing. That comes from fa-nakūna mina al-muʾminīna (فَنَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ).
This matters for understanding the root: one noun can mean return in two verses while the purpose of returning differs in each.
Al-Zumar 39:58: returning to do good
Al-Zumar states:
أَوْ تَقُولَ حِينَ تَرَى الْعَذَابَ لَوْ أَنَّ لِي كَرَّةً فَأَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ
aw taqūla ḥīna tarā al-ʿadhāba law anna lī karratan fa-akūna mina al-muḥsinīna
“Or say, upon seeing the punishment, ‘If only I could return, so that I might be among those who do good.’” (Al-Zumar 39:58)
The wish is singular here: lī karratan (لِي كَرَّةً), an expressed wish for a return for me.
Al-Zumar 39:56 and Al-Zumar 39:57 describe a person’s regret over neglecting their duty toward The God and their words about guidance and mindfulness.
The fifty-eighth verse connects the wish to return with becoming someone who does good.
Karrah again means returning, while becoming a doer of good comes separately from fa-akūna mina al-muḥsinīna (فَأَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ).
These three verses show that a karrah can be an opportunity in which a person wishes to remedy earlier actions or correct their course.
A desired opportunity must nevertheless be distinguished from its actual availability. The verses report the words of people facing their deeds’ consequences; they do not announce that every person actually returns to worldly life after death.
Karrah itself likewise does not mean repentance, belief, or righteous action. Those are purposes the speakers wish to pursue upon returning.
4. Karratun khāsirah: a return after death
Al-Nāziʿāt states:
قَالُوا تِلْكَ إِذًا كَرَّةٌ خَاسِرَةٌ
qālū tilka idhan karratun khāsirah
“They said, ‘That would then be a losing return!’” (Al-Nāziʿāt 79:12)
The preceding verses report people questioning being brought back after death.
In Al-Nāziʿāt 79:10, they ask about being restored to the earlier condition; in Al-Nāziʿāt 79:11, they mention decayed bones.
Karratun in the twelfth verse therefore concerns a return to life after death.
Returning after death differs from regaining a worldly opportunity
In Al-Baqarah 2:167, Al-Shuʿarāʾ 26:102, and Al-Zumar 39:58, people wish for an opportunity to change their earlier conduct.
In Al-Nāziʿāt 79:12, however, the central subject is being brought back after death and the occurrence of resurrection itself.
The uses share a returning meaning but refer to different things.
In the first use, the speakers want to return to their earlier opportunity to act. In the second, people speak of a return after death and call it a losing return.
Karrah in Qur’anic language therefore does not itself establish the stage of life to which the return leads. The verse’s context establishes that.
Khāsirah: an independent description
In karratun khāsiratun (كَرَّةٌ خَاسِرَةٌ), khāsirah belongs to KH S R and modifies karrah.
Karrah expresses returning; khāsirah presents it as loss-bearing in the speakers’ words.
Lexically, these concepts are independent. A return can be desirable in one situation and have an adverse outcome for someone in another.
Qālū (قالوا) marks this as the speech of the same people who questioned a return after death.
Two possibilities concerning their tone can be considered. They may speak mockingly or denyingly: if such a return exists, it would be a losing return. The sentence may also express the consequence they envisage for themselves if resurrection occurs.
Either way, khāsirah must not be detached from its speakers and turned into a universal judgment that returning after death means loss for everyone.
Elsewhere the Qur’an connects resurrection with reward for those who do good and punishment for those who do evil. Here loss is a description within a particular group’s speech, rather than returning’s invariant meaning.
5. Karratayni: looking again and repeating observation
Al-Mulk states:
ثُمَّ ارْجِعِ الْبَصَرَ كَرَّتَيْنِ يَنْقَلِبْ إِلَيْكَ الْبَصَرُ خَاسِئًا وَهُوَ حَسِيرٌ
thumma irjiʿi al-baṣara karratayni yanqalib ilayka al-baṣaru khāsiʾan wa-huwa ḥasīr
“Then turn your gaze back again and again; your gaze will return to you frustrated and weary.” (Al-Mulk 67:4)
Karratayni is the dual of karrah. In this construction it specifies the number of repetitions, standing in for the cognate accusative or verbal noun. Its accusative case is marked by yāʾ because it is dual.
The word counts the occasions of turning the gaze back. “Twice” or “on two occasions” therefore closely reflects its literal form.
Three returning-related families in one sentence
The verse uses three forms from three different roots:
Irjiʿi (ارْجِعِ) belongs to R J ʿ and commands turning the gaze back.
Karratayni belongs to K R R and specifies the repeated occasions of that action.
Yanqalib (يَنْقَلِبْ) belongs to Q L B and concerns the gaze returning to the viewer.
Their juxtaposition clarifies the different semantic roles. Irjiʿi commands the action; karratayni expresses its repetition and number of occasions; yanqalib describes what happens to that gaze.
Karratayni alone therefore does not mean looking or becoming weary. Other verbs and descriptions establish those meanings.
Twice more or repeatedly?
Al-Mulk 67:3 already commands turning the gaze back to see whether the viewer can find a fissure in creation.
The fourth verse then repeats the command to turn the gaze back, using karratayni.
Morphologically, the dual denotes two occasions. “Turn your gaze back twice more” therefore stays close to the literal form.
In Arabic, however, repeating something on two occasions can also emphasize trying and examining it again. In such a context, the point is more than fixing a limited count: it invites renewed examination and assessment of what the first look did not reveal.
“Look again and again” can therefore convey the verse’s repetition and emphasis.
These levels must nevertheless remain distinct. Karratayni directly means two instances of an action; understanding it as emphasizing repeated inspection is a rhetorical and contextual reading.
The dual form must not therefore be claimed to mean “infinitely many times” lexically here. Nor does its dual number establish that examination after two looks is forbidden or pointless.
Repeated observation and its outcome
Al-Mulk 67:3 describes creation’s coherence and invites the viewer to look for a fissure or defect.
The fourth verse continues the invitation through looking again and presents the outcome as the gaze returning frustrated and weary.
The continuity shows repeated observation being used to examine the claim concerning creation.
The observation’s result, however, comes from yanqalib ilayka al-baṣaru khāsiʾan wa-huwa ḥasīrun (يَنْقَلِبْ إِلَيْكَ الْبَصَرُ خَاسِئًا وَهُوَ حَسِيرٌ), rather than from karrah independently.
This use therefore clearly shows that karrah can be one instance of repeating an action, even when no bodily return to an earlier location is involved.
7. Translation proposals for Forqan
The primary equivalents for karra are “returned” or “turned toward again.” In warfare, “renewed the attack” may fit, since returning in that setting accompanies an attack.
Karrara is close to “repeated,” “did again,” or “said again.”
Depending on the sentence, karrah can mean “a return,” “another turn,” “another opportunity,” or, in battle, “a renewed attack.”
“Return” suits Al-Baqarah 2:167, Al-Shuʿarāʾ 26:102, and Al-Zumar 39:58. The second-opportunity sense emerges from the speakers’ wish and the action they intend after returning.
“Return” is also the basic meaning in Al-Nāziʿāt 79:12, but the text and contextual explanation should clarify that it concerns returning after death.
“Return” alone may be unclear in Al-Isrāʾ 17:6. Al-karrata ʿalayhim (الْكَرَّةَ عَلَيْهِمْ) occurs in the setting of restored strength to confront opponents. “The turn of ascendancy over them” or “the upper hand over them again” therefore conveys the contextual meaning more clearly.
Morphologically, karratayni in Al-Mulk 67:4 means “twice” or “on two occasions.” Natural translation can also use “again and again” to convey the emphasis on turning the gaze back and repeating observation. The distinction between literal translation and the rhetorical reading should remain clear in the word explanation.
For lexical karrār, “one who returns frequently” or, in warfare, “one who repeatedly attacks” may fit. Mikarr can describe a horse as agile in turning and charging.
The plural karrāt (كَرَّات) means “occasions” or “successive returns,” but that plural form does not itself occur in the Qur’an.
Conclusion
Arabic K R R concerns returning and repetition. A person or thing can return after moving away, an action can be performed again, and a warrior can renew an attack after withdrawing.
All Qur’anic uses of the family are forms of the noun karrah.
Al-Isrāʾ 17:6 concerns restored ascendancy and the ability to confront opponents. In Al-Baqarah 2:167, Al-Shuʿarāʾ 26:102, and Al-Zumar 39:58, the return concerns an opportunity the speakers wish to gain to change their earlier conduct.
In Al-Nāziʿāt 79:12, karrah occurs in the speech of people discussing returning after death and calling it a losing return. In Al-Mulk 67:4, karratayni expresses repeated observation and turning the gaze back.
These distinctions show that karrah need not mean a bodily return or the repetition of precisely the same earlier event. Power may change hands again, an opportunity to act may be wished for, life after death may be discussed, or an action such as observation may be repeated.
The word itself guarantees neither victory nor a renewed opportunity; neither loss nor the observation’s outcome is inherent in it. Other sentence elements and context establish those features.
K R R’s semantic core is returning and repeating a movement, action, or condition. Karrah expresses one instance of such returning or repetition; each verse’s context establishes its kind, destination, and outcome.