Qur'anic Root KH S A

Short Introduction to the Root

The root KH S A in the Qur’an moves in the semantic field of driving away, distancing, pushing back, and being kept away together with humiliation, lowliness, or failure.

This root appears only four times in the Qur’an: twice as خَاسِئِينَ, once as اخْسَئُوا, and once as خَاسِئًا. These four uses are enough to determine the main field of the root, because it is used both about human beings and about sight.

The core of the root may be summarized as follows:

being pushed back or kept away from a position, in a way accompanied by humiliation, lowliness, or failure to reach.

Phrases such as “cutting rank after proof has arrived” or “the end of the opportunity for speech” are not the direct meaning of the root. In some verses, especially Al-Mu’minun 108, they may be understood from the whole context.

Short root meaning:

driving away, distancing with humiliation, pushing back, making one return frustrated.

Qur'anic Forms and Derivatives

اخْسَئُوا

A plural command verb:

اخْسَئُوا

Remain driven away and humiliated; be pushed back and do not come near.

This form appears in Al-Mu’minun 108.

خَاسِئًا

The singular form khasi’; in Al-Mulk 4 it appears about sight:

خَاسِئًا

pushed back, unsuccessful, frustrated.

خَاسِئِينَ

The plural of khasi’; in Al-Baqarah 65 and Al-Araf 166:

خَاسِئِينَ

driven away and humiliated.

The shared field of these forms shows that the root is not only “humiliation” and not only “distance”; the element of being pushed back and not reaching is important in it.

The Semantic Core of the Root

The defensible core of KH S A cannot be expressed only as “distancing,” because distance by itself can be neutral.

Nor can it be understood only as “humiliating,” because in Al-Mulk 4 the word is used about sight, and sight is not the subject of moral humiliation.

It is more appropriate to keep three elements together:

pushing back

Something does not reach the intended object or position.

being kept away

The way of approaching or continuing is closed.

humiliation or failure

The result of this being pushed back, in a human being, may be accompanied by lowliness and humiliation, and in sight by failure and frustration.

Therefore, the final definition of the root must be able to explain all four Qur’anic uses without imposing one narrow meaning on all of them.

The Material Image in Arabic

In Arabic lexical usage, an example such as:

خَسَأْتُ الكَلْبَ

is recorded for driving away a dog and keeping it away with a rebuke.

This use gives a concrete image of the root’s field: a creature wants to come near, but it is pushed back and is not allowed to approach.

This witness is useful for explaining the root, but it should not be presented as the “certain historical origin” of all uses of the root. A single classical use cannot by itself reconstruct the whole path by which a word arose.

Also, the use of this expression about a dog should not make the Qur’anic use about humans or sight into an animalizing image. What can be transferred is only the image of pushing back and keeping away.

Al-Baqarah 2:65: “Apes, Driven Away and Humiliated”

وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْتُمُ الَّذِينَ اعْتَدَوْا مِنكُمْ فِي السَّبْتِ فَقُلْنَا لَهُمْ كُونُوا قِرَدَةً خَاسِئِينَ

“And you certainly knew those among you who transgressed in the Sabbath; so We said to them: be apes, humiliated and driven away.”

Al-Baqarah, 65

In this verse:

قِرَدَةً = apes.

خَاسِئِينَ = driven away and humiliated.

اعْتَدَوْا = they transgressed the limit.

These three parts must remain separate. Khasi’in does not mean being apes, and qiradah by itself does not mean humiliation.

From the context one may understand that conscious transgression of the limit is accompanied by the state of being driven away and humiliated, but “breaking the limit” is not inside the lexical meaning of khasi’in.

Al-Araf 7:166: After Insolence

فَلَمَّا عَتَوْا عَن مَّا نُهُوا عَنْهُ قُلْنَا لَهُمْ كُونُوا قِرَدَةً خَاسِئِينَ

“So when they were insolent against what they had been forbidden from, We said to them: be apes, humiliated and driven away.”

Al-Araf, 166

This verse has a clearer contextual sequence:

prohibition

A limit has been stated.

insolence

They were insolent against that prohibition.

khasi’in

The state of being driven away and humiliated came after that.

From this sequence, one may draw an ethical reflection: conscious insolence against a limit can lead to falling and being driven away.

But this sequence is not the lexical definition of the root. KH S A itself does not mean “insolence after prohibition” or “punishment for breaking a limit.”

Al-Mu’minun 108: “اخْسَئُوا فِيهَا”

قَالَ اخْسَئُوا فِيهَا وَلَا تُكَلِّمُونِ

“He said: remain in it driven away and humiliated, and do not speak to Me.”

Al-Mu’minun, 108

This verse is one of the clearest uses of the verb.

Ikhsa’u cannot simply mean “be silent,” because immediately after it comes:

وَلَا تُكَلِّمُونِ

“do not speak to Me”

appears.

So ikhsa’u has an independent meaning: remain driven away and humiliated, be pushed back, and stay in that kept-away state.

The following phrase, wa-la tukallimun, separately states the end of speaking.

Does “Ikhsa’u” Mean the End of Proof?

In the verses before Al-Mu’minun 108, a group confesses its error and asks to be brought out. Then the response comes:

اخْسَئُوا فِيهَا وَلَا تُكَلِّمُونِ

At the contextual level, one may say that the stage of request and conversation has ended and the way back to the former condition has been closed.

Therefore, the expression “cutting rank after proof has arrived” may be raised as a reflection on the whole scene, but it should not be placed inside the definition of the word.

KH S A itself:

• does not mean “completion of proof”;
• nor is “cutting rank” its direct dictionary meaning;
• rather, it expresses the state of being pushed back, kept away, and humiliated.

Al-Mulk 67:4: “Sight Returning Khasi’an”

ثُمَّ ارْجِعِ الْبَصَرَ كَرَّتَيْنِ يَنْقَلِبْ إِلَيْكَ الْبَصَرُ خَاسِئًا وَهُوَ حَسِيرٌ

“Then return the sight twice; the sight will turn back to you pushed back and unsuccessful, while it is worn out.”

Al-Mulk, 4

This verse is the most important witness against limiting the root to “humiliating a human being.”

The subject of khasi’an here is al-basar.

The sight searches, but it does not obtain what it is seeking and returns.

In this context:

khasi’an = pushed back, unsuccessful, frustrated.

hasir = worn out or exhausted.

These two are not complete synonyms either. Khasi’an conveys the state of failure and being pushed back, while hasir highlights the exhaustion that results from this fruitless search.

Intransitive and Transitive Capacity of the Verb Field

In Arabic, this root family has the capacity for both transitive and intransitive use.

In the transitive structure, something or someone is driven away:

خَسَأْتُهُ

that is, I drove him away or kept him away.

In the intransitive use, the person or thing itself is in the state of being kept away and humiliated.

This point is useful for understanding khasi’an in Al-Mulk 4. Morphologically, khasi’ is an active participle, but an active participle does not always mean “the active doer of a transitive action.” When it is made from an intransitive verb, it can express the state and condition of the described subject itself.

Therefore:

الْبَصَرُ خَاسِئًا

does not mean that sight drives something away; rather, sight itself returns in a pushed-back and unsuccessful state.

Humiliation: Part of the Core or Result of Context?

In the two verses of qiradatan khasi’in, the meaning of humiliation is very prominent.

In ikhsa’u fiha too, the tone of the command is joined with rejection and lowliness.

But in al-basar khasi’an, translating only as “humiliated” is not natural; there “unsuccessful and pushed back” is more precise.

So it is better to say:

KH S A has a field of being pushed back and kept away; in a being with status it may appear as humiliation and lowliness, and in a non-personal matter as failure and frustration.

This definition is wider than “humiliation” and more precise than mere “distance.”

Comparison With Nearby Roots

KH S A Compared With T R D

Tard focuses on driving away and distancing.

Khasa’a also has the element of driving away, but in Qur’anic uses, being pushed back is more closely accompanied by lowliness, humiliation, or failure.

This is a tendency, not an absolute law of language.

KH S A Compared With B A D

Bu’d expresses distance and being far, and it can be completely neutral.

Khasa’a is usually not neutral distance; something has been pushed back or has failed to reach.

KH S A Compared With DH L L

Dhull focuses on humiliation and lowliness.

Khasa’a highlights the element of pushing back and keeping away more strongly.

For this reason, in al-basar khasi’an one can speak of khasa’a without treating sight as having “moral humiliation.”

KH S A Compared With R J A / Inqilab

In Al-Mulk 4, returning comes from:

يَنْقَلِبْ إِلَيْكَ

Khasi’an only describes the state of that return.

So khasi’ does not by itself mean “returning”; rather, it describes a return that is pushed back and unsuccessful.

Grammatical and Structural Notes

خَاسِئِينَ in “قِرَدَةً خَاسِئِينَ”

Khasi’in expresses the description or state of the group.

The meaning of humiliation and being driven away comes from this word, not from qiradah.

اخْسَئُوا

It is a plural command verb.

Its placement before wa-la tukallimun shows that its meaning is independent from “not speaking.”

خَاسِئًا in Al-Mulk 4

In:

يَنْقَلِبْ إِلَيْكَ الْبَصَرُ خَاسِئًا

khasi’an is the state of al-basar as it returns.

Therefore, the base translation should convey the condition of sight:

pushed back, unsuccessful, frustrated.

Challenges of Understanding and Rendering

First, KH S A should not be translated only as “to humiliate”; the element of pushing back and keeping away is foundational.

Second, it should not be translated only as “becoming distant,” because neutral distance does not convey the full weight of the word.

Third, the classical use “driving away a dog” is an imaginal witness, not decisive proof that all uses of the word historically derive from that very image.

Fourth, ikhsa’u should not be translated simply as “be silent,” because wa-la tukallimun states silence separately.

Fifth, in Al-Mulk 4, khasi’an should not be translated with “moral humiliation.” For sight, “unsuccessful and pushed back” is more natural.

Sixth, “the end of proof,” “cutting rank,” and “the closing of the way back,” if understood in a context, should remain in the section of reflection and not enter the lexical definition.

Translation Suggestions for Forqan

For:

كُونُوا قِرَدَةً خَاسِئِينَ

“Be apes, humiliated and driven away.”

For:

اخْسَئُوا فِيهَا

“Remain in it driven away and humiliated.”

For:

يَنْقَلِبْ إِلَيْكَ الْبَصَرُ خَاسِئًا

“The sight returns to you pushed back and unsuccessful.”

Each translation must fit its subject. “Humiliated” is natural for human beings, but for sight “unsuccessful and pushed back” is more precise.

Short Root Meaning for Forqan

Short root meaning:

driving away, distancing with humiliation, pushing back, making one return frustrated.

Contextual reflection:

In some verses, this being pushed back comes after conscious insolence or after the end of the stage of request and speech. Therefore, at the level of reflection one may speak of falling from rank or the closing of the way back; but this meaning comes from the whole context, not from the root itself.

Conclusion

The root KH S A in the Qur’an moves around the axis of pushing back, keeping away, and becoming frustrated.

In human beings, this state may be accompanied by humiliation and lowliness:

قِرَدَةً خَاسِئِينَ

and:

اخْسَئُوا فِيهَا

But in Al-Mulk 4, the same field appears about sight as failure and being pushed back:

الْبَصَرُ خَاسِئًا

This non-human use shows that “humiliation” alone is not enough to define the root. The wider core is being pushed back from reaching or approaching and being left in a lowly or unsuccessful state.

The final definition of this root may be stated as follows:

KH S A expresses driving away or remaining far in a way accompanied by being pushed back, lowliness, humiliation, or failure to reach. The specific form of this state becomes clear from the subject and context of the verse.