The Qur’anic Root N B DH

Older Arabic: casting and withdrawing

In Arabic, نَبَذَ الشيءَ, nabadha al-shayʾ, was used for casting something from one’s hand, whether forward or behind, sometimes with the result that it moved away from the person.

Within the same field, something abandoned in a corner or on a road could be called manbūdh, “cast aside.”

In form VIII:

اِنْتَبَذَ عن قومه

Intabadha ʿan qawmihi.

means that he withdrew from his people and took up a position apart.

A verse attributed to Labīd uses مُتَنَبِّذًا, mutanabbidhan, of something positioned apart from its surroundings. Labīd lived across the pre-Islamic and Islamic periods, and his poems cannot all be assigned the same date. This witness should therefore not, without qualification, be presented as certainly pre-Islamic. Its usage nevertheless illuminates the linguistic field of being apart and withdrawing. With this vocalization, mutanabbidhan belongs to form V, not the active participle of intabadha. The witness concerns the family’s semantic field, not the identity of the two morphological patterns.

The family also has other uses. Nabīdh was originally associated with something cast or placed into a vessel and became the name of a kind of drink. This form does not occur in the Qur’an and should not be imposed on its Qur’anic uses. It nevertheless shows that casting or placing something is an attested image within this lexical family.

Physical casting: the core to examine before metaphor

Several Qur’anic uses are plainly physical and show the root’s core directly.

Al-Sāmirī says:

فَقَبَضْتُ قَبْضَةً مِنْ أَثَرِ الرَّسُولِ فَنَبَذْتُهَا وَكَذَٰلِكَ سَوَّلَتْ لِي نَفْسِي

Fa-qabaḍtu qabḍatan min athari r-rasūli fa-nabadhtuhā wa-ka-dhālika sawwalat lī nafsī.

“I took a handful from the messenger’s trace and cast it; thus my self made it seem attractive to me.”

Ṭā Hā 20:96

فَنَبَذْتُهَا, fa-nabadhtuhā, on a direct reading of this account, describes a physical act: something was in his possession, and he cast it.

Of Pharaoh and his forces, the Qur’an states:

فَأَخَذْنَاهُ وَجُنُودَهُ فَنَبَذْنَاهُمْ فِي الْيَمِّ وَهُوَ مُلِيمٌ

Fa-akhadhnāhu wa-junūdahu fa-nabadhnāhum fī l-yammi wa-huwa mulīm.

“We seized him and his forces and cast them into the sea, while he was blameworthy.”

Al-Dhāriyāt 51:40

Here في اليم, fī al-yamm, specifies the destination of the casting. Nabdh itself means neither drowning nor punishment; those outcomes are understood from the event as a whole.

Of Yūnus it also states:

فَنَبَذْنَاهُ بِالْعَرَاءِ وَهُوَ سَقِيمٌ

Fa-nabadhnāhu bi-l-ʿarāʾi wa-huwa saqīm.

“We cast him onto open ground while he was ill.”

Al-Ṣāffāt 37:145

And:

لَوْلَا أَنْ تَدَارَكَهُ نِعْمَةٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِ لَنُبِذَ بِالْعَرَاءِ وَهُوَ مَذْمُومٌ

Lawlā an tadārakahu niʿmatun min rabbihi la-nubidha bi-l-ʿarāʾi wa-huwa madhmūm.

“Had a favor from his Lord not reached him, he would certainly have been cast onto open ground while condemned.”

Al-Qalam 68:49

These two ayahs help define the meaning’s boundaries. بِالْعَرَاءِ, bi-l-ʿarāʾ, specifies the location of the casting; سَقِيم, saqīm, describes Yūnus’s condition; and مَذْمُوم, madhmūm, describes another state. None of those meanings comes from nabdh itself.

Al-Humazah also states:

كَلَّا لَيُنْبَذَنَّ فِي الْحُطَمَةِ

Kallā la-yunbadhanna fī l-ḥuṭamah.

“No indeed! He will certainly be cast into al-Ḥuṭamah.”

Al-Humazah 104:4

Again, nabdh itself does not mean “to punish.” The destination of the casting gives the sentence its otherworldly direction.

These uses show why the basic meaning should remain casting and moving something out of its former position.

Covenant and Book: casting aside what should have been upheld

The Qur’an extends the same physical image to a covenant and a Book.

Al-Baqarah states:

أَوَكُلَّمَا عَاهَدُوا عَهْدًا نَبَذَهُ فَرِيقٌ مِنْهُمْ ۚ بَلْ أَكْثَرُهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ

A-wa-kullamā ʿāhadū ʿahdan nabadhahu farīqun minhum bal aktharuhum lā yuʾminūn.

“Is it that whenever they make a covenant, a group of them casts it aside? Rather, most of them do not believe.”

Al-Baqarah 2:100

A covenant is not something literally thrown by hand. The image is nevertheless clear: something that should be kept and observed is set aside from the sphere of commitment.

“Breaking the covenant” can therefore convey the outcome, but the direct meaning of nabadhahu is more pictorial: they cast the covenant aside.

The following ayah strengthens this image:

وَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ رَسُولٌ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ مُصَدِّقٌ لِمَا مَعَهُمْ نَبَذَ فَرِيقٌ مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ كِتَابَ اللَّهِ وَرَاءَ ظُهُورِهِمْ كَأَنَّهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

Wa-lammā jāʾahum rasūlun min ʿindi llāhi muṣaddiqun li-mā maʿahum nabadha farīqun mina lladhīna ūtū l-kitāba kitāba llāhi warāʾa ẓuhūrihim ka-annahum lā yaʿlamūn.

“When a messenger came to them from The God, confirming what was with them, a group of those who had been given the Book cast The God’s Book behind their backs, as though they did not know.”

Al-Baqarah 2:101

Here وَرَاءَ ظُهُورِهِمْ, warāʾa ẓuhūrihim, adds something that nabadha alone does not express.

The Book is not merely cast: it is cast behind their backs.

In ordinary experience, what lies before a person can be an object of sight, attention, and action. Placing it behind their back takes it out of that position. The Qur’anic expression thus depicts removing the Book from the field of attention and practical commitment.

The image should not yield more than the ayah says. Warāʾa ẓuhūrihim does not itself express ideas such as “the conscience’s blind spot” or “absolute psychological heedlessness.” Yet the movement from before a person to behind their back clearly shows that the Book no longer occupies a position from which it directs their conduct.

The same expression occurs in Āl ʿImrān:

وَإِذْ أَخَذَ اللَّهُ مِيثَاقَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ لَتُبَيِّنُنَّهُ لِلنَّاسِ وَلَا تَكْتُمُونَهُ فَنَبَذُوهُ وَرَاءَ ظُهُورِهِمْ وَاشْتَرَوْا بِهِ ثَمَنًا قَلِيلًا ۖ فَبِئْسَ مَا يَشْتَرُونَ

Wa-idh akhadha llāhu mīthāqa lladhīna ūtū l-kitāba la-tubayyinunnahu li-n-nāsi wa-lā taktumūnahu fa-nabadhūhu warāʾa ẓuhūrihim wa-shtaraw bihi thamanan qalīlan fa-biʾsa mā yashtarūn.

“When The God took a covenant from those given the Book: ‘You must make it clear to people and not conceal it,’ they cast it behind their backs and took a small price in exchange for it. How wretched is what they purchase!”

Āl ʿImrān 3:187

Here too, what follows clarifies the practical outcome of nabdh: a commitment that should have been fulfilled has been set aside.

Thus, within this branch:

Nabdh supplies the image of casting aside;

Warāʾa ẓuhūrihim intensifies the direction of that setting aside;

And:

Context makes clear the practical disregard and abandonment of commitment.

Fa-nbidh ilayhim ʿalā sawāʾ: ending a covenant without treachery

One of the root’s most important uses occurs in Al-Anfāl:

وَإِمَّا تَخَافَنَّ مِنْ قَوْمٍ خِيَانَةً فَانْبِذْ إِلَيْهِمْ عَلَىٰ سَوَاءٍ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْخَائِنِينَ

Wa-immā takhāfanna min qawmin khiyānatan fa-nbidh ilayhim ʿalā sawāʾin inna llāha lā yuḥibbu l-khāʾinīn.

“If you fear treachery from a people, cast [the covenant] back to them openly, on equal terms. The God does not love the treacherous.”

Al-Anfāl 8:58

The very same verb used in Al-Baqarah for casting a covenant aside here occurs in a command intended precisely to prevent treachery.

The sentence’s construction makes the difference:

فَانْبِذْ إِلَيْهِمْ

Fa-nbidh ilayhim.

“Cast it back to them.”

And:

عَلَىٰ سَوَاءٍ

ʿAlā sawāʾ.

“On equal terms.”

The covenant’s termination must therefore not take place secretly, only in one party’s mind or conduct. If the covenant will no longer remain in force, the other party must be informed, so that both know the situation has changed.

The preposition إلى, ilā, matters here. Nabdh is not merely removing something from oneself: its direction is toward the other party. Something previously binding between the two ends in a way that also makes the other party aware.

There is no need, however, to explain this construction by imagining the covenant as a physical rope between the parties. The ayah contains no such image.

عَلَىٰ سَوَاءٍ, ʿalā sawāʾ, should likewise not be confined to “spatial balance.” Its clearer implication here is that the covenant’s status should not be determined secretly and unilaterally, leaving one party unaware.

The ayah’s ending confirms this direction:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْخَائِنِينَ

Inna llāha lā yuḥibbu l-khāʾinīn.

“The God does not love the treacherous.”

The two Qur’anic uses concerning covenants thus differ in an important way:

In Al-Baqarah 2:100, a group casts the covenant aside and does not remain faithful to it.

In Al-Anfāl 8:58, if treachery is feared, the covenant must be openly returned to the other party, so that one does not oneself act treacherously.

The root is the same; the construction determines the act’s ethical direction.

Intabadhat: Maryam’s withdrawal

Form VIII of this root occurs in Maryam’s story:

وَاذْكُرْ فِي الْكِتَابِ مَرْيَمَ إِذِ انْتَبَذَتْ مِنْ أَهْلِهَا مَكَانًا شَرْقِيًّا

Wa-dhkur fī l-kitābi Maryama idhi ntabadhat min ahlihā makānan sharqiyyā.

“Mention Maryam in the Book, when she withdrew from her family to an eastern place.”

Maryam 19:16

And after she conceived:

فَحَمَلَتْهُ فَانْتَبَذَتْ بِهِ مَكَانًا قَصِيًّا

Fa-ḥamalathu fa-ntabadhat bihi makānan qaṣiyyā.

“She conceived him and withdrew with him to a distant place.”

Maryam 19:22

With the simple verb نَبَذَ, nabadha, the subject casts something aside. With اِنْتَبَذَ, intabadha, the subject moves away from a previous position or group.

In the first ayah:

مِنْ أَهْلِهَا

Min ahlihā — from her family.

specifies what she withdraws from.

In the second:

مَكَانًا قَصِيًّا

Makānan qaṣiyyā — a distant place.

describes the place: a distant location.

Intabadhat therefore does not by itself mean “she went somewhere very far away.” Distance comes from قصيا, qaṣiyyan, not from the root alone.

Nor should the verb’s pattern alone generate an elaborate psychological picture, such as “throwing herself outside the secure network of human bonds” or “voluntarily entering absolute solitude.” The ayahs say that Maryam withdrew from her family and then, carrying her child, went to a distant place. Reasons, feelings, and the inward quality of that withdrawal should be described only to the extent supported by the narrative itself.

The clearer lexical point is sufficient:

The change in pattern corresponds to the change in the action’s direction, without turning morphology into a psychological theory.

N B DH (nabdh), Ṭ R Ḥ (ṭarḥ), L Q Y (ilqāʾ), and Q DH F (qadhf): casting and setting aside

The Qur’an uses several roots for casting, and nabdh overlaps with them.

ط ر ح (طَرْح), Ṭ R Ḥ (ṭarḥ), occurs in Yūsuf’s story:

اقْتُلُوا يُوسُفَ أَوِ اطْرَحُوهُ أَرْضًا

Uqtulū Yūsufa awi ṭraḥūhu arḍā.

“Kill Yūsuf or cast him away into some land.”

Yūsuf 12:9

Ṭarḥ here describes removing Yūsuf from his surroundings and leaving him elsewhere.

ل ق ي (إِلْقَاء), L Q Y (ilqāʾ), has a broader field. Objects are cast, something is placed in a heart or location, and other constructions also occur. Ilqāʾ is therefore more general in use than nabdh.

ق ذ ف (قَذْف), Q DH F (qadhf), also highlights the movement of casting in some ayahs:

أَنِ اقْذِفِيهِ فِي التَّابُوتِ فَاقْذِفِيهِ فِي الْيَمِّ

Ani qdhifīhi fī t-tābūti fa-qdhifīhi fī l-yamm.

“Place him in the chest, then cast it into the sea.”

Ṭā Hā 20:39

One prominent tendency in nabdh is separation from a previous position through casting or setting aside. This allows the word to describe both a person cast into the sea or onto open ground and a covenant or Book removed from the sphere of commitment.

These distinctions are not absolute. The preposition, object, destination of the casting, and complete construction must be examined separately in each ayah.

Translation proposals for Forqan

For نَبَذَ, nabadha, in physical contexts, depending on the sentence:

“Cast”

“Threw”

Or:

“Cast aside”

are suitable.

In:

فَنَبَذْتُهَا

Fa-nabadhtuhā.

“Then I cast it.”

In:

فَنَبَذْنَاهُمْ فِي الْيَمِّ

Fa-nabadhnāhum fī l-yamm.

“We cast them into the sea.”

In:

فَنَبَذْنَاهُ بِالْعَرَاءِ

Fa-nabadhnāhu bi-l-ʿarāʾ.

“We cast him onto open ground.”

In figurative use:

نَبَذَهُ فَرِيقٌ مِنْهُمْ

Nabadhahu farīqun minhum.

“A group of them cast it aside.”

And:

نَبَذَ فَرِيقٌ مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ كِتَابَ اللَّهِ وَرَاءَ ظُهُورِهِمْ

Nabadha farīqun mina lladhīna ūtū l-kitāba kitāba llāhi warāʾa ẓuhūrihim.

“A group of those who had been given the Book cast The God’s Book behind their backs.”

In these ayahs, “ignoring,” “abandoning,” or “disregarding” explains the result of the conduct. Preserving the Qur’an’s original image, however, is more precise in a basic translation.

In Al-Anfāl 8:58:

فَانْبِذْ إِلَيْهِمْ عَلَىٰ سَوَاءٍ

Fa-nbidh ilayhim ʿalā sawāʾ.

A rendering close to the construction is:

“Then cast [the covenant] back to them on equal terms.”

In more idiomatic English:

“Then openly announce the covenant’s termination to them, so that both parties know its status.”

The second rendering makes the sentence’s implication clearer but preserves less of nabdh’s own image. A root study should therefore keep the direct meaning and contextual implication distinct.

For اِنْتَبَذَ, intabadha:

“Isolated herself,” or stronger psychological language, may insert more than the word itself conveys. “Withdrew” better preserves the core.

Conclusion

N B DH centers on casting something from its previous position and setting it aside. In physical uses, an object, person, or group is actually cast. “Rejecting” and “abandoning” are also established figurative uses in this family, but moral expulsion or disregard cannot be treated as a fixed meaning of every occurrence. The choice of meaning and its evaluative direction depend on context.

In figurative uses, the same image extends to covenants and the Book. Warāʾa ẓuhūrihim shows something that should remain within attention and commitment being placed behind the back. Fa-nbidh ilayhim ʿalā sawāʾ shows the same root being used for openly ending a covenant, not only for breaking one. The preposition and construction determine the kind of relationship nabdh creates.

In form VIII, intabadha turns the movement toward the subject: Maryam withdraws from her family and later goes to a distant place while carrying her child. Nothing further about her psychological state should be inferred from the verb’s pattern alone.

A concise definition of the root can be stated as follows:

N B DH: casting something from one’s hand or its place and setting it aside, separating it from its previous position; in intabadha, moving aside oneself and withdrawing. In figurative uses, the same image can extend to setting aside a covenant or Book. Rejection, disregard, treachery, or isolation enter the interpretation only when the construction and context of the particular ayah support them.