The Qur’anic Root N F TH
Nafth: gentle blowing and releasing a little from the mouth, from breath and saliva to speech and subtle suggestion
Qur’anic and lexical forms
النَّفَّاثَاتِ
(al-naffāthāt)
The only Qur’anic form: feminine plural with an intensive formation; Al-Falaq 113:4
نَفَثَ
(nafatha)
Lexical verb: blew or discharged; absent from the Qur’anic text
نَفْث
(nafth)
Lexical verbal noun: gentle blowing, sometimes with a little saliva
نَافِث
(nāfith)
Lexical active participle: one who blows or performs nafth
نَفَّاث
(naffāth)
Lexical intensive form: one who blows frequently or is marked by this action
نَفَّاثَة
(naffāthah)
Lexical feminine of naffāth; the singular corresponding to the Qur’anic plural
نُفَاثَة
(nufāthah)
Lexical noun: something expelled from the mouth
نَفِيث
(nafīth)
Lexical description in poetry: discharged or exuded, as blood
1. Introducing the root and its Qur’anic forms
The Arabic root ن ف ث concerns expelling something through breath and gentle pressure. In its familiar usage, نَفَثَ (nafatha) denotes gentle blowing, which may be accompanied by a little saliva. The same family is also used for blood issuing from a wound, a snake releasing venom from its mouth, and uttering speech or expelling something from the mouth.
In early Arabic, نَفْث (nafth), نَفْخ (nafkh), and تَفْل (tafl) are close in meaning, but are not identical in every usage. Nafkh emphasizes expelling air and blowing; tafl has a clearer connection with spitting out saliva; and nafth occupies the field between them, being explained sometimes as blowing without saliva and sometimes as blowing with a little moisture.
The Qur’an uses this root only once, in the form النَّفَّاثَات (al-naffāthāt):
Al-Falaq, 113:4
وَمِنْ شَرِّ النَّفَّاثَاتِ فِي الْعُقَدِ
wa-min sharri al-naffāthāti fī al-ʿuqad
“And from the evil of those who blow into knots.”
This expression occurs in a sūrah that begins by seeking refuge in The God, then speaks of the evil of what has been created, the evil of approaching darkness, the evil of those who blow into knots, and the evil of an envious person when acting on envy.
In Arabic morphology, النَّفَّاثَات (al-naffāthāt) is the feminine plural of نَفَّاثَة (naffāthah), a description formed from nafth that can indicate repetition or the prominence of this action.
Important forms in this Arabic family include:
- نَفَثَ، يَنْفِثُ، يَنْفُثُ (nafatha, yanfithu, yanfuthu): blew, expelled something from the mouth with breath, or discharged it. This verb does not occur in the Qur’an.
- نَفْث (nafth): gentle blowing, sometimes with a little saliva; also expelling something from the mouth or elsewhere.
- نَفَثَان (nafathān): another verbal noun of the same verb.
- نَافِث (nāfith): one who blows or performs nafth.
- نَفَّاث (naffāth): one who blows frequently, or whose behavior prominently involves nafth.
- نَفَّاثَة (naffāthah): the feminine of naffāth; the singular corresponding to the Qur’anic naffāthāt.
- نَفَّاثَات (naffāthāt): the feminine plural; the root’s only Qur’anic form.
- نُفَاثَة (nufāthah): something expelled from the mouth, such as a fragment of a tooth-cleaning twig left in it.
- نَفِيث (nafīth): something discharged or exuded, including blood issuing from a wound.
- مَنْفُوث (manfūth): something blown upon or expelled from the mouth.
These forms require a distinction between نَفَّاثَة (naffāthah), one who blows, and نُفَاثَة (nufāthah), something expelled from the mouth. They belong to one family but differ in form and referent.
The verb nafatha itself does not occur in the Qur’an; its other usages therefore cannot be counted as separate occurrences of the verb in the verses.
2. The semantic core and usage in early Arabic
Blowing and expelling from the mouth
In established Arabic usage, nafth concerns expelling breath or something else from the mouth by blowing.
A person may expel air alone, or release a little saliva with it. In some uses, a small piece of material is also ejected from the mouth through this action.
Lexical sources record نَفَثَ الرَّاقِي (nafatha al-rāqī) for someone performing nafth while reciting words of prayer or treatment.
This shows that nafth can accompany speech or a ritual action as well as name ordinary blowing.
Two matters must nevertheless remain distinct: the act of blowing itself and the content of any words recited with it.
In its basic meaning, nafth does not name that speech. The words recited might be a prayer, a healing formula, a spell, or something else. The root ن ف ث itself determines neither their kind nor their value.
In other uses, nafth concerns ejecting something from the mouth. For example, if a fragment of a tooth-cleaning twig remains in the mouth and someone spits it out, that fragment can be called نُفَاثَة (nufāthah).
This shows a connection with expelling or discharging something, without restricting nafth to the release of a large quantity of material.
Nafth and the presence of saliva
Early lexical explanations differ over whether nafth includes saliva.
One explanation compares it with nafkh: gentle blowing that may involve no saliva at all.
Another regards nafth as blowing accompanied by a little saliva.
By contrast, تَفْل (tafl) is commonly used for expelling saliva more visibly.
Thus, nafth should not be said necessarily to mean spitting in every Arabic usage. Nor should the presence of a little saliva be excluded altogether from its semantic field.
This distinction matters in translating Al-Falaq. Rendering النَّفَّاثَات (al-naffāthāt) simply as “those who spit” may suggest the discharge of a large amount of saliva, which nafth does not require.
“Those who blow” is a more natural equivalent; the possible presence of a little moisture can be explained in the lexical discussion.
A wound’s nafth: blood issuing forth
Arabic uses نَفَثَ الْجُرْحُ الدَّمَ (nafatha al-jurḥu al-dama) of a wound from which blood comes out.
Here the subject is no longer a human mouth or the blowing of breath.
Blood may issue from the wound or appear as drops and small streams.
This shows that the nafth family was not restricted to breath and the mouth; it also served for something issuing from another place.
Within this field, دَمٌ نَفِيثٌ (damun nafīthun) is recorded for blood that has been discharged or exuded.
This usage does not, however, establish that the naffāthāt in Al-Falaq necessarily discharge blood. That verse concerns blowing into knots and contains no direct reference to blood.
A witness from Hudhalī poetry
A verse attributed to Abū al-Muthallam al-Hudhalī reads:
مَتَى مَا تُنْكِرُوهَا تَعْرِفُوهَا
عَلَى أَقْطَارِهَا عَلَقٌ نَفِيثُ
matā mā tunkirūhā taʿrifūhā / ʿalā aqṭārihā ʿalaqun nafīth
“Whenever you fail to recognize it from afar, you will recognize it when it draws near; along its edges, discharged and adhering blood can be seen.”
Here the poet speaks of a fighting force with traces of blood visible along its edges.
عَلَق (ʿalaq) concerns thick or clotted blood, while نَفِيث (nafīth) describes blood that has issued forth or been discharged.
Here nafth concerns the discharge of blood, rather than blowing upon a knot or reciting a spell.
The verse’s attribution is disputed. Some lexical sources ascribe it to Ṣakhr al-Ghayy, while the commentary on the Hudhalī poems assigns it to Abū al-Muthallam al-Hudhalī in reply to Ṣakhr al-Ghayy. Transmissions also differ in the opening wording and the preposition before أَقْطَارِهَا (aqṭārihā).
Thus, this witness is valuable for understanding nafīth in Arabic poetry, but the differences in attribution and wording should remain visible.
A snake’s discharge of venom
Arabic sources also record نَفَثَتِ الْحَيَّةُ السُّمَّ (nafathati al-ḥayyatu al-summa): the snake released its venom.
This usage concerns a substance coming out of an animal’s body.
Yet it should not be taken to mean that all snakes biologically spray venom by blowing it through the air. The lexical expression names the discharge of venom; it does not by itself determine the biological behavior of every snake species.
Nor does this usage justify translating nafth in Al-Falaq as “spraying venom.”
The snake and its venom are a separate Arabic application, neither of which is named in the verse.
Nafth in expressing speech and thought
The usage of nafth extends from expelling material or breath to uttering speech.
An Arabic expression such as نَفَثَ فِي رُوعِهِ (nafatha fī rūʿihi) is known for imparting something inwardly to a person.
Lexical explanations also sometimes liken poetry to something a poet releases from the mouth.
Here nafth no longer means the actual discharge of saliva or physical material. The image of releasing something serves for speech and suggestion.
A semantic connection can be seen between these branches: something comes from within to the outside or is conveyed to another.
Yet that connection alone does not prove that all the meanings of nafth arose historically from one original image.
Nor should every inward suggestion be called nafth, or the meanings of whispering, revelation, and speaking be merged into this root without evidence.
3. النَّفَّاثَاتِ فِي الْعُقَدِ: the verse’s construction and meaning
Al-Falaq, 113:4
وَمِنْ شَرِّ النَّفَّاثَاتِ فِي الْعُقَدِ
wa-min sharri al-naffāthāti fī al-ʿuqad
“And from the evil of those who blow into knots.”
This is the only Qur’anic occurrence of the root ن ف ث.
Understanding it requires keeping three components distinct: شَرّ (sharr), النَّفَّاثَات (al-naffāthāt), and الْعُقَد (al-ʿuqad).
Sharr denotes the evil or harm from which a person seeks refuge in The God.
Naffāthāt describes those persons or agents who perform nafth.
ʿUqad is the plural of ʿuqdah and denotes knots.
Together, the three describe a particular action placed in the context of seeking refuge from evil.
The formation نَفَّاثَات
نَفَّاثَات (naffāthāt) is the feminine plural of نَفَّاثَة (naffāthah), an intensive description from the nafth family.
Arabic فَعَّال (faʿʿāl) can indicate frequency, repetition, or the prominence of an action in an agent’s behavior.
Accordingly, naffāth need not merely name someone who has blown once; the formation can refer to someone for whom nafth is prominent or recurrent.
Yet the doubled fāʾ or the intensive formation does not establish that nafth necessarily involves great physical force.
Intensity or repetition of behavior differs from the force of air pressure.
Nor does the morphological pattern specify how many times someone blows. The form itself does not establish that someone must combine three, seven, or any set number of knots with a particular number of breaths.
Such details do not appear in the verse.
Must the naffāthāt be women?
In Arabic morphology, النَّفَّاثَات (al-naffāthāt) is feminine plural.
Its direct reading can refer to women who blow.
Many early explanations understand the word as women who blew into knots while performing spells.
Other analyses, however, relate the feminine plural description to نُفُوس (nufūs) or جَمَاعَات (jamāʿāt): souls or groups carrying out the action.
On that reading, the description can include both women and men.
Two linguistic points should be distinguished.
First, the feminine form of naffāthāt is real and should not be ignored.
Second, its feminine form does not establish that the Qur’an condemns all women.
The verse concerns a group identified by a particular behavior, rather than women as a human category.
Nor can the word itself establish that only women performed this action in the Arab society of that time, or that most practitioners were necessarily women.
Such a historical claim requires independent evidence.
For the basic translation, “those who blow into knots” can convey the behavior. The morphological explanation should make clear that the Arabic is feminine plural and that its precise referent has been understood in different ways.
The meaning of فِي الْعُقَدِ
الْعُقَد (al-ʿuqad) is the plural of عُقْدَة (ʿuqdah), from ع ق د.
In material usage, ʿuqdah names a knot formed by tying and bringing together thread, cord, or something else.
Arabic ʿaqd and ʿuqdah also have broader uses, including making a covenant, securing a commitment, and a knot or difficulty that needs to be undone.
Yet that breadth does not mean that a covenant or psychological knot must take priority over a material knot in every verse.
In Al-Falaq 113:4, the association of ʿuqad with nafth and the early explanations of blowing into knotted threads support the reading of actual knots.
The preposition فِي (fī) also matters. The Qur’an says “in” or “into the knots,” rather than explicitly using another expression such as “upon the knots.”
In Arabic, this construction can describe an action performed at, or in direct connection with, the knot. The English “blowing into knots” likewise stays close to that image.
Thus, making a translation natural should not erase this distinction, even though “blowing upon knots” can naturally explain how the action is performed.
The relationship between blowing and knots
The complete expression indicates an action distinct from ordinary knotting, yet associated with knots.
The subject is therefore neither blowing alone nor knotting alone.
Someone may tie a knot to fasten something without blowing at all. Another person may blow to extinguish a candle or cool food without any knot being present.
In the verse, these two actions occur together in a specific expression.
Their association distinguishes this expression from ordinary uses of nafth and brings it close to an action known in explanations of spells and sorcery.
Nevertheless, the verse itself does not explain the knots’ material or number, the words spoken during the blowing, or the result claimed for it.
Such details should not be introduced into the translation without evidence.
4. Blowing into knots and the question of sorcery
The familiar reading: blowing accompanied by spells
Early explanations of the verse commonly connect naffāthāt fī al-ʿuqad with those who made knots in thread or cord and blew into them while performing spells.
In this usage, blowing was accompanied by speech or formulas that the practitioners considered part of their action.
This reading has clear lexical and contextual support: nafth is known in Arabic for blowing, while ʿuqad in material usage denotes knots.
Their combination in a context of seeking refuge from evil suggests an unusual action intended to cause harm.
Yet recognizing such a practice should be distinguished from establishing how it produces an effect.
That people blew into knots, or believed that doing so could affect another person, does not by itself prove that every act of blowing into a knot creates an independent, certain power to cause harm.
The verse itself does not discuss the mechanism by which such an action has an effect.
Nor does it establish that every unexplained harm, sudden illness, or family dispute necessarily results from someone blowing into knots.
Identifying such particular cases requires independent evidence and lies beyond the root’s own meaning.
Does nafth itself mean sorcery?
Arabic nafth can occur in practices involving spells, but its basic meaning is not “to perform sorcery.”
The evidence of blood issuing from wounds, fragments expelled from the mouth, and ordinary blowing shows that this family has uses independent of sorcery.
Thus, نَفَثَ (nafatha) cannot always be translated as “performed magic.”
In Al-Falaq, the connection with spells is understood from the particular expression naffāthāt fī al-ʿuqad and the context of seeking refuge from evil.
Accordingly, “sorcerers” may convey the referent familiar from early explanations, but removes the direct image of blowing and knots.
In a root study, the image itself is best preserved, with its connection to spells explained separately.
Actual knots or human covenants and bonds?
Arabic ʿaqd can also refer to a covenant or bond.
Some readings therefore understand naffāthāt fī al-ʿuqad as people whose speech and incitement weaken others’ firm bonds and resolutions.
In this understanding, the knot pictures a commitment or bond, while nafth concerns imparting words or whispering suggestions.
Such an image is intelligible as a figurative extension of language. Gossip, deception, or incitement can destroy a relationship that had been firm.
Yet this possibility does not suffice to remove the material knot from the verse’s meaning.
In the Qur’anic expression, both nafth and ʿuqad have established concrete meanings, and early explanations likewise refer to knotting and blowing.
The reading involving spells and actual knots therefore has more direct support.
The reading about weakening bonds may be considered as a figurative extension or interpretive possibility, but should not be presented as the verse’s certain meaning without independent evidence.
Nor should this reading become a general condemnation of women or an attribution of deceit to family relationships. The verse itself does not establish such a generalization.
Connection with other verses on sorcery
In Al-Baqarah 2:102, the Qur’an discusses sorcery and the harms sought through it. Ṭā Hā 20:66 also mentions an effect on people’s perception and imagination in the account of Pharaoh’s sorcerers.
These verses show that sorcery is a recognized subject within the Qur’an’s network of meanings and cannot simply be excluded from lexical discussion.
Yet all the details of those verses should not be transferred to Al-Falaq 113:4.
Al-Falaq does not itself use سِحْر (siḥr), “sorcery.” It uses the specific expression naffāthāt fī al-ʿuqad, which should be the starting point.
Nor do the other verses on sorcery independently determine exactly how the knots in this verse were made or what power was attributed to them.
Those matters require a separate study of sorcery in the Qur’an.
5. The evil of the naffāthāt: harmful conduct or every kind of blowing?
شَرّ (sharr) is essential to understanding the verse.
Here the Qur’an seeks refuge from the evil of the naffāthāt.
Yet nafth in Arabic is not a harmful act in every usage.
Gentle blowing may be an ordinary action. Expelling something from the mouth or blood issuing from a wound is likewise not inherently morally evil behavior.
Thus, the verse should not be taken to mean that every kind of blowing, quiet speech, or nafth is prohibited and evil.
What becomes prominent in this context is an action associated with knots, from whose evil refuge is sought.
Nor does the expression establish that everyone who ties a knot or blows upon something necessarily intends harm.
The association of a behavior with evil is understood here through the whole expression and the setting of seeking refuge.
Does the verse attribute evil to women?
Morphologically, naffāthāt is feminine plural. Yet the verse’s censure concerns a particular behavior, rather than being a woman.
The Qur’an does not make women the object of general condemnation because of their sex. Here, too, there is no general expression such as “all women.”
Even if the direct reading of women who blow is adopted, the verse’s scope remains the group identified by blowing into knots.
Alternatively, if naffāthāt describes souls or groups performing the action, its meaning can include both men and women.
Neither reading therefore permits sorcery, deceit, or the wish to harm to be attributed to all women.
Does seeking refuge establish an independent effect?
The verse asks a person to seek refuge in The God from the evil of this action or its agents.
Yet the command to seek refuge does not by itself explain the character or mechanism of harm.
A person can seek refuge from the evil of another’s conduct without knowing every detail of that behavior or how it has an effect.
The verse should therefore not become a formula by which every knot and every act of blowing, independently of all conditions, produces a particular, inevitable result.
At the same time, the Qur’anic image should not be removed by saying that the verse concerns only a person’s mental anxiety.
It concerns a specific action involving blowing and knots. The study should preserve that much without adding details the text does not state.
7. Translation proposals for Forqan
For نَفَثَ (nafatha), the basic equivalent “blew” is suitable, or “discharged” where the release of material is involved.
If a little saliva matters in the context, the explanation can say “blowing that may be accompanied by a little moisture from the mouth.”
That explanation need not appear in every translation.
النَّفَّاثَاتِ: Al-Falaq 113:4
Main proposal:
“Those who blow”
The morphological explanation should make clear that the Arabic is feminine plural and intensive in formation.
“Those who blow” is gender-neutral in English. If a translation chooses to retain the feminine reference, it can say “women who blow,” while making clear that this reflects one grammatical reading and does not concern all women.
النَّفَّاثَاتِ فِي الْعُقَدِ
Proposed translation:
“Those who blow into knots”
This retains the expression’s two principal components: blowing and knots.
“Spell-workers who blow into knots” can also express the familiar contextual reading, but “spell-workers” explains the referent; it does not come from the root nafth alone.
The basic translation should therefore preserve the verse’s brief, direct image, while the root explanation states its connection with spells.
Translation of the whole verse:
Al-Falaq, 113:4
وَمِنْ شَرِّ النَّفَّاثَاتِ فِي الْعُقَدِ
wa-min sharri al-naffāthāti fī al-ʿuqad
“And from the evil of those who blow into knots.”
A brief meaning for the word-by-word box
“النَّفَّاثَاتِ (al-naffāthāt): those who blow; a feminine plural intensive formation from nafth, here concerning blowing into knots.”
The contextual-meaning box can add:
“An action connected in early explanations with blowing accompanied by spells into knots of thread.”
In translating this word, equivalents such as “sorcerers possessing hidden powers,” “deceitful women,” “whisperers,” or “those who break covenants” should not be used as the root’s direct meaning.
These expressions are either possible referents or interpretive extensions requiring separate evidence.
8. Conclusion
The Arabic root ن ف ث concerns gentle blowing and expelling something from the mouth or another place.
In familiar oral usage, nafth is close to blowing that may be accompanied by a little saliva. Compared with tafl, the discharge of saliva in nafth has been regarded as smaller, or even absent in some uses.
This Arabic family is also known for blood issuing from a wound, venom coming from a snake’s mouth, expelling a fragment from the mouth, and figuratively, uttering or imparting speech.
The root occurs only once in the Qur’an, as النَّفَّاثَاتِ (al-naffāthāt).
This feminine plural intensive form describes those whose blowing is associated with knots.
The familiar reading in early explanations connects the expression with people who blew into knots of thread while performing spells. This reading has clear support in the association of nafth with ʿuqad and the context of seeking refuge.
Nevertheless, the verse itself does not state the knots’ number or material, the words recited, or how the action produces an effect.
Nor does the feminine naffāthāt mean a condemnation of all women. The verse concerns a specific behavior, and the precise referent of its feminine plural has also received differing analyses.
The distinctions between nafth, nafkh, and tafl should be preserved. Nafth should not always be taken as spitting or performing magic. Nor should its possible connection with imparting speech remove the actual image of blowing into knots from the verse.
For Forqan, the family’s basic definition is this: Nafth is gentle blowing and expelling something through breath or mild pressure, sometimes with a little saliva and sometimes without it. In other uses, it extends to discharging material or imparting speech. The Qur’anic naffāthāt describes those whose action accompanies knots and from whose evil refuge is sought.
This definition preserves the Arabic meaning and the root’s sole Qur’anic occurrence without incorporating into the word itself the details of spells, their certain and independent effect, or a general judgment about women or every kind of blowing.