The Qur’anic Root R AYN Y (R ʿ Y)
Raʿā: grazing, care, and attending to what has been entrusted to one’s concern
The root R ʿ Y has a very tangible field of application in the Qur’an: an animal grazing and a person tending that animal. The same family also expresses care for a covenant, a trust, or something that must remain within a person’s attention and responsibility.
The base forms of this family are raʿā, rāʿā, and rāʿin. Their derivatives appear in the Qur’an in such forms as wa-irʿaw, raʿawhā, rāʿinā, and rāʿūna; riʿāʾ, riʿāyah, and marʿā also occur in the verses.
Morphologically, this is a final-weak root ending in yāʾ: its last root letter is yāʾ, which changes or disappears from the written form in certain constructions. This helps explain forms such as rāʿin and marʿā, but a morphological pattern does not, by itself, determine a root’s meaning.
One important feature of this family is that raʿā is used both of an animal that grazes and of a person who pastures and tends it. This field also helps us understand the broader sense of attending to or observing something.
A shepherd does more than stand beside a flock. What is in the shepherd’s care must receive attention, be kept from neglect, and have its needs met. Arabic also uses this family for covenants, trusts, rights, and matters that require proper observance.
This connection is real, but it should not be stretched into an elaborate allegory. Whenever the Qur’an speaks of observing a covenant, it does not necessarily evoke a flock and a shepherd.
An initial definition of the root may be offered as follows:
R ʿ Y: a family with two connected applications—grazing, pasturing, and tending livestock; and attending to or caring for something, including honoring covenants and trusts. Sustained care is prominent in many of these uses, but it should not be treated as a separate, necessary condition of meaning in every form.
Forms and designations examined
Early Arabic: grazing, pasturing, and watching over
Arabic uses the expression:
رَعَتِ الماشيةُ الكلأَ
Raʿati l-māshiyatu l-kalaʾa.
This means that the livestock grazed on the herbage.
And:
رَعَيْتُ الإبلَ
Raʿaytu l-ibila.
This means that I pastured and tended the camels.
The basic usage thus presents two sides of a relationship: the animal grazes, and the shepherd pastures and tends it.
Rāʿin is the active participle of this verb. Its underlying form is rāʿī, but it is a noun ending in a weak yāʾ, traditionally called an ism manqūṣ. When indefinite in the nominative or genitive, it loses that final yāʾ:
راعٍ
Rāʿin.
With the definite article al-, or in a possessive construction, the yāʾ remains:
الراعي
Al-rāʿī.
And:
راعي الغنم
Rāʿī l-ghanam.
This is a morphological difference, not a difference in meaning.
Its plural also occurs in the Qur’an as al-riʿāʾ.
In early Arabic, the root’s field extended beyond tending livestock. Raʿā al-ʿahd and raʿā al-ḥaqq mean to safeguard a covenant or right and fulfill what it requires.
The same family could even describe sustained attention to something. A line attributed to al-Khansāʾ reads:
أَرْعَى النُّجُومَ وَمَا كُلِّفْتُ رِعْيَتَهَا
Arʿā l-nujūma wa-mā kulliftu riʿyatahā.
“I watch the stars, though I have not been charged with watching them.”
No grazing is taking place here. The shared element is sustained attention and watchfulness.
The move from tending a flock to observing a covenant therefore does not require an unrelated meaning to be invented. In both, something remains within a person’s attention and responsibility.
Riʿāʾ and marʿā: shepherds and pasture in the Qur’an
Ṭā Hā states:
كُلُوا وَارْعَوْا أَنْعَامَكُمْ ۗ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِأُولِي النُّهَىٰ
Kulū wa-irʿaw anʿāmakum; inna fī dhālika la-āyātin li-ulī l-nuhā.
“Eat and pasture your livestock; surely in these things are signs for people of understanding.”
Ṭā Hā 20:54
Wa-irʿaw anʿāmakum is a direct, concrete use of the root: take the livestock out to graze and let them benefit from what the earth grows.
The account of Moses also states:
قَالَتَا لَا نَسْقِي حَتَّىٰ يُصْدِرَ الرِّعَاءُ وَأَبُونَا شَيْخٌ كَبِيرٌ
Qālatā lā nasqī ḥattā yuṣdira l-riʿāʾu wa-abūnā shaykhun kabīr.
“The two women said: We do not water [our animals] until the shepherds lead their livestock away from the watering place, and our father is an elderly man.”
Al-Qaṣaṣ 28:23
Al-riʿāʾ is the broken plural of rāʿin: those who tend a flock and take it to water and pasture. In the reading quoted here, yuṣdira is form IV: the shepherds lead the animals away from the watering place. “Until the shepherds return” corresponds more directly to the alternative reading yaṣdura.
Another form in this family is marʿā:
أَخْرَجَ مِنْهَا مَاءَهَا وَمَرْعَاهَا
Akhraja minhā māʾahā wa-marʿāhā.
“He brought forth from it its water and its grazing vegetation.”
Al-Nāziʿāt 79:31
And:
وَالَّذِي أَخْرَجَ الْمَرْعَىٰ
Wa-alladhī akhraja l-marʿā.
“And the One who brought forth grazing vegetation.”
Al-Aʿlā 87:4
Marʿā follows the pattern mafʿal and can be a noun of place derived from raʿā; lexical sources also record its use as a verbal noun. In this construction, the final root letter changes to an alif, written as alif maqṣūrah.
The meaning a place of grazing fits this construction naturally.
Actual usage, however, is not confined to a noun of place. Arabic also uses marʿā for the herbage or vegetation on which animals graze. In:
أَخْرَجَ الْمَرْعَىٰ
Akhraja l-marʿā.
The verb akhraja, “brought forth,” directs attention to what is made to grow and emerge from the earth. “Grazing vegetation” or “pasture growth” is therefore more natural here than an exclusively geographical area.
In:
مَاءَهَا وَمَرْعَاهَا
Māʾahā wa-marʿāhā.
The meaning can be broader, encompassing water and what the earth provides for grazing and nourishment.
Thus the construction marʿā is compatible with a noun of place, but it does not, by itself, determine the word’s grammatical function or meaning in every sentence. The sense of vegetation and grazing fodder comes from usage and context, not from the pattern alone.
Li-amānātihim wa-ʿahdihim rāʿūn: what remains within one’s responsibility
Al-Muʾminūn states:
وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِأَمَانَاتِهِمْ وَعَهْدِهِمْ رَاعُونَ
Wa-alladhīna hum li-amānātihim wa-ʿahdihim rāʿūn.
“And those who are attentive to their trusts and their covenant.”
Al-Muʾminūn 23:8
The same wording is repeated in Al-Maʿārij:
وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِأَمَانَاتِهِمْ وَعَهْدِهِمْ رَاعُونَ
Wa-alladhīna hum li-amānātihim wa-ʿahdihim rāʿūn.
Al-Maʿārij 70:32
Rāʿūna is the sound masculine plural of rāʿin, but what receives care here is not a flock. The verse speaks of:
أَمَانَاتِهِمْ وَعَهْدِهِمْ
Amānātihim wa-ʿahdihim.
That is, their trusts and their covenant.
Trusts and covenants must not be neglected or slip beyond a person’s attention and responsibility. Observing a covenant is also more than remembering a phrase: when the occasion for action arises, the covenant’s requirements must be fulfilled.
Thus rāʿūn can be understood as “those who observe,” “those who safeguard,” or “those who are attentive to their trusts and covenant.”
The root’s basic image helps explain this use: what is under someone’s care is not left to neglect.
Yet there is no need to compare trusts and covenants to a flock. The Qur’an does not construct that allegory. The shared element is ongoing care and responsibility.
Fa-mā raʿawhā ḥaqqa riʿāyatihā: observance is more than acceptance
Al-Ḥadīd says of the monasticism that a group introduced:
وَرَهْبَانِيَّةً ابْتَدَعُوهَا ... فَمَا رَعَوْهَا حَقَّ رِعَايَتِهَا
Wa-rahbāniyyatan ibtadaʿūhā … fa-mā raʿawhā ḥaqqa riʿāyatihā.
“And monasticism that they introduced … yet they did not observe it with its due observance.”
Al-Ḥadīd 57:27
The expression:
رَعَوْهَا حَقَّ رِعَايَتِهَا
Raʿawhā ḥaqqa riʿāyatihā.
Places a verb and a verbal noun from the same root together.
Here, observance does not mean merely accepting, naming, or knowing about something. What has been undertaken must be maintained and practiced in accordance with its requirements.
Ḥaqqa riʿāyatihā likewise indicates an appropriate, due observance that was not fulfilled.
The root R ʿ Y does not itself explain the components or rules of that monasticism. That question requires examination of the verse’s wider context. The root’s own contribution is that they did not properly observe what they had undertaken.
Together with:
لِأَمَانَاتِهِمْ وَعَهْدِهِمْ رَاعُونَ
Li-amānātihim wa-ʿahdihim rāʿūn.
This usage shows that observance involves ongoing responsibility and fulfilling what something requires.
Lā taqūlū rāʿinā: a valid expression that can be turned into a taunt
Al-Baqarah states:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَقُولُوا رَاعِنَا وَقُولُوا انْظُرْنَا وَاسْمَعُوا
Yā ayyuhā lladhīna āmanū lā taqūlū rāʿinā wa-qūlū unẓurnā wa-ismaʿū.
“You who have believed, do not say ‘rāʿinā’; say ‘unẓurnā,’ and listen.”
Al-Baqarah 2:104
Rāʿinā is formed from rāʿā yurāʿī, form III of this root: the imperative rāʿi joined to nā, “us.” In Arabic, this construction can express attending to another person, considering their situation, or listening with consideration for them.
In ordinary usage, rāʿinā can therefore mean something close to:
“Pay attention to us”
Or:
“Have regard for us.”
These meanings fit the ordinary usage of murāʿāh, considerate attention.
The replacement offered by the Qur’an belongs to a related field:
وَقُولُوا انْظُرْنَا
Wa-qūlū unẓurnā.
“Say: Give us time [to understand].”
Unẓurnā in this context is close to waiting and allowing time to understand what is said; simply translating it as “look at us” fails to make that aspect clear.
Why, then, does the Qur’an prohibit an intelligible Arabic expression?
Al-Nisāʾ 4:46 gives a more revealing explanation:
وَيَقُولُونَ سَمِعْنَا وَعَصَيْنَا وَاسْمَعْ غَيْرَ مُسْمَعٍ وَرَاعِنَا لَيًّا بِأَلْسِنَتِهِمْ وَطَعْنًا فِي الدِّينِ
Wa-yaqūlūna samiʿnā wa-ʿaṣaynā wa-ismaʿ ghayra musmaʿin wa-rāʿinā layyan bi-alsinatihim wa-ṭaʿnan fī l-dīn.
“And they say: We have heard and disobeyed; and listen, without being made to hear; and rāʿinā—twisting their tongues and disparaging the religion.”
Ghayra musmaʿin is double-edged: on the surface, it can suggest “without being made to hear anything offensive,” but with a hostile intention it can convey “listen—may you not hear.” This ambiguity belongs to the context of taunting; the short rendering “unheard” does not explain it.
The same verse then says:
وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ قَالُوا سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا وَاسْمَعْ وَانْظُرْنَا لَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُمْ وَأَقْوَمَ
Wa-law annahum qālū samiʿnā wa-aṭaʿnā wa-ismaʿ wa-unẓurnā la-kāna khayran lahum wa-aqwama.
“Had they said: We have heard and obeyed, and listen and give us time, it would have been better and more upright for them.”
The Qur’an itself makes two points clear.
The problem cannot be reduced to the ordinary Arabic meaning of rāʿinā, because the verse explicitly says that the expression was used with:
لَيًّا بِأَلْسِنَتِهِمْ
Layyan bi-alsinatihim.
“Twisting their tongues”
And:
طَعْنًا فِي الدِّينِ
Ṭaʿnan fī l-dīn.
“Disparaging the religion.”
These describe the manner and purpose of its use.
At the same time, the Qur’an does not specify precisely which foreign word or insult this twisting produced. Attributing a particular Hebrew, Aramaic, or other insult to the verse therefore requires external evidence; it cannot be established from the Qur’an alone.
Moreover, ruʿūnah, foolishness, belongs to the root R ʿ N, not R ʿ Y. Similarity of sound may allow wordplay, but etymologically rāʿinā cannot simply be assigned the meaning of ruʿūnah.
What the verses themselves establish is sufficient:
Rāʿinā can have an acceptable meaning in Arabic, but Al-Nisāʾ 4:46 describes its taunting use through the twisting of tongues; the Qur’an prescribes unẓurnā in its place. Identifying the precise mechanism of that taunt requires evidence beyond the text of the verse.
Translation proposals for Forqan
In concrete uses of raʿā, the translation must match the subject’s role. For wa-irʿaw anʿāmakum, “pasture your livestock” is natural.
Al-riʿāʾ in Al-Qaṣaṣ 28:23 means “shepherds.” “Herders” also works if it denotes those who tend a flock, rather than merely its owners.
Depending on context, marʿā can mean “grazing land,” “pasture,” or “grazing vegetation.” In wa-alladhī akhraja al-marʿā, because the subject is bringing something forth from the earth, “grazing vegetation” or “pasture growth” can convey the verse’s image more clearly. For māʾahā wa-marʿāhā, “its water and pasture” or “its water and grazing vegetation” may be considered according to the translation’s style.
In:
لِأَمَانَاتِهِمْ وَعَهْدِهِمْ رَاعُونَ
Li-amānātihim wa-ʿahdihim rāʿūn.
“They attend to their trusts and their covenant” is direct. “They honor” or “they safeguard” can also read naturally, provided the explanation makes clear that observance involves more than passive preservation: it includes fulfilling a covenant’s requirements.
In:
فَمَا رَعَوْهَا حَقَّ رِعَايَتِهَا
Fa-mā raʿawhā ḥaqqa riʿāyatihā.
The rendering:
“Yet they did not observe it with its due observance.”
The repetition of “observe” and “observance” is appropriate here, since Arabic itself places a verb beside a verbal noun from the same root.
For rāʿinā, it is best to begin with the expression’s own Arabic meaning: “pay attention to us” or “have regard for us.” The explanation should then note that Al-Nisāʾ 4:46 describes the expression being used through tongue-twisting and with an intention to taunt, without naming a particular alternative insult.
Conclusion
The core field of R ʿ Y encompasses grazing, attention, and care. In its concrete application, livestock graze and a shepherd pastures and tends them; al-riʿāʾ are shepherds, and marʿā can denote grazing land or the vegetation itself. The construction marʿā is compatible with a noun of place, but it also has a verbal-noun use, and its meaning in each verse must be determined from language and context.
The same family is used in a nonmaterial sense for covenants, trusts, and matters that must remain under human responsibility and have their requirements fulfilled. In this respect, observance goes beyond merely knowing about or accepting something.
Rāʿinā likewise belongs to this field of attention and consideration. Its ordinary Arabic meaning can be acceptable, but the Qur’an itself describes its taunting use through the “twisting of tongues.” Identifying a particular foreign insult, or equating it with ruʿūnah, goes beyond what the root and the verses themselves establish.
A concise definition of the root may therefore be offered:
R ʿ Y: a family connecting grazing, pasturing, and tending livestock with attention and care. Marʿā denotes grazing land or grazing vegetation, while observing covenants and trusts means honoring them and fulfilling their requirements. Sustained care is prominent in these applications without being a fixed condition in every form’s definition. Rāʿinā also belongs to the field of attention and consideration, although the Qur’an reports its misuse as a taunt.
Rāʿinā in Al-Baqarah 2:104