The Qur’anic Root S ʿ Y

Early Arabic: movement and striving

Classical lexicons record saʿy for walking, running short of the utmost exertion, proceeding toward something, working, and earning. Those dictionaries were compiled after the Qur’an, so their definitions alone do not date a usage to the pre-Qur’anic period. The poetry transmitted from early poets provides a separate kind of evidence.

The following verse is transmitted under the name of the pre-Islamic poet ʿUrwah ibn al-Ward, and is also cited in the printed commentary on his Dīwān attributed to Ibn al-Sikkīt:

دَعِينِي لِلْغِنَى أَسْعَىٰ فَإِنِّي
رَأَيْتُ النَّاسَ شَرُّهُمُ الْفَقِيرُ

“Let me strive for self-sufficiency, for I have found that the poor man is held lowest among people.”

لِلْغِنَى أَسْعَىٰ describes working toward a goal, not necessarily physically running toward wealth. “Held lowest” reflects the surrounding verses about social contempt for poverty; it is a contextual rendering, not a claim that poverty makes someone morally bad.

The following is also transmitted from the pre-Islamic poet al-Afwah al-Awdī:

أَيُّهَا السَّاعِي عَلَىٰ آثَارِنَا
نَحْنُ مَنْ لَسْتَ بِسَعَّاءٍ مَعَهْ

“You who follow in our tracks: we are people with whom you cannot keep pace.”

The image is following another’s tracks, but the poem’s surrounding boasts of martial courage and hospitality place it in a context of rivalry and distinction. It is not secure evidence for literal bodily pursuit alone. سعّاء is an intensive form, suggesting the contender’s inability to match them.

These transmitted witnesses connect pursuit with striving toward an aim. They support an early relationship between the senses, rather than proving that the root had an identical range from its very beginning. The precise dates of the two poems have not been independently established here.

Actual movement: snakes, people, and light

In some verses, saʿy is close to concrete motion.

Of Moses’ staff, the Qur’an says:

فَأَلْقَاهَا فَإِذَا هِيَ حَيَّةٌ تَسْعَىٰ

“He threw it down, and there it was: a snake moving.”

Ta-Ha 20:20

تسعى here describes the snake’s movement; translating it as “was striving” would introduce an unsuitable sense of human effort.

In the scene involving sorcery, it says:

قَالَ بَلْ أَلْقُوا ۖ فَإِذَا حِبَالُهُمْ وَعِصِيُّهُمْ يُخَيَّلُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ سِحْرِهِمْ أَنَّهَا تَسْعَىٰ

“He said: Rather, you throw. Then their ropes and staffs appeared to him, through their sorcery, to be moving.”

Ta-Ha 20:66

Again, saʿy describes motion, not a particular kind of exertion. Here the motion is presented as what appeared to Moses, rather than as an independently asserted physical change in the ropes.

In Al-Qasas, a man arrives from the farthest part of the city with urgent news:

وَجَاءَ رَجُلٌ مِنْ أَقْصَى الْمَدِينَةِ يَسْعَىٰ قَالَ يَا مُوسَىٰ إِنَّ الْمَلَأَ يَأْتَمِرُونَ بِكَ لِيَقْتُلُوكَ فَاخْرُجْ إِنِّي لَكَ مِنَ النَّاصِحِينَ

“A man came hurrying from the farthest part of the city. He said: Moses, the leaders are plotting to kill you. Leave; I am giving you sincere counsel.”

Al-Qasas 28:20

A similar construction occurs in Ya-Sin:

وَجَاءَ مِنْ أَقْصَى الْمَدِينَةِ رَجُلٌ يَسْعَىٰ قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ اتَّبِعُوا الْمُرْسَلِينَ

“From the farthest part of the city, a man came hurrying. He said: My people, follow the messengers.”

Ya-Sin 36:20

Both contexts fit rapid movement, making “came hurrying” natural. Nevertheless, يسعى does not specify a measurable speed; Arabic usage ranges from proceeding to moving quickly.

Light, too, is described with يسعى:

يَوْمَ تَرَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ يَسْعَىٰ نُورُهُمْ بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَبِأَيْمَانِهِمْ بُشْرَاكُمُ الْيَوْمَ جَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ هُوَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ

“On the day you see believing men and women, their light moving before them and on their right: Your good news today is gardens beneath which rivers flow, where you will remain. That is the great triumph.”

Al-Hadid 57:12

With light as its subject, the verb is not restricted to human locomotion. It expresses something moving ahead along a course, without by itself defining the physical nature of that light.

Jāʾaka yasʿā: movement and earnestness

ʿAbasa offers an example in which movement and effort come close together:

وَأَمَّا مَنْ جَاءَكَ يَسْعَىٰ ۝ وَهُوَ يَخْشَىٰ ۝ فَأَنْتَ عَنْهُ تَلَهَّىٰ

“But the one who came to you earnestly, while in awe—you allow yourself to be distracted from him.”

Abasa 80:8, 80:9, 80:10

يَسْعَىٰ describes his manner of coming. The expression presents him as making his way to the addressee with haste or earnest effort, rather than merely being present.

The next verse separately states:

وَهُوَ يَخْشَىٰ

His awe is therefore not extracted from yasʿā: the Qur’an expresses it with another word.

Together, the verses depict someone making an earnest approach to the message. Saʿy alone, however, should not be translated as “inner longing,” “a passion for knowledge,” or a particular psychological state. Such interpretations would require the wider context, not simply the root.

Thumma adbara yasʿā: active pursuit

In Pharaoh’s story, the Qur’an says:

فَأَرَاهُ الْآيَةَ الْكُبْرَىٰ ۝ فَكَذَّبَ وَعَصَىٰ ۝ ثُمَّ أَدْبَرَ يَسْعَىٰ ۝ فَحَشَرَ فَنَادَىٰ ۝ فَقَالَ أَنَا رَبُّكُمُ الْأَعْلَىٰ

“He showed him the greatest sign, but he denied it and disobeyed. Then he turned away and set about his efforts. He gathered people and proclaimed: I am your highest lord.”

An-Naziat 79:20, 79:21, 79:22, 79:23, 79:24

أَدْبَرَ describes turning away; يَسْعَىٰ presents Pharaoh as active rather than passive. The following verbs specify part of that activity: فَحَشَرَ فَنَادَىٰ, gathering and proclaiming.

The sequence supports “set about his efforts” or “went about his undertaking.” Al-Ṭabarī likewise explains the verb here through working in disobedience and corruption. This is a contextual interpretation, not a claim that rapid bodily movement is linguistically impossible.

Yasʿā does not itself say that Pharaoh “mobilized his entire political and social apparatus.” Gathering and proclaiming support an active undertaking, but any detailed account of its political organization requires further evidence.

This passage shows how saʿy can bring movement and purposeful action together in one word.

From motion to effort directed toward a result

In many verses, bodily movement is no longer central; saʿy concerns human activity directed toward an aim.

Al-Isra says:

وَمَنْ أَرَادَ الْآخِرَةَ وَسَعَىٰ لَهَا سَعْيَهَا وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَأُولَٰئِكَ كَانَ سَعْيُهُمْ مَشْكُورًا

“Whoever desires the Hereafter and strives for it with the striving it requires, while a believer—their striving will be appreciated.”

Al-Isra 17:19

The verse distinguishes desire from striving. أَرَادَ الْآخِرَةَ expresses the desired destination; سَعَىٰ لَهَا expresses activity directed toward it.

Saʿy is therefore more than intention. A person wants something and acts toward it.

An-Najm states the idea more broadly:

وَأَنْ لَيْسَ لِلْإِنْسَانِ إِلَّا مَا سَعَىٰ ۝ وَأَنَّ سَعْيَهُ سَوْفَ يُرَىٰ

“A human being has only their striving, and their striving will be seen.”

An-Najm 53:39, 53:40

Here saʿy concerns the person’s effort and undertaking, not merely whatever they successfully obtained. It is the striving that the next verse says will be seen; the ensuing verse, An-Najm 53:41, separately mentions recompense.

Al-Layl says:

إِنَّ سَعْيَكُمْ لَشَتَّىٰ

“Your strivings are indeed diverse.”

Al-Layl 92:4

The verse locates the difference in people’s strivings: they undertake activity along different courses.

“Effort,” “striving,” or “endeavour” are natural here. The connection with pursuing a course helps explain the family’s range, but every translation need not explicitly recreate a physical path.

Saʿy is not inherently good or evil

In the Qur’an, saʿy has no fixed moral value.

Al-Baqarah says:

وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنْ مَنَعَ مَسَاجِدَ اللَّهِ أَنْ يُذْكَرَ فِيهَا اسْمُهُ وَسَعَىٰ فِي خَرَابِهَا ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ مَا كَانَ لَهُمْ أَنْ يَدْخُلُوهَا إِلَّا خَائِفِينَ ۚ لَهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا خِزْيٌ وَلَهُمْ فِي الْآخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ

“Who is more unjust than one who prevents the name of The God from being remembered in His places of worship and strives for their ruin? Such people should enter them only in fear. Disgrace is theirs in this world, and a great punishment in the Hereafter.”

Al-Baqarah 2:114

The word used in Al-Isra for striving toward the Hereafter is used here for working toward the ruin of places of worship.

Al-Baqarah also says:

وَإِذَا تَوَلَّىٰ سَعَىٰ فِي الْأَرْضِ لِيُفْسِدَ فِيهَا وَيُهْلِكَ الْحَرْثَ وَالنَّسْلَ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْفَسَادَ

“When he turns away, he strives throughout the land to spread corruption in it and destroy cultivation and offspring. The God does not love corruption.”

Al-Baqarah 2:205

Saʿy itself is therefore neither virtuous nor evil. Its aim and the associated action establish its value.

The lexicons recognize the same range, explicitly including activity for both good and evil. Qur’anic examples of harmful striving also occur in Al-Maidah 5:33 and 5:64, and of efforts directed against the signs in Al-Hajj 22:51 and Saba 34:5 and 34:38.

Fa-sʿaw ilā dhikri llāh: proceeding toward a destination

Al-Jumuʿah says:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا نُودِيَ لِلصَّلَاةِ مِنْ يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ فَاسْعَوْا إِلَىٰ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَذَرُوا الْبَيْعَ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ

“You who believe, when the call is made for Salat on Friday, proceed to the remembrance of The God and leave trade. That is better for you, if you know.”

Al-Jumuah 62:9

Arabic سعى إلى can express heading or proceeding toward a destination. Classical lexicons explain this verse with فاقصدوا and امضوا, directing oneself or going, and distinguish it from an instruction to run.

The rest of the verse fits that reading: a person leaves trade and proceeds to the remembrance of The God.

“Run to the remembrance of The God” would therefore impose a bodily speed that the verse need not require. “Proceed” preserves the direction and call to action without prescribing running.

Prepositions can help identify the perspective: سعى إلى foregrounds a destination, سعى لها effort for something, and سعى في activity within a field. These are useful tendencies, not mechanical rules without exceptions.

Yaʾtīnaka saʿyan: movement toward a destination

In Abraham’s story, the Qur’an says:

وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّ أَرِنِي كَيْفَ تُحْيِي الْمَوْتَىٰ ۖ قَالَ أَوَلَمْ تُؤْمِنْ ۖ قَالَ بَلَىٰ وَلَٰكِنْ لِيَطْمَئِنَّ قَلْبِي ۖ قَالَ فَخُذْ أَرْبَعَةً مِنَ الطَّيْرِ فَصُرْهُنَّ إِلَيْكَ ثُمَّ اجْعَلْ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ جَبَلٍ مِنْهُنَّ جُزْءًا ثُمَّ ادْعُهُنَّ يَأْتِينَكَ سَعْيًا ۚ وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ

“When Abraham said: My Lord, show me how You bring the dead to life. He said: Do you not believe? He said: Yes, but so that my heart may be reassured. He said: Take four birds and draw them toward you; then place a portion of them on each mountain, and call them: they will come swiftly to you. Know that The God is mighty and wise.”

Al-Baqarah 2:260

سَعْيًا describes their coming in motion, naturally understood here as coming swiftly. The root alone, however, is not sufficient to decide between walking, running, and flying. “Draw them toward you” follows one explanation of فَصُرْهُنَّ إِلَيْكَ; cutting them has also been proposed in the linguistic and exegetical tradition. The interpretation of that separate expression and the details of the event are not settled by saʿy.

Saʿy has an attested sense of running or hastening, but it is not a fixed technical description of a single bodily mechanism. The subject and context must also be considered when identifying the movement.

Balagha maʿahu al-saʿy: being able to accompany someone in work

In the story of Abraham and his son, the Qur’an says:

فَلَمَّا بَلَغَ مَعَهُ السَّعْيَ قَالَ يَا بُنَيَّ إِنِّي أَرَىٰ فِي الْمَنَامِ أَنِّي أَذْبَحُكَ فَانْظُرْ مَاذَا تَرَىٰ ۚ قَالَ يَا أَبَتِ افْعَلْ مَا تُؤْمَرُ ۖ سَتَجِدُنِي إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مِنَ الصَّابِرِينَ

“When he reached the stage of working alongside him, he said: My son, I see in a dream that I am slaughtering you; consider what you think. He said: My father, do what you are commanded. If The God wills, you will find me among the patient.”

As-Saffat 37:102

بَلَغَ مَعَهُ السَّعْيَ does not specify a numerical age. It describes the son reaching the stage of accompanying his father in activity and work.

Classical lexicographers explain the expression through being able to walk with the father or assist him in work. A precise age does not come from al-saʿy itself and should not be inserted into the basic translation.

S ʿ Y and ʿ M L: pursuit and doing

Saʿy and ʿamal come close in some verses. Lexicographers themselves sometimes explain saʿy through work and earning.

Their Qur’anic uses nevertheless show that the two are not interchangeable everywhere.

ʿAmal is a broad word for doing or performing an action. Saʿy, alongside that sense, often retains a connection with movement, pursuit, and activity directed toward a result. This is a tendency, not an additional physical image that must consciously be present in every occurrence.

A snake and light can have yasʿā predicated of them without being moral agents. By contrast, ليس للإنسان إلا ما سعى concerns the effort and undertaking attributable to a person.

As a general tendency, ʿamal foregrounds doing an action; saʿy foregrounds movement or activity in pursuit of something. Many human uses overlap. Al-Anbiya 21:94 brings them together: فَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِنَ الصَّالِحَاتِ وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَلَا كُفْرَانَ لِسَعْيِهِ—whoever does righteous deeds while believing will not have their striving denied recognition.

Saʿy and the rite between Safa and Marwah

In Islamic ritual terminology, the passage between Safa and Marwah is known as saʿy. The family also occurs in transmitted reports about this practice, including the report in Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī 863. Its absence from the relevant Qur’anic verse does not by itself date the origin of that terminology.

When the Qur’an speaks of Safa and Marwah, it does not use the root S ʿ Y:

إِنَّ الصَّفَا وَالْمَرْوَةَ مِنْ شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ ۖ فَمَنْ حَجَّ الْبَيْتَ أَوِ اعْتَمَرَ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِ أَنْ يَطَّوَّفَ بِهِمَا ۚ وَمَنْ تَطَوَّعَ خَيْرًا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ شَاكِرٌ عَلِيمٌ

“Safa and Marwah are among the markers of The God. Whoever performs Hajj or ʿUmrah to the House incurs no blame in making the passage between them. Whoever freely does good—The God is appreciative and knowing.”

Al-Baqarah 2:158

The Qur’anic expression is أَنْ يَطَّوَّفَ بِهِمَا.

Saʿy is a linguistically understandable name for a rite involving movement along a route. That particular ritual use, however, does not define every Qur’anic occurrence of S ʿ Y, and should not be substituted for the word actually used in this verse.

The distinction here is between ritual terminology and the wording chosen by the Qur’an, not proof that the term was first coined at a particular later date.

Translation proposals for Forqan

Saʿy should be translated according to its use in context.

For حَيَّةٌ تَسْعَىٰ, “a moving snake” is natural; “a snake moving swiftly” is also possible. “Striving” would suggest an unsuitable kind of effort, while “running” can evoke limbs and a mode of movement not appropriate to a snake.

For جَاءَ رَجُلٌ ... يَسْعَىٰ in Al-Qasas and Ya-Sin, “a man came hurrying” fits the context.

For وَأَمَّا مَنْ جَاءَكَ يَسْعَىٰ, “the one who came to you earnestly” or “came hurrying to you” is suitable. His awe is expressed by the next verse, rather than contained within yasʿā itself.

For ثُمَّ أَدْبَرَ يَسْعَىٰ, “then he turned away and set about his efforts” brings out the activity indicated by the subsequent gathering and proclamation, without restricting the passage to bodily running.

For يَسْعَىٰ نُورُهُمْ, “their light moves ahead” is natural.

For سَعَىٰ فِي الْأَرْضِ لِيُفْسِدَ فِيهَا, “he strove throughout the land to spread corruption” or “he set about spreading corruption in the land” is suitable.

For سَعَىٰ لَهَا سَعْيَهَا and مَا سَعَىٰ, “strive” and “striving” convey the effort naturally. In An-Najm 53:39, the translation should preserve the person’s undertaking rather than restrict it to a desired object or a successful outcome.

For فَاسْعَوْا إِلَىٰ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ, “proceed to the remembrance of The God” or “make your way to” is clearer than an instruction to run.

For بَلَغَ مَعَهُ السَّعْيَ, express the ability to accompany someone in activity and work without inserting a specific age.

Conclusion

The root س ع ي connects movement and purposeful effort, although not every subject of the verb must have conscious intention.

Early transmitted poetry attests this connection. ʿUrwah ibn al-Ward speaks of striving for self-sufficiency; al-Afwah al-Awdī uses following tracks as an image of rivalry and distinction. These witnesses support an early range of pursuit and effort, without establishing every stage of the root’s semantic history.

In the Qur’an, a snake, the apparently moving ropes of the sorcerers, a person, and light are all described with forms of yasʿā. The word therefore exceeds “working.” Conversely, a person strives for the Hereafter, corruption, or another aim, and that striving will be seen; the word is not confined to bodily motion either.

Abasa 80:8, 80:9, 80:10 brings the two sides close together. A person comes while yasʿā, with haste or earnestness, while the next verse separately identifies his awe. Movement and effort belong to the first expression; the specified inner state comes from another word.

An-Naziat 79:20, 79:21, 79:22, 79:23, 79:24 illustrates active pursuit. After denial and disobedience, Pharaoh turns away while yasʿā, then gathers and proclaims. The sequence supports practical activity, but the verb does not supply the details of a political or social organization.

Saʿy is not inherently good or evil. The same root describes striving for the Hereafter and working for corruption or the ruin of places of worship. Context and purpose determine its value; the word does not guarantee success.

فاسعوا إلى ذكر الله also shows that saʿy need not require running. Saʿā ilā can describe proceeding toward a destination, while saʿā lahā highlights effort for something and saʿā fī activity within a field. These tendencies do not turn prepositions into mechanical rules.

Compared with ʿamal, saʿy often retains the image of activity and progress along a course toward an aim or result, while overlapping with work and earning in many human contexts.

The ritual term “saʿy between Safa and Marwah” should not determine the entire Qur’anic meaning of this root. Al-Baqarah 2:158 uses يَطَّوَّفَ بِهِمَا. This difference in wording alone does not establish when the ritual term originated.

S ʿ Y: movement or activity along a course, often toward a destination or result. It can express going, hastening, pursuing, striving, and working, with context connecting effort and outcome. Saʿy need not mean running, is not inherently good or evil, and does not guarantee success. Speed, mode of movement, aim, and value are determined in context.