The Qur’anic Root SH R Q

Early Arabic and sunrise as a familiar event

A report from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, transmitted by ʿAmr ibn Maymūn and recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, states that pagan Arabs waited for sunrise before departing from Jamʿ and said ashriq Thabīr. Other transmissions and lexicons preserve the fuller expression:

أَشْرِقْ ثَبِيرُ كَيْمَا نُغِيرُ

Ashriq Thabīru kaymā nughīru.

“Shine, Thabīr, so that we may set out.” Thabīr is a mountain, and the address concerns waiting for sunlight to fall on it before departure.

Ashriq is a Form IV imperative; the address to the mountain anticipates the sun shining upon it. Nughīru here refers to setting out. This is a reported ritual expression, not a verse of poetry. It shows the word’s connection with sunrise and the time of departure, while remaining a report preserved in later sources rather than a written document contemporary with the pre-Islamic period.

Lexical sources also connect the name ayyām al-tashrīq, the days of tashrīq, with this family. Different explanations of the name are recorded, including spreading meat out in the sun and a connection with sunrise. These differing accounts leave the history of the name distinct from the word’s clear Qur’anic meaning.

Arabic also records other branches of SH R Q that do not readily fit the field of rising and light, such as shariqa bi-al-māʾ, describing someone choking on water. A historical connection between all these branches and one single image is not established. The Qur’anic branches discussed here clearly concern light, sunrise, and direction.

Rising and becoming illuminated

Arabic distinguishes two closely related uses. Sharaqat al-shams describes the sun’s rising, whereas ashraqat more often denotes shining or giving light. This is not an exceptionless rule throughout the language, but it helps explain the Qur’anic uses.

Al-Zumar states:

وَأَشْرَقَتِ الْأَرْضُ بِنُورِ رَبِّهَا وَوُضِعَ الْكِتَابُ

Wa-ashraqati al-arḍu bi-nūri rabbihā wa-wuḍiʿa al-kitābu.

“The earth shone with its Lord’s light, and the Book was set down.”

Al-Zumar 39:69

Here ashraqat al-arḍ describes the earth shining with light, not being situated in the east. The use shows that SH R Q expresses shining and illumination as well as geographical direction.

Ṣād also states:

إِنَّا سَخَّرْنَا الْجِبَالَ مَعَهُ يُسَبِّحْنَ بِالْعَشِيِّ وَالْإِشْرَاقِ

Innā sakhkharnā al-jibāla maʿahu yusabbiḥna bi-al-ʿashiyyi wa-al-ishrāqi.

“We subjected the mountains with him, glorifying at evening and at the time of ishrāq.”

Ṣād 38:18

The pairing of al-ishrāq with al-ʿashiyy, evening, shows that a time of day is meant: the sun has risen and its light has appeared. Ishrāq in this verse should therefore not be defined through the philosophical or mystical terminology of later periods. Its Qur’anic use concerns illumination and the time of sunrise.

Mushriqīn: the time of sunrise, not “two easts”

Two Qur’anic occurrences may be confused in unvocalized writing with “two easts,” although their morphology and meanings differ.

Al-Ḥijr states:

فَأَخَذَتْهُمُ الصَّيْحَةُ مُشْرِقِينَ

Fa-akhadhathumu al-ṣayḥatu mushriqīna.

“The cry seized them at sunrise.”

Al-Ḥijr 15:73

And Al-Shuʿarāʾ:

فَأَتْبَعُوهُمْ مُشْرِقِينَ

Fa-atbaʿūhum mushriqīna.

“They pursued them at sunrise.”

Al-Shuʿarāʾ 26:60

Mushriqīna in these verses is the sound masculine plural of mushriq, the active participle of Form IV, used as a circumstantial expression: they had reached the time of sunrise. Morphologically, it is not a noun of time, although it has temporal force in this context. Al-mashriqayni, by contrast, is the dual of mashriq, meaning “two easts” or “two places of rising.”

Without vowel marks, mushriqīna and mashriqayni look identical in Arabic script. Their initial vowels and endings differ: one is a plural active participle with temporal meaning in context, while the other is a dual place noun.

Mashriq: the direction of the sun’s rising

One of the clearest passages for understanding mashriq is Abraham’s statement:

قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْتِي بِالشَّمْسِ مِنَ الْمَشْرِقِ فَأْتِ بِهَا مِنَ الْمَغْرِبِ

Qāla Ibrāhīmu fa-inna Allāha yaʾtī bi-al-shamsi mina al-mashriqi fa-ʾti bihā mina al-maghribi.

“Abraham said: ‘The God brings the sun from the east, so bring it from the west.’”

Al-Baqarah 2:258

The verse itself connects mashriq directly with the sun. Yaʾtī bi-al-shamsi mina al-mashriq shows that mashriq is the direction from which the sun comes and rises.

The geographical term mashriq is connected with sunrise. “East” is natural in ordinary translation; studying the root also brings out the image of the direction of rising within this word family.

One event that identifies both a time and a place

An important feature of SH R Q is that one natural event can identify both a time of day and a direction on the horizon. The sun’s rising marks a time expressed by al-ishrāq and, in certain constructions, mushriqīn; the same event also identifies a direction or place called al-mashriq.

Time and place are related to one event in these uses, but do not share one meaning or grammatical role. Each form retains its own structure and function.

Makānan sharqiyyan: from a place of rising to geographical direction

The account of Mary states:

وَاذْكُرْ فِي الْكِتَابِ مَرْيَمَ إِذِ انْتَبَذَتْ مِنْ أَهْلِهَا مَكَانًا شَرْقِيًّا

Wa-udhkur fī al-kitābi Maryama idhi intabadhat min ahlihā makānan sharqiyyan.

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

Maryam 19:16

Here sharqiyyan is a relational adjective describing a place: somewhere to the east. Its connection with sunrise passes through the name of the direction. The sun rises in the east, and something related to that side is “eastern.”

The geographical use of “east” is therefore a real and established use of the family. Attention to the word’s underlying image does not displace its geographical meaning.

Lā sharqiyyatin wa-lā gharbiyyatin

The Light Verse states:

يُوقَدُ مِنْ شَجَرَةٍ مُبَارَكَةٍ زَيْتُونَةٍ لَا شَرْقِيَّةٍ وَلَا غَرْبِيَّةٍ يَكَادُ زَيْتُهَا يُضِيءُ وَلَوْ لَمْ تَمْسَسْهُ نَارٌ

Yūqadu min shajaratin mubārakatin zaytūnatin lā sharqiyyatin wa-lā gharbiyyatin yakādu zaytuhā yuḍīʾu wa-law lam tamsashu nārun.

“It is lit from a blessed tree, an olive, neither eastern nor western, whose oil would almost shine even if no fire touched it.”

Al-Nūr 24:35

Sharqiyyah qualifies the olive tree and is paired with gharbiyyah, western. Lexically, “eastern” means related to the direction of the east, and the verse denies both the eastern and the western description of the tree.

The root alone does not settle the precise situation of this olive tree. Explanations such as a location exposed to sunlight at both ends of the day attempt to identify what the phrase describes; they are not the lexical meaning of sharqiyyah itself.

Nor does lā sharqiyyatin wa-lā gharbiyyatin, on its own, establish a denial of every geographical boundary for divine light. The whole verse is an extended likeness concerning light, but the adjective in question directly qualifies the olive tree.

The lexical limit is clear: sharqiyyah means eastern. The full significance of “neither eastern nor western” must be considered within the whole likeness and the verse’s context.

East and west: two familiar directions

The Qur’an repeatedly places mashriq and maghrib together:

وَلِلَّهِ الْمَشْرِقُ وَالْمَغْرِبُ

Wa-li-Allāhi al-mashriqu wa-al-maghribu.

Al-Baqarah 2:115

قُلْ لِلَّهِ الْمَشْرِقُ وَالْمَغْرِبُ

Qul li-Allāhi al-mashriqu wa-al-maghribu.

Al-Baqarah 2:142

لَيْسَ الْبِرَّ أَنْ تُوَلُّوا وُجُوهَكُمْ قِبَلَ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ

Laysa al-birra an tuwallū wujūhakum qibala al-mashriqi wa-al-maghribi.

Al-Baqarah 2:177

Al-Shuʿarāʾ also states:

رَبُّ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا

Rabbu al-mashriqi wa-al-maghribi wa-mā baynahumā.

“Lord of the east and the west and what lies between them.”

Al-Shuʿarāʾ 26:28

Wa-mā baynahumā, “and what lies between them,” shows that east and west can mark two familiar sides of an expanse, with what lies between them also explicitly included.

The contrast between east and west in these verses is spatial. Philosophical expressions such as “manifestation and presence” contrasted with “concealment and absence” are not fixed lexical definitions of these directions; any such application requires independent evidence.

In these uses, mashriq is the direction from which the sun rises.

Al-Baqarah 2:115: mashriq alongside “wherever”

Understanding the root is especially useful in Al-Baqarah 2:115:

وَلِلَّهِ الْمَشْرِقُ وَالْمَغْرِبُ ۚ فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ

Wa-li-Allāhi al-mashriqu wa-al-maghribu; fa-aynamā tuwallū fa-thamma wajhu Allāhi; inna Allāha wāsiʿun ʿalīmun.

“To The God belong the east and the west; wherever you turn, there is the wajh of The God. The God is all-encompassing and knowing.”

Al-Baqarah 2:115

Al-mashriq here is the direction of the sun’s rising, and al-maghrib the direction of its setting. After naming these directions, the verse continues with fa-aynamā tuwallū, “wherever you turn.”

East and west are therefore not an exhaustive list of possible directions in this verse. Two familiar directions are named, and then aynamā, “wherever,” encompasses every direction in which a person turns.

The same point appears in the study of W J H: a person’s direction may be specified, but wajh Allāh is not confined to that geographical direction.

One mashriq, two mashriqs, and multiple places of rising

The Qur’an does not use mashriq only in the singular. Al-Raḥmān states:

رَبُّ الْمَشْرِقَيْنِ وَرَبُّ الْمَغْرِبَيْنِ

Rabbu al-mashriqayni wa-rabbu al-maghribayni.

“Lord of the two easts and Lord of the two wests.”

Al-Raḥmān 55:17

Al-Ṣāffāt states:

رَبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا وَرَبُّ الْمَشَارِقِ

Rabbu al-samāwāti wa-al-arḍi wa-mā baynahumā wa-rabbu al-mashāriqi.

“Lord of the heavens and the earth and what lies between them, and Lord of the places of rising.”

Al-Ṣāffāt 37:5

Al-Maʿārij also states:

فَلَا أُقْسِمُ بِرَبِّ الْمَشَارِقِ وَالْمَغَارِبِ

Fa-lā uqsimu bi-rabbi al-mashāriqi wa-al-maghāribi.

“So I swear by the Lord of the places of rising and setting.”

Al-Maʿārij 70:40

Al-Aʿrāf 7:137 also speaks of mashāriqa al-arḍi wa-maghāribahā. In the context of inheriting a land, this can be understood as “the eastern and western regions of that land.” It need not be an enumeration of sunrise and sunset points on the horizon.

The singular, dual, and plural forms show that mashriq can express a direction, two locations, or multiple locations and regions. This variation does not negate the familiar direction east; it prevents restricting the word to one individual point in every verse.

One familiar explanation of the two easts and multiple places of rising is the changing position of sunrise on the horizon throughout the year and its two extremes. This fits some contexts, but the verses themselves do not name seasons, days of the year, or particular astronomical points. Nor must all plurals, such as the one in Al-Aʿrāf 7:137, have the same referent.

Thus, the difference in grammatical number is clear; identifying the two easts or the multiple easts requires the context of each verse as well as the form of the word.

Al-mashriqayn in Al-Raḥmān and Al-Zukhruf

Al-Zukhruf states:

يَا لَيْتَ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَكَ بُعْدَ الْمَشْرِقَيْنِ فَبِئْسَ الْقَرِينُ

Yā layta baynī wa-baynaka buʿda al-mashriqayni fa-biʾsa al-qarīnu.

“If only there were between me and you the distance of the two easts! What an evil companion!”

Al-Zukhruf 43:38

Morphologically, al-mashriqayn is the dual of mashriq, but its role here differs from its role in Al-Raḥmān. There, two easts occur alongside two wests; in Al-Zukhruf, the expression depicts an immense distance between two parties.

The well-known explanation is “the distance between east and west,” through the Arabic construction called taghlīb: the name of one member of a pair is put in the dual to denote both. Another explanation identifies the winter and summer sunrise points. The dual form alone therefore does not establish that two literal easts must be intended; established linguistic usage and the context of distance also matter.

What is clear in the verse itself is that buʿda al-mashriqayn depicts a very great distance.

Mashāriq denotes places, not a plurality of times

SH R Q has forms used for both time and place, but these must be distinguished.

Al-ishrāq is a Form IV verbal noun associated with the time of illumination in Ṣād 38:18. Mushriqīn in Al-Ḥijr and Al-Shuʿarāʾ is a plural active participle used circumstantially to express reaching the time of sunrise. Al-mashriq, al-mashriqayn, and al-mashāriq, by contrast, refer in spatial uses to places or directions of rising, or to eastern regions.

The position of sunrise changes with time, so time contributes to the multiplicity of rising points. Nevertheless, mashāriq itself is a plural of places or directions of rising, and in some contexts eastern regions, rather than a plural of sunrise times.

One event can connect time and place while each derivative retains its own role and meaning.

Qur’anic ishrāq and later uses

In later periods, ishrāq entered philosophical and mystical language and acquired new technical meanings. Light has provided a natural basis in many cultures and languages for metaphors of knowledge, discovery, and awareness, making such semantic developments understandable.

This later history should not determine the meaning of Ṣād 38:18. Bi-al-ʿashiyyi wa-al-ishrāq pairs two times of day; its Qur’anic meaning concerns the time when daylight shines forth around sunrise.

The Qur’anic meaning of this expression follows from the pairing of two times of day. Its later technical use belongs to another stage in the word’s history.

Translation proposals for Forqan

For mina al-mashriq, “from the east” is natural. The root explanation clarifies the connection between east and the sun’s rising.

For wa-li-Allāhi al-mashriqu wa-al-maghrib, “To The God belong the east and the west” is suitable. The underlying image need not be built into the base translation by substituting “the place of rising and setting.”

Makānan sharqiyyan is naturally “an eastern place,” and lā sharqiyyatin wa-lā gharbiyyatin is “neither eastern nor western,” without inserting a geographical or symbolic theory into the translation.

For bi-al-ʿashiyyi wa-al-ishrāq, “at evening and at the time of sunrise” conveys the temporal setting clearly. “At evening and as daylight shines forth” can bring out the association with illumination. The unexplained word “illumination” may instead suggest a later philosophical meaning and obscure the time of day intended here.

Mushriqīn in Al-Ḥijr and Al-Shuʿarāʾ is likewise best rendered “at sunrise” or “at the time of the sun’s rising.”

For wa-ashraqati al-arḍu bi-nūri rabbihā, “The earth shone with its Lord’s light” conveys the verb naturally.

Grammatical number should also be preserved: al-mashriq is “the east,” al-mashriqayn “the two easts,” and al-mashāriq “the easts” or “the places of rising,” unless the context supports a different explanation. In Al-Zukhruf 43:38, “the distance between east and west” conveys the well-known taghlīb interpretation; the literal “two easts” also needs that usage explained.

Conclusion

The Qur’anic uses of SH R Q concern sunrise, shining, and illumination. Ashraqat al-arḍ describes the earth becoming illuminated, while al-ishrāq identifies a time of day. Mushriqīn in Al-Ḥijr and Al-Shuʿarāʾ also concerns sunrise and differs morphologically and semantically from al-mashriqayn, “the two easts.”

Mashriq is connected with the same event: the place or direction of the sun’s rising. Al-Baqarah 2:258 makes this relationship clear: fa-inna Allāha yaʾtī bi-al-shamsi mina al-mashriq.

The geographical use of this family is also clear: the Qur’an speaks of makānan sharqiyyan and sharqiyyah.

Mashriq is not restricted to one individual point. Its singular, dual, and plural forms can express a direction, two places, multiple locations, or eastern regions. Each referent depends on context; in Al-Zukhruf 43:38, “the two easts” is commonly explained through taghlīb as east and west.

In Al-Baqarah 2:115, mashriq occurs alongside maghrib, and the sentence continues with fa-aynamā tuwallū, “wherever you turn.” Mashriq is the direction of sunrise, but the verse does not confine a person’s relationship with The God to that geographical direction.

SH R Q: in Qur’anic usage, the sun’s rising and the shining or illumination of something; in other forms, the time of sunrise, the place or direction of rising, and the eastern direction. Illumination is not necessarily restricted to sunlight. Mashriq, mashriqayn, and mashāriq differ in number, but their referents—from sunrise points to eastern regions and the use of taghlīb—must be determined in the context of each verse.