Qur'anic Root Th W R

1. Introduction to the Root

The root “Th W R” in Arabic has two main branches:

• rising, coming into motion, being stirred up, and coming out of stillness;
• “thawr” meaning a bull.

One can see an imagistic connection between these two branches: the bull is connected with force, rising, and turning the soil over. However, early root classifications treated “being stirred up” and “the name of the animal” as two separate principles, between which a connection can be seen only with some reflection. Therefore, the definite derivation of the name “thawr” from plowing or stirring the earth is not proven.

The difference between “baqarah” and “thawr” is that “baqar” is the name of the cattle kind, and “baqarah” is the name of one individual of this kind and in early Arabic could be used for male or female; but “thawr” specifically names the male cow, the bull. Thus both may refer to an animal from the cattle family, but “thawr” explicitly specifies the male sex.

In common usage, “baqarah” is more often known for a cow, the female; but early lexical reports show that the ta' at the end of “baqarah” is not necessarily a sign of femaleness. It can be the marker of an individual from the genus “baqar.” For that reason, the feminine agreement of adjectives with “baqarah” in grammar does not, by itself, determine the biological sex of the animal.

The important point is that the noun “thawr” itself does not occur in the Qur'an. The Qur'anic usages of this root are all from the verb “athara,” and they indicate stirring up, setting in motion, turning over, or raising something from the surface.

2. Condensed Meaning of the Root

The core of the verbal branch of this root may be defined as follows:

something coming out of stillness and beginning to move, rise, or disperse; and in the causative form, causing something to enter such movement.

Depending on the subject, this movement can take different forms:

• soil is turned over and lifted from its place;
• dust rises from the surface of the earth;
• clouds are set in motion by wind and gathered;
• anger, turmoil, or conflict comes out from a hidden state;
• a population or social force rises.

In the Qur'an, this root is used concerning earth, clouds, and dust.

3. Main Branches of Meaning in Arabic

3.1. Rising from Stillness

“Thara ash-shay'” means that a thing, after being still, rose, came into motion, or dispersed.

For example:

ثَارَ الغُبَارُ
the dust rose.

And:

ثَارَ المَاءُ
the water began to boil or surge.

In this usage, the external agent may not be stated. The focus is on the thing itself that has come out of stillness.

3.2. Stirring Something Up

“Athara ash-shay'” is the causative form of “thara”:

أَثَارَ الغُبَارَ
he stirred up and raised the dust.

The difference between the two structures is this:

ثَارَ الغُبَارُ
the dust rose.

أَثَارَتِ الرِّيحُ الغُبَارَ
the wind stirred up the dust.

All Qur'anic usages of the root “Th W R” are from this causative structure.

3.3. Turning Over the Earth

When “athara” is used about the earth, its movement usually means splitting, turning over, and lifting the soil.

This action may occur in different contexts:

• plowing;
• farming;
• digging and excavating;
• construction;
• extracting materials from the earth.

Therefore, “itharat al-ard” is lexically wider than one specific agricultural method. Its core is taking compact and still soil out of its condition and turning it over.

3.4. The Stirring of Anger and Conflict

In Arabic one says:

ثَارَ غَضَبُهُ
his anger was stirred up.

Or:

ثَارَتِ الحَرْبُ
war broke out.

In this usage, something that had previously been hidden, silent, or restrained becomes manifest and active.

“Thawwara ash-sharr” can also mean stirring up or bringing forth evil and conflict.

3.5. Mutual Confrontation and Attack

“Thawara fulanun fulanan” is said when two people rise toward one another, attack one another, or enter mutual conflict.

In this structure, each side rises against the other. The participatory form of the verb shows that the movement is two-sided.

3.6. Social Uprising

The word “thawrah” in later Arabic usage came to mean uprising, revolt, or wide social transformation. This meaning is a natural extension of the same linguistic image:

a force that had been quiet or hidden rises and sets the existing order into motion.

This technical usage does not occur in the Qur'an, but it expanded from the same branch of rising and being stirred up.

4. “Thawr” Meaning Bull

“Thawr” in Arabic is the name of the male of cattle. Its known plurals include:

• thiran;
• athwar;
• thiwarah.

“Thawr” may be a bull kept for breeding, agricultural work, or pulling tools and loads. The word itself does not necessarily distinguish between a fertile bull, a castrated bull, or one trained for work; such details come from context and accompanying descriptions.

In early Arabic, “thawr” is not the name of the species or family of the animal, but specifies the male sex. The more general name of this family is “baqar.”

So the relation of these words is as follows:

بَقَر
the genus and group of cattle.

بَقَرَة
one individual from the cattle kind; in early usage applicable to male or female, although in common usage more known for the female.

ثَوْر
bull, male cow.

عِجْل
calf or a young individual from this family.

5. Was “Thawr” Named from Turning Over the Earth?

A natural connection can be seen between the name of the bull and the verb “athara.” The bull used in agriculture, by its force, plows the earth, turns the soil over, and stirs up dust.

From this image, one may propose the following possibility:

thawr is an animal that sets the earth in motion and stirs the soil.

However, this explanation should not be presented as a definite derivation. Early root classifications treated “being stirred up” and “the animal sex” as two branches. The animal’s name may have been influenced by force, sudden rising, or turning over the earth, but its exact historical path is not clear.

6. Important Forms of the Root

ثَارَ

It rose, came into motion, was stirred up, or became turbulent.

يَثُورُ

It rises, comes into motion.

ثَوْر and ثَوَرَان

Rising, boiling, or intense movement.

أَثَارَ

He stirred something up, raised it, set it in motion, or turned it over.

يُثِيرُ

He stirs up, sets in motion, or raises from the surface.

إِثَارَة

Stirring up, setting in motion, or raising.

ثَوَّرَ

He intensely stirred up or created the ground for uprising and movement.

تَثْوِير

Stirring up and causing to move.

ثَاوَرَ

He rose toward another, attacked, or entered mutual confrontation.

ثَوْر

Bull.

ثَوْرَة

Uprising, eruption, or revolt; an expanded usage from the concept of rising.

8. The Morphological Structure of “Athara”

“Th W R” is a middle-waw root; that is, its middle letter is “waw.” This letter does not remain visibly present in some structures and becomes a long vowel.

The pattern develops as follows:

ثَارَ
it rose.

أَثَارَ
he stirred it up.

يُثِيرُ
he stirs up.

إِثَارَة
stirring up.

The addition of hamzah at the beginning of “athara” makes the verb causative. “Thara” expresses the movement of the thing itself, while “athara” shows an agent that produces that movement.

In the Qur'an, this causative relation is always present:

• the cow turns over the earth;
• human beings excavate the earth;
• winds stir up clouds;
• horses raise dust.

9. “Tuthiru al-Ard” in Al-Baqarah 2:71

In the continuation of the description of the cow, it says:

إِنَّهُ يَقُولُ إِنَّهَا بَقَرَةٌ لَا ذَلُولٌ تُثِيرُ الْأَرْضَ وَلَا تَسْقِي الْحَرْثَ مُسَلَّمَةٌ لَا شِيَةَ فِيهَا

He says it is a cow not made submissive for work; it does not turn over the earth and does not water the cultivated field; sound and without marking.

Al-Baqarah 2:71

The phrase under study:

تُثِيرُ الْأَرْضَ
it stirs the earth and turns it over.

Here “itharat al-ard” refers to agricultural work. By pulling the plowing tool, the animal splits the compact surface of the soil, turns its layers over, and prepares the soil for cultivation.

The translation “plows” conveys the practical result of the verb well; but its lexical image is wider:

it sets still and compact soil in motion and raises it.

The Relation of “Baqarah” with “Tuthiru”

This verse is especially important lexically because “baqarah” and a verb from the root “Th W R” appear in one sentence together:

بَقَرَةٌ ... تُثِيرُ الْأَرْضَ

This pairing shows that “Th W R” in the verb “tuthiru” is not the name of the animal. The subject of the verb is that same “baqarah,” but the verb expresses the act of stirring the earth.

As a result, the sentence does not mean that “the cow becomes a thawr”; rather:

a cow turns the earth over and stirs its soil.

“Tuthiru al-Ard” and “Tasqi al-Harth”

The verse separates two agricultural tasks from one another:

• turning over the earth;
• watering the cultivated field.

“Al-ard” is the earth and soil itself; “al-harth” expresses cultivated land, produce, or field.

Therefore, the described animal has not been made submissive for either of the two tasks:

• it does not pull the plowing tool;
• it does not move a device for bringing water to the cultivation.

10. “Atharu al-Ard” in Ar-Rum 30:9

In the description of earlier civilizations, it says:

كَانُوا أَشَدَّ مِنْهُمْ قُوَّةً وَأَثَارُوا الْأَرْضَ وَعَمَرُوهَا أَكْثَرَ مِمَّا عَمَرُوهَا

They were stronger than them in power, and they turned over and excavated the earth and developed it more than these have developed it.

Ar-Rum 30:9

“Atharu al-ard” in this verse is not limited to plowing. The subject is the power and traces of earlier civilizations. They set the earth in motion for wide activities:

• cultivation and agriculture;
• digging and excavating;
• extraction;
• preparing the land;
• creating buildings and infrastructure.

The following verb, “amaruha,” expresses developing the earth and making it inhabitable and usable. So these two verbs are not identical:

أَثَارُوا الْأَرْضَ
they disturbed the natural structure of the earth and brought its materials and capacities into motion.

عَمَرُوهَا
they developed it, built it up, and made it a place of life and activity.

“Atharu” highlights the physical work upon the earth; “amaru” highlights the civilizational result and development of it.

11. “Fatuthiru Sahaban”: Wind and the Stirring of Cloud

This expression appears twice in the Qur'an.

In Ar-Rum 30:48:

اللَّهُ الَّذِي يُرْسِلُ الرِّيَاحَ فَتُثِيرُ سَحَابًا فَيَبْسُطُهُ فِي السَّمَاءِ كَيْفَ يَشَاءُ

The God is the One who sends the winds; then those winds stir up clouds, and He spreads them in the sky however He wills.

Ar-Rum 30:48

And in Fatir 35:9:

وَاللَّهُ الَّذِي أَرْسَلَ الرِّيَاحَ فَتُثِيرُ سَحَابًا فَسُقْنَاهُ إِلَىٰ بَلَدٍ مَيِّتٍ

And The God is the One who sent the winds; then those winds stir up clouds, and We drive them toward a dead land.

Fatir 35:9

In both verses:

• “ar-riyah” is the subject of “tuthiru”;
• “sahaban” is its object.

The winds bring the cloud out of stillness, set it in motion, gather it, or spread it through the space of the sky.

“Itharat as-sahab” is not simply “lifting.” The image of the verse includes a set of movements:

• the stirring of cloud particles and masses;
• the formation or gathering of cloud;
• movement in the sky;
• spreading and becoming separated into pieces;
• being driven toward land that needs rain.

In the verse of Ar-Rum, after “tuthiru” comes the verb “yabsutuhu,” which expresses the spreading of the cloud. In the verse of Fatir, “fasuqnahu” shows the directed movement of the cloud toward a dead land.

So each verb has a distinct stage:

tuthiru it brings the cloud out of stillness and sets it in motion.

yabsutuhu He spreads it through the expanse of the sky.

suqnahu We drive it toward a specified destination.

12. “Fa-atharna Bihi Naq'an” in Al-Adiyat 100:4

In Surat Al-Adiyat it says:

وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا ۝ فَالْمُورِيَاتِ قَدْحًا ۝ فَالْمُغِيرَاتِ صُبْحًا ۝ فَأَثَرْنَ بِهِ نَقْعًا

By the runners that pant as they charge; then those that strike sparks; then those that raid at dawn; then they stir up dust there.

Al-Adiyat 100:1-4

“Fa-atharna” is a past-tense verb for a feminine plural and returns to “al-adiyat” or “al-mughīrat.” The movement of the horses’ hooves on the ground separates soft soil from the surface and sends it into the air.

“Naq'” in this context is dust raised from the earth.

The material image of the verb is very clear:

• the earth is in a state of stillness;
• the strike of the hooves falls upon it;
• particles of soil are separated from their place;
• dust spreads in the air.

In this verse, “athara” connects swift movement and its physical effect. The dust did not rise by itself; the rapid movement of the runners stirred it up.

The Form “Fa-atharna”

The base form is “athara.” When a feminine plural subject is connected to it, the verb takes this form:

أَثَارَتْ
she stirred up.

أَثَرْنَ
they, feminine plural, stirred up.

The middle letter of the root, which is “waw,” does not remain visibly present in this structure; but the word is still from the root “Th W R.”

13. The Shared Pattern of Qur'anic Usages

The five Qur'anic usages of this root can be placed in one shared material pattern:

Agricultural Earth

تُثِيرُ الْأَرْضَ
it turns over the soil.

Civilizational Activity

أَثَارُوا الْأَرْضَ
they excavated and set the earth in motion.

Wind and Cloud

فَتُثِيرُ سَحَابًا
the winds stir up clouds.

Movement of Horses

فَأَثَرْنَ بِهِ نَقْعًا
they raised dust.

In all these cases, something that had been still, compact, or scattered comes out of its previous state as the result of an active force:

• soil is turned over;
• the earth is excavated;
• cloud moves;
• dust rises.

Therefore, the Qur'anic core of the root may be expressed as follows:

applying a force that brings a material out of stillness and causes rising, movement, dispersal, or turning over.

14. Difference Between “Th W R” and “ʾ Th R”

“Th W R” and “ʾ Th R” may be confused because of the similarity of some written forms, but they are two separate roots.

Th W R

It indicates rising and stirring up:

أَثَارُوا الْأَرْضَ
they turned over the earth.

In “atharu,” the initial hamzah is part of the verb pattern, and the root letters are:

ث، و، ر.

ʾ Th R

It indicates trace, mark, remaining sign, and following a track:

عَلَىٰ آثَارِهِمْ
upon their traces and tracks.

In “āthār,” the hamzah is an original root letter, and the root letters are:

أ، ث، ر.

The difference in reading and structure is this:

أَثَارَ
he stirred up; from the root “Th W R.”

آثَار
traces and signs; from the root “ʾ Th R.”

In Ar-Rum 30:9, “atharu al-ard” is from the root “Th W R,” not from “ʾ Th R.” Its meaning is not “they left traces in the earth,” even though turning over and developing the earth naturally also leaves traces.

15. Difference from Nearby Roots

Th W R and B ʿ Th

“B ʿ Th” indicates raising or sending a being for a task, and in the Qur'an it is used for sending messengers, raising the dead, and appointing persons.

“Th W R” more strongly shows the image of physical movement and coming out of stillness:

• soil rises;
• cloud comes into motion;
• dust rises.

“Baʿth” may have purpose and mission; “itharah” highlights the creation of motion and rising itself.

Th W R and H Y J

“H Y J” indicates coming into motion, agitation, or the plant entering the stage of dryness and breakdown.

“Th W R” focuses on rising and being stirred from a state of stillness. In “tuthiru sahaban,” the force of wind sets the cloud in motion; but “haja” may be a motion and agitation that arises within the subject itself.

Th W R and Ḥ F R

“Ḥ F R” means digging the earth and making a hollow or opening.

“Itharat al-ard” is wider. It may include digging, but it emphasizes raising and turning over the soil, not necessarily creating a pit.

Th W R and Ḥ R Th

“Ḥ R Th” relates to cultivation, cultivated land, and the process of producing crops.

“Tuthiru al-ard” is one of the tasks of preparing earth for cultivation. In Al-Baqarah 2:71 these two fields appear side by side:

• “tuthiru al-ard”: it turns over the soil;
• “tasqi al-harth”: it waters the cultivated field.

Th W R and N Sh R

“N Sh R” indicates opening, spreading, and dispersing.

“Th W R” highlights the beginning of motion and rising; “nashr” relates more to the spreading that follows. Dust is first stirred up and then spread through the air.

Th W R and S W Q

“S W Q” indicates driving or moving something toward a destination.

In Fatir 35:9 both concepts appear in order:

فَتُثِيرُ سَحَابًا
the winds set clouds in motion.

فَسُقْنَاهُ إِلَىٰ بَلَدٍ مَيِّتٍ
then We drive them toward a dead land.

“Itharah” is the beginning of movement; “sawq” is directing that movement toward a destination.

16. Grammatical and Structural Nuances

“Tuthiru al-Ard”

The verb is transitive:

• subject: “baqarah”;
• object: “al-ard.”

The earth is what is affected by the movement of the animal.

“Atharu al-Ard”

• subject: earlier civilizations and peoples;
• object: the earth.

The masculine plural form of the verb agrees with the human subject.

“Fatuthiru Sahaban”

• subject: “ar-riyah”;
• object: “sahaban.”

The verb comes in the feminine singular form, because a non-human plural in Arabic grammar may agree with a verb or adjective as feminine singular.

“Fa-atharna Bihi Naq'an”

• subject: the runners or raiders expressed with a feminine plural;
• object: “naq'an,” dust;
• “bihi” connects the movement, place, or cause of the stirring of dust to the previous context.

These grammatical differences do not change the central meaning of the verb. In all of them, a subject applies the force of motion to something.

17. Translation Suggestions Based on Context

ثَارَ

• rose;
• came into motion;
• became turbulent;
• was stirred up.

أَثَارَ

• stirred up;
• set in motion;
• raised;
• turned over.

تُثِيرُ الْأَرْضَ

• plows the earth;
• turns over the soil;
• splits the earth and raises its soil.

أَثَارُوا الْأَرْضَ

• they turned over the earth;
• they excavated the earth;
• they brought the soil and capacities of the earth into motion.

فَتُثِيرُ سَحَابًا

• it stirs up clouds;
• it sets the cloud in motion;
• it gathers and moves masses of cloud.

فَأَثَرْنَ بِهِ نَقْعًا

• they stirred up dust there;
• by their movement they raised dust;
• they lifted soil into the air.

ثَوْر

• bull.

In translating “thawr,” adding the qualifier “male” is necessary, because this feature separates it from the more general name “baqar.”

18. Conclusion

The root “Th W R” in Arabic has two main branches:

• rising and being stirred up;
• “thawr” meaning bull.

The noun “thawr” does not occur in the Qur'an. All five Qur'anic usages of the root are from the causative verb “athara”:

• the cow turns the earth over;
• earlier civilizations excavate the earth;
• winds stir up clouds;
• horses raise dust.

The shared element in all these cases is the transition from stillness to motion. A force acts upon soil, cloud, or dust and brings it out of its quiet place.

The relation of “baqarah” and “thawr” also becomes clear from this study: both relate to the cattle family, but “baqarah” in early language is the name of an individual from the “baqar” genus and could be applied to male or female, while “thawr” specifically names the bull.

The resulting meaning of the root is this:

“Th W R” indicates rising or stirring something up from a state of stillness; a motion that can turn soil over, move cloud, raise dust, and make a hidden force manifest.