Qur'anic Root Ṭ R D

Core Meaning

The root ط ر د appears in words such as تَطْرُدِ, فَتَطْرُدَهُمْ, طَرَدْتُهُمْ, and طَارِد.

Ṭ R D points to driving away, pursuing, and forcing someone or something to move away from a place, group, or field of access.

In ṭard, the object is not merely set aside. A force pushes it out of the existing environment and prevents it from remaining there. In the Qur'an, this root appears in the context of social pressure to drive low-power believers away from the presence of prophets.

Important Forms

طَرَدَ is the past verb. It means he drove away, distanced, expelled from a group, or forced someone to go.

يَطْرُدُ is the imperfect verb. It means he drives away, removes, or pushes someone out of presence and environment.

طَرْد is the verbal noun. It points to driving away, expelling, pursuing, and distancing.

طَرَد is also recorded as a verbal-noun form in lexical sources.

طَارِد is the active participle. It describes someone who drives another away or removes another from his presence. This form occurs twice in the Qur'an.

مَطْرُود is the passive participle: driven away, expelled, or distanced.

طَرِيد also refers to a driven-away person or animal, someone removed from a group or place and possibly still pursued.

طَرِيدَة may refer to an animal or prey that is pursued and driven.

طَرَّدَ in form II points to repeated, successive, or intensified driving away.

اِطَّرَدَ in form VIII may mean to flow continuously and regularly, to come one after another, or to continue steadily. This extended meaning grows from the image of something moving continuously in one direction.

اِسْتَطْرَدَ may point to continuing along a path or speech, moving from one subject to another, or drawing someone along after oneself. The rhetorical term istiṭrād comes from this form.

In the Qur'an, only the simple verbal forms and the active participle ṭārid occur. Forms such as maṭrūd, ṭarīd, and iṭṭarada are not Qur'anic forms.

Linguistic Note

The semantic core of Ṭ R D is moving the object outward and continuing pressure until it is distanced.

Three elements are usually present in this root.

First, the object is present in a place or group.

Second, the doer does not accept that presence and forces the object into motion.

Third, the movement continues in the direction of distance from the doer, place, or group.

For this reason, ṭard is stronger than merely saying “go away.” It may be done through words, threat, social pressure, bodily pursuit, or the use of power, but the result is one: the person no longer has the right or possibility of remaining in that field.

The element of pursuit is also important in the root. What is driven away is not merely moved from one point; the pressure may continue until it leaves the intended range. From this image comes the meaning of regular continuation in iṭṭirād: parts move one after another as though each part follows the previous one along a path.

Material Image

The clearest material image of ṭard is driving an animal out of a pasture, house, or defined area. The driver uses voice, movement, or an instrument to force the animal to move away from that place.

Another image is pursuit of prey. Prey is called ṭarīdah because it flees before the pursuer and is driven away from its place.

Water, waves, dust, or floating objects may also drive something away from before them. In lexical usage, the flow of water may carry debris away and remove it from a point. This image shows that ṭard does not necessarily mean a sudden throwing. Sometimes a continuous pressure carries the object out of the field. Lexical sources explain ṭard through driving and distancing, and record ṭarīd for one who has been driven away.

In human use, the material image becomes expulsion from a group: a person is present among a community, but those who hold power want to drive him out of the assembly, city, position, or field of participation.

Classical Usage

In classical Arabic, طرده فذهب meant that someone drove him away and he went as a result. This structure reveals the connection between ṭard and actual movement away.

طريد was used for a human or animal that had been driven away. In the case of prey, the word pointed to an animal that pursuers drive and chase.

The root is also used for continuous flow. اطّرد الماء may mean that the water flowed continuously and regularly. In this use, the meaning of expulsion is absent, but the image of successive and uninterrupted motion remains.

From the same branch, “regular speech” or kalam muṭṭarid is speech whose parts proceed in an ordered and continuous way, and a “regular rule” or qa'idah muṭṭaridah is a rule whose cases proceed consistently.

These extended meanings should not be imposed on Qur'anic uses. In the Qur'an, ṭard preserves the direct human and social meaning of driving persons away from the prophet's presence.

Qur'anic Usage

The Prophet Is Forbidden to Drive Away Those Who Call Upon Their Lord

وَلَا تَطْرُدِ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُ

And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord morning and evening, seeking His face.

Al-An'am 6:52

In this verse, تَطْرُدِ is an imperfect verb used in prohibition: “do not drive away” or “do not remove from your presence.”

The object of the verb is those who continuously call upon their Lord. The issue in the verse is not judging the truth of their faith by economic or social standing. The direct command is that the Prophet has no right to drive them away from his presence.

Ṭard here is probably not only bodily expulsion from a sitting. It may include pushing aside from the group, depriving them of companionship, refusing them a place in the Prophet's circle, or shaping the space of invitation according to the wishes of the wealthy and socially powerful.

The phrase يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُ expresses their direction and sincerity. Therefore their social standing is not a license to drive them away.

The Prophet Is Not Responsible for Their Account

مَا عَلَيْكَ مِنْ حِسَابِهِمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ وَمَا مِنْ حِسَابِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ فَتَطْرُدَهُمْ فَتَكُونَ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ

Nothing of their account is upon you, and nothing of your account is upon them; so if you drive them away, you will be among the wrongdoers.

Al-An'am 6:52

In the same verse, the second form of the root appears:

فَتَطْرُدَهُمْ

That is: “so that you drive them away” or “then you drive them away.”

This section gives an important reason for forbidding ṭard. The Prophet is not commanded to remove people from the group based on social judgments, economic rank, or assumptions about their inner account.

The end of the verse connects driving them away in this context with injustice:

فَتَكُونَ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ

Then you would be among the wrongdoers.

Therefore ṭard in this verse is not a neutral act of management. When believers are set aside because of poverty, low status, or the desire of elites, their proper place is violated and an unjust act takes place.

Noah's Answer to the Demand to Drive Believers Away

وَمَا أَنَا بِطَارِدِ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّهُمْ مُلَاقُو رَبِّهِمْ

And I am not one who drives away those who have faith; they will meet their Lord.

Hud 11:29

In this verse, Noah says:

وَمَا أَنَا بِطَارِدِ

That is: “I am not one who drives them away” or “I will not drive them away.”

The active participle does not negate only a single momentary act; it also negates an identity and a method. Noah is not saying, “I am not driving them away for now.” He is saying that he does not stand in the role of one who drives believers away.

The continuation of the verse shifts the standard of judgment from social status to meeting the Lord. They are responsible before their Lord, and the prophet cannot remove their right of presence according to elite standards.

The Consequence of Driving Believers Away

وَيَا قَوْمِ مَنْ يَنْصُرُنِي مِنَ اللَّهِ إِنْ طَرَدْتُهُمْ أَفَلَا تَذَكَّرُونَ

And O my people, who would help me against The God if I drove them away? Will you not remember?

Hud 11:30

In this verse, the form طَرَدْتُهُمْ appears:

طَرَدْتُ: I drove away

هُمْ: them

Noah presents the matter from the angle of his own responsibility. Driving believers away to please the elites would leave him without support before The God.

This structure shows that a prophet is not the owner of the believing community, free to keep some people and exclude others based on personal advantage or pressure from powerful classes. Their presence rests on their faith and responsibility, not on elite social acceptance.

Noah's Rejection of Driving Believers Away

وَمَا أَنَا بِطَارِدِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ

And I am not one who drives away the believers.

Al-Shu'ara' 26:114

This short phrase expresses the same principle in compressed form.

The word الْمُؤْمِنِينَ appears instead of “those who have faith,” and Noah explicitly sets their faith-identity against the class-based standard of his opponents.

Ṭard here means expelling those whom the elites regard as socially lower. Noah's answer shows that prophethood is not compatible with building an exclusive circle for the powerful and driving out believers of low status.

Shared Qur'anic Axis

All five Qur'anic uses of this root belong to one close field.

A group with higher social or economic status does not accept the presence of low-power believers; then they ask the prophet to distance those believers from his group; and the Qur'an or the prophet rejects that demand.

Therefore, ṭard in these verses is not only a spatial movement. The act has social and legal consequences:

removal from the prophet's presence;

deprivation from participation in the group;

creating class distance among believers;

turning a public invitation into an elite circle;

judging human worth by social standing.

These dimensions are understood from the context of the verses, not because all of them are hidden inside the dictionary meaning of Ṭ R D. The lexical meaning is driving away and expelling; the Qur'anic context shows how such driving away becomes an instrument of discrimination.

Distinguishing Similar Uses

Spatial driving away: In material use, a person or animal is driven out of a place. Pressure continues until the object has moved away from the range.

Social expulsion: In the Qur'anic verses, driving someone away from the prophet's sitting or companionship becomes social deprivation. A person may move only a few steps bodily, but the main meaning is deprivation from presence and belonging to the group.

Pursuit: Ṭard may include chasing. The doer does not merely command the object to leave; he drives it until it exits the field.

Continuous flow: In the form iṭṭirād, continuous and successive movement becomes prominent. This branch is used for the flow of water, the order of speech, or the consistency of a rule. It is not the same as the Qur'anic use of social expulsion.

Istiṭrād in speech: Istiṭrād means that speech is drawn from its main path into a related subject and then continues. This later usage comes from the image of following a path and extending movement.

Grammar and Structure

The Structure of وَلَا تَطْرُدِ

In the phrase:

وَلَا تَطْرُدِ الَّذِينَ

لا is used for prohibition, and the imperfect verb after it is jussive.

The original form of the verb is:

تَطْرُدُ

In jussive form:

تَطْرُدْ

But because the next word begins with al-, and two sukuns meet in connected recitation, the dal is read with kasrah:

تَطْرُدِ الَّذِينَ

This kasrah is not the original case-ending of the verb; it is a movement that eases the joining of speech.

The Structure of فَتَطْرُدَهُمْ

In the phrase:

فَتَطْرُدَهُمْ فَتَكُونَ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ

The verb taṭrudahum is in the subjunctive. The structure points to a consequence that follows from a prior wrong judgment: their account is not upon you, so that you would drive them away and become among the wrongdoers.

In English, the relation may be made clear as:

So if you drive them away, you will become among the wrongdoers.

The Structure of مَا أَنَا بِطَارِدِ

In the phrase:

وَمَا أَنَا بِطَارِدِ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا

The ba' in بِطَارِدِ comes after negation and strengthens the negation. A literal rendering such as “I am not by-driver of them” is not natural in English. Better equivalents are:

I will not drive them away.

Or:

I am not one who drives them away.

The active participle negates readiness, role, and continuing method, not only the occurrence of one act at one moment.

The Structure of إِنْ طَرَدْتُهُمْ

In the phrase:

إِنْ طَرَدْتُهُمْ

In is conditional and presents the driving away of the believers as a hypothetical act with a grave consequence:

If I drive them away, who would help me against The God?

The past verb after in takes a future-looking conditional sense. Noah speaks about an act he has not done and refuses to do.

Nearby Roots

Ṭ R D and Ṭ R Ḥ (ṭarḥ): Ṭ R Ḥ points to taking something from its place and casting it or putting it outside. In ṭarḥ, the object is more directly the thing cast aside.

Ṭard points to driving the object and forcing it to move away. Continued movement and pressure toward exit are more prominent in it.

In ṭarḥ, one may pick up a motionless object and throw it out. In ṭard, the object is often a being that moves and is pushed away from the field under pressure.

Ṭ R D and Kh R J / A Kh R J (khuruj / ikhrāj): Khuruj means going out, and ikhrāj means bringing out. This root expresses the result of passing from inside to outside.

Ṭard is a specific way of producing exit: driving, pursuing, or applying pressure until the person leaves. Every ṭard may lead to khuruj, but not every khuruj or ikhrāj is ṭard.

Ṭ R D and N F Y (nafy): Nafy points to distancing, negating, or sending a person from one land to another. In legal and social usage, nafy may be exile.

Ṭard usually begins from a presence or group and focuses on driving away from that field. Nafy more often shows the result of distance, exile, or removal.

Ṭ R D and B ʿ D / A B ʿ D (buʿd / ibʿād): Abʿada means to make distant and expresses the resulting distance.

Ṭard emphasizes the process of driving away; abʿada emphasizes the distance achieved. Someone may be made distant without direct pursuit or pressure, but ṭard usually preserves the image of driving.

Ṭ R D and Z J R (zajr): Z J R points to restraining, rebuking, preventing, and sometimes driving away by voice.

Zajr may stop someone from doing an act even if the person does not leave a place. Ṭard focuses more on leaving and becoming distant from the environment.

Ṭ R D and D F ʿ (dafʿ): D F ʿ points to pushing, repelling, or preventing advance.

In dafʿ, the movement may only be backward and may not lead to complete expulsion. In ṭard, the direction of motion is toward outside and away from the field.

Ṭ R D and N B Dh (nabdh): Nabdh points to casting something aside or behind and placing it outside the field of attention or commitment.

Ṭard is more often used for a being who is driven and moves. Nabdh may also be used for a covenant, book, word, or lifeless object.

Ṭ R D and L ʿ N (laʿn): Laʿn in the lexical field is connected with distancing and driving away from good. But laʿn is not merely spatial expulsion; it includes being deprived or distanced from mercy, good, or rank. Lexical sources explain laʿn through distancing and driving away from good.

Ṭard may be entirely material and social. Laʿn carries a stronger evaluative and judgmental weight.

Ṭ R D and H J R (hajr): Hajr points to leaving, distancing oneself, and breaking relation. In hajr, the doer may himself move away from a person or place.

In ṭard, the doer forces the object to move away. Hajr may be a chosen distancing; ṭard is imposing distance upon another.

Translation Suggestions for Forqan

For طَرَدَ: drove away; drove out; distanced from the group; pushed aside from presence; forced to go.

For يَطْرُدُ: drives away; expels; removes from presence; pushes aside from the group.

For طَرْد: driving away; driving out; expulsion with driving; distancing from a group or place.

For طَارِد: one who drives away; expeller; one who removes others from his presence.

For مَطْرُود: driven away; driven out; expelled; distanced from the group.

For طَرِيد: driven away; pursued; displaced, in suitable context; prey under pursuit.

For اطَّرَدَ: flowed continuously; continued regularly; followed without break.

For “istiṭrād”: moving from the main course of speech to a related subject; continuing speech in a secondary branch.

وَلَا تَطْرُدِ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ

And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord.

Explanatory translation:

And do not remove from your presence those who call upon their Lord.

“Do not drive away” preserves the direct force of the verb. “Do not remove from your presence” makes the social dimension of the context clearer.

وَمَا أَنَا بِطَارِدِ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا

And I will not drive away those who have faith.

A rendering closer to the active participle:

And I am not one who drives away those who have faith.

وَمَا أَنَا بِطَارِدِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ

And I will not drive away the believers.

إِنْ طَرَدْتُهُمْ

If I drive them away.

Summary

Ṭ R D points to driving someone or something away from a place, group, or field of presence. Its material image is an animal, prey, or human being pushed and pursued out of a defined range.

In the Qur'an, this root appears consistently in the setting of pressure to drive low-power believers away from the presence of prophets. The dictionary meaning is driving out; the Qur'anic context shows how this act may become an instrument of social discrimination, deprivation from participation, and preference for the powerful.

Ṭard is close to ṭarḥ, ikhrāj, nafy, dafʿ, zajr, nabdh, and laʿn, but its distinguishing feature is the link between pressure, forced movement, exit from a field, and continued distance.