The Qur’anic Root Ẓ H R

1. The root’s material image: back, surface, and outer side

This family’s clearest material meaning is back. Arabic sources place ẓahr opposite baṭn: the back of a human or animal and, by extension, the outer face or upper surface of things. For the earth, too, ẓahr is recorded for its upper, visible part.

An early use of this extension can also be seen in poetry attributed to Ṭarafah ibn al-ʿAbd:

كَأَنَّ عُلوبَ النِّسْعِ في دَأَياتِها
مَوارِدُ مِن خَلقاءَ في ظَهرِ قَردَدِ

Ka-anna ʿulūba n-nisʿi fī daʾayātihā / Mawāridu min khalqāʾa fī ẓahri qardadi.

Here ẓahr qardad refers to the face or upper part of hard ground. The use of ẓahr for a surface is therefore not a later invention: it is present in early Arabic poetry as well.

The Qur’an repeatedly uses ẓahr in the direct sense of back:

وَهُمْ يَحْمِلُونَ أَوْزَارَهُمْ عَلَىٰ ظُهُورِهِمْ

Wa-hum yaḥmilūna awzārahum ʿalā ẓuhūrihim.

“They carry their burdens upon their backs.”

Al-Anam 6:31

And:

فَتُكْوَىٰ بِهَا جِبَاهُهُمْ وَجُنُوبُهُمْ وَظُهُورُهُمْ

Fa-tukwā bihā jibāhuhum wa-junūbuhum wa-ẓuhūruhum.

“Their foreheads, sides, and backs are then branded with it.”

At-Tawbah 9:35

In these verses, ẓahr is simply the back. The burden of sin, punishment, or moral judgment comes from other elements of the sentence and is not part of the lexical meaning of ẓahr.

The same word, however, extends to the surface when used of land and sea:

مَا تَرَكَ عَلَىٰ ظَهْرِهَا مِنْ دَابَّةٍ

Mā taraka ʿalā ẓahrihā min dābbah.

“He would not have left any moving creature upon its surface.”

Fatir 35:45

And concerning ships:

فَيَظْلَلْنَ رَوَاكِدَ عَلَىٰ ظَهْرِهِ

Fa-yaẓlalna rawākida ʿalā ẓahrih.

“They would remain motionless upon its surface.”

Ash-Shura 42:33

Al-Baqarah 2:189 also uses ظُهُورِهَا (ẓuhūrihā) for the backs or rear sides of houses. The “back” branch thus extends beyond the body to the surface and outer side of things. The Qur’anic uses of ẓahr, taken together, clearly display this range.

Casting behind one’s back

The image of the back itself also makes another use intelligible. The Qur’an says of a group:

نَبَذَ فَرِيقٌ مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ كِتَابَ اللَّهِ وَرَاءَ ظُهُورِهِمْ

Nabadha farīqun mina lladhīna ūtū l-kitāba kitāba llāhi warāʾa ẓuhūrihim.

“A group of those who had been given the Book cast the Book of The God behind their backs.”

Al-Baqarah 2:101

The same image recurs in Aal-Imran 3:187. Disregard is the result of the complete construction “casting behind one’s back”; ẓahr by itself does not mean disregard.

Hud 11:92 also states:

وَاتَّخَذْتُمُوهُ وَرَاءَكُمْ ظِهْرِيًّا

Wa-ttakhadhtumūhu warāʾakum ẓihriyyā.

“You have left Him behind your backs, disregarded.”

Lexical sources record جعل حاجته بظهر (jaʿala ḥājatahu bi-ẓahr) and جعلها ظهرية (jaʿalahā ẓihriyyah) for something a person casts behind them and disregards. Ẓihriyyan in this verse is understood within this same field.

These examples clarify relationships among the branches, but there is no need to construct a bodily explanation for every later meaning. Language can begin with a material image and develop established uses in which the full material image is no longer present in the speaker’s mind every time the expression is used.

2. ظَهَرَ (ẓahara) and ظَاهِر (ẓāhir): becoming manifest and being on the outer side

One of this family’s clearest branches is emergence and becoming manifest. Something previously concealed that then becomes visible ẓahara, appears.

At-Tawbah 9:48 states:

حَتَّىٰ جَاءَ الْحَقُّ وَظَهَرَ أَمْرُ اللَّهِ

Ḥattā jāʾa l-ḥaqqu wa-ẓahara amru llāh.

“Until the truth came and the affair of The God became manifest.”

And in Ar-Rum 30:41:

ظَهَرَ الْفَسَادُ فِي الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ

Ẓahara l-fasādu fī l-barri wa-l-baḥr.

“Corruption has become manifest on land and sea.”

In these usages, ẓahara points to the emergence of something that has now appeared on the scene.

The contrast with baṭn makes this branch clearer:

وَلَا تَقْرَبُوا الْفَوَاحِشَ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَمَا بَطَنَ

Wa-lā taqrabū l-fawāḥisha mā ẓahara minhā wa-mā baṭan.

“Do not approach indecencies, whether manifest or hidden.”

Al-Anam 6:151

And:

وَذَرُوا ظَاهِرَ الْإِثْمِ وَبَاطِنَهُ

Wa-dharū ẓāhira l-ithmi wa-bāṭinah.

“Leave both the outward and the inward of sin.”

Al-Anam 6:120

The same contrast also occurs concerning blessings:

وَأَسْبَغَ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعَمَهُ ظَاهِرَةً وَبَاطِنَةً

Wa-asbagha ʿalaykum niʿamahu ẓāhiratan wa-bāṭinah.

“He has lavished His blessings upon you, manifest and hidden.”

Luqman 31:20

In Al-Hadid 57:13, the bāṭin and ẓāhir of a wall or barrier are explicitly contrasted. Ẓāhir can therefore refer to something’s outer, apparent, visible side, just as bāṭin conveys its inner or hidden side.

ظَاهِرًا مِنَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا (ẓāhiran mina al-ḥayāti al-dunyā)

Ar-Rum 30:7 says:

يَعْلَمُونَ ظَاهِرًا مِنَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ عَنِ الْآخِرَةِ هُمْ غَافِلُونَ

Yaʿlamūna ẓāhiran mina l-ḥayāti d-dunyā wa-hum ʿani l-ākhirati hum ghāfilūn.

“They know an outward aspect of worldly life, while they are heedless of the Hereafter.”

A direct translation of ẓāhiran here is “the manifest part” or “the outward aspect” of worldly life. Translating it as “superficial knowledge” can insert a conclusion drawn from the verse’s contrast into the word itself. The verse limits their knowledge, but this limitation is understood from the whole sentence and their heedlessness of the Hereafter, not because ẓāhir inherently means shallow.

قُرًى ظَاهِرَةً (quran ẓāhiratan)

Saba 34:18 also contains the expression:

قُرًى ظَاهِرَةً

Quran ẓāhirah.

Visible settlements.

Here the adjective ẓāhirah indicates that the settlements are visible and apparent. Their size, wealth, security, or political position cannot be derived from the adjective itself. If the context or historical evidence establishes another feature, that feature should be stated separately from the root’s meaning.

3. ظَهَرَ عَلَى (ẓahara ʿalā): climbing, gaining access, and prevailing

Another branch of the root becomes clear when something comes to be on top of something else or rises above it.

Al-Kahf 18:97 says of the barrier:

فَمَا اسْطَاعُوا أَنْ يَظْهَرُوهُ وَمَا اسْتَطَاعُوا لَهُ نَقْبًا

Fa-mā sṭāʿū an yaẓharūhu wa-mā staṭāʿū lahu naqbā.

“They could neither climb over it nor pierce it.”

Here yaẓharūhu concerns climbing and getting on top of the obstacle. Lisān al-ʿArab also records ظهر على الحائط (ẓahara ʿalā al-ḥāʾiṭ) and ظهر السطح (ẓahara al-saṭḥ) for climbing and coming to be on top of something.

Az-Zukhruf 43:33 likewise speaks of stairways:

وَمَعَارِجَ عَلَيْهَا يَظْهَرُونَ

Wa-maʿārija ʿalayhā yaẓharūn.

And stairways upon which they ascend.

That is, stairways they climb. This material use helps us understand how the same family can extend, in human situations, to gaining access and ascendancy.

In At-Tawbah 9:8:

وَإِنْ يَظْهَرُوا عَلَيْكُمْ

Wa-in yaẓharū ʿalaykum.

If they gain the upper hand over you.

And in Al-Kahf 18:20:

إِنَّهُمْ إِنْ يَظْهَرُوا عَلَيْكُمْ

Innahum in yaẓharū ʿalaykum.

Indeed, if they gain the upper hand over you.

Physical climbing is no longer the subject. In this construction, ẓahara ʿalā extends to gaining access to, gaining control over, or gaining ascendancy over another. Lexical sources likewise record ẓahara ʿalayhi for becoming strong, prevailing, and rising above someone.

The same branch also appears in the form ẓāhir. In Ghafir 40:29:

ظَاهِرِينَ فِي الْأَرْضِ

Ẓāhirīna fī l-arḍ.

Having ascendancy in the land.

It means possessing power and ascendancy in the land. In As-Saff 61:14, after being supported against their enemy, the believers:

فَأَصْبَحُوا ظَاهِرِينَ

Fa-aṣbaḥū ẓāhirīn.

Became prevailing.

That is, they gained ascendancy and prevailed.

لَمْ يَظْهَرُوا عَلَىٰ عَوْرَاتِ النِّسَاءِ (lam yaẓharū ʿalā ʿawrāti al-nisāʾ)

An-Nur 24:31 is an important usage:

أَوِ الطِّفْلِ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يَظْهَرُوا عَلَىٰ عَوْرَاتِ النِّسَاءِ

Awi ṭ-ṭifli lladhīna lam yaẓharū ʿalā ʿawrāti n-nisāʾ.

Or children who have not yet become aware of women’s private parts.

Here ẓahara ʿalā cannot mechanically be translated as “prevailing over women’s private parts.” The context concerns children who have not yet developed the relevant awareness of and attention to women’s sexual matters. Early sources also explain the phrase through children’s lack of awareness of these matters. The general field of “gaining access to and becoming aware of something” is thus determined here by the context of childhood, rather than military victory.

This example shows that the preposition ʿalā creates an important semantic tendency, but does not itself provide a fixed formula for “prevailing.”

Ẓ H R (ظَهَر, ẓahar) compared with R F AYN (رَفَع, rafaʿ)

The root R F AYN (R F ʿ) also concerns height, but its image is not identical. Ibn Fāris places rafʿ primarily opposite waḍʿ, putting down: something rises or is raised. Arabic itself has both intransitive and transitive uses, so it is incorrect to say that rafʿ always requires an external agent who raises something else.

In ẓahara ʿalā, the focus is more on the subject coming to be on top of something, gaining access to it, or acquiring ascendancy over it. Al-Kahf 18:97 provides a material example of the distinction: the issue is not “raising the barrier,” but their inability to climb over it themselves.

Both roots can therefore concern height, but rafʿ more often expresses the rising or raising itself, whereas Qur’anic ẓahara ʿalā tends toward coming to be upon, gaining access to, and prevailing over. This is a tendency, not an absolute rule for every Arabic usage.

4. أَظْهَرَ (aẓhara): making manifest, making aware, and giving ascendancy

The Form IV verb of this root likewise has several directions depending on sentence structure.

At-Tahrim 66:3 states:

وَأَظْهَرَهُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ

Wa-aẓharahu llāhu ʿalayh.

The God made the Prophet aware of it.

Al-Jinn 72:26 also states:

فَلَا يُظْهِرُ عَلَىٰ غَيْبِهِ أَحَدًا

Fa-lā yuẓhiru ʿalā ghaybihi aḥadā.

“He does not make anyone aware of His unseen.”

And in Ghafir 40:26:

أَوْ أَنْ يُظْهِرَ فِي الْأَرْضِ الْفَسَادَ

Aw an yuẓhira fī l-arḍi l-fasād.

Or that he should cause corruption to appear in the land.

The subject is making corruption manifest or bringing it forth in the land. Form IV can therefore bring something from concealment into visibility, or make someone aware of something.

But a different construction recurs in three verses:

لِيُظْهِرَهُ عَلَى الدِّينِ كُلِّهِ

Li-yuẓhirahu ʿalā d-dīni kullih.

So that He may give it ascendancy over all dīn.

At-Tawbah 9:33; Al-Fath 48:28; As-Saff 61:9

The presence of ʿalā connects this construction with the branch of ascendancy: “give it ascendancy over all dīn” or “make it prevail over all dīn.” The same family that conveys prevailing and ascendancy in ẓahara ʿalayhim can, in Form IV, cause something to gain ascendancy.

Root study can explain only this linguistic construction. The historical time, process, geography, or political or social form in which this ascendancy is realized cannot be determined from the root Ẓ H R itself. These questions require separate study of the verses’ contexts and of history; they should not be inserted into the lexical meaning of li-yuẓhirahu.

حِينَ تُظْهِرُونَ (ḥīna tuẓhirūn) and الظَّهِيرَة (al-ẓahīrah)

Ar-Rum 30:18 states:

وَعَشِيًّا وَحِينَ تُظْهِرُونَ

Wa-ʿashiyyan wa-ḥīna tuẓhirūn.

“In the evening, and when you reach midday.”

An-Nur 24:58 also speaks of:

مِنَ الظَّهِيرَةِ

Mina ẓ-ẓahīrah.

Midday.

This is the time named in the verse.

أظهر القوم (aẓhara al-qawm) is recorded for people entering the time of noon, just as aṣbaḥa and amsā are used for entering morning and evening. Lexical sources understand ẓahīrah as midday or the period of intense midday heat. Various explanations have been offered for the precise reason behind the name, from the day’s visibility and height to the intensity of heat. Its membership in the Ẓ H R family is clear, but one historical explanation should not be selected without decisive evidence.

5. From the back to backing: ظَهِير (ẓahīr), ظَاهَرَ (ẓāhara), and تَظَاهَرَ (taẓāhara)

Another important branch of this root concerns support and assistance.

The image is also familiar in English expressions such as “backing someone” and “having someone’s back.” Arabic records ẓahīr for a helper or supporter, and ẓaharah for a group of helpers. Lexical sources explicitly give ẓāhara ʿalayhi, in one use, the meaning of helping against someone.

The Qur’an says:

فَلَنْ أَكُونَ ظَهِيرًا لِلْمُجْرِمِينَ

Fa-lan akūna ẓahīran li-l-mujrimīn.

“I will never be a supporter of the criminals.”

Al-Qasas 28:17

And:

فَلَا تَكُونَنَّ ظَهِيرًا لِلْكَافِرِينَ

Fa-lā takūnanna ẓahīran li-l-kāfirīn.

“Do not be a supporter of those who commit kufr.”

Al-Qasas 28:86

Also:

وَمَا لَهُ مِنْهُمْ مِنْ ظَهِيرٍ

Wa-mā lahu minhum min ẓahīr.

“He has no supporter from among them.”

Saba 34:22

In these usages, it is natural to translate ẓahīr as “supporter” or “helper,” rather than force the material image of a back to remain in the translation.

ظَاهَرَ (ẓāhara): supporting someone

Form III displays this branch in several verses:

وَلَمْ يُظَاهِرُوا عَلَيْكُمْ أَحَدًا

Wa-lam yuẓāhirū ʿalaykum aḥadā.

And have not supported anyone against you.

At-Tawbah 9:4

الَّذِينَ ظَاهَرُوهُمْ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ

Alladhīna ẓāharūhum min ahli l-kitāb.

Those among the People of the Book who supported them.

Al-Ahzab 33:26

وَظَاهَرُوا عَلَىٰ إِخْرَاجِكُمْ

Wa-ẓāharū ʿalā ikhrājikum.

And supported your expulsion.

Al-Mumtahanah 60:9

In these instances, ẓāhara concerns one side’s support and assistance against another.

تَظَاهَرَ (taẓāhara): cooperation and mutual reinforcement

Form VI appears in three Qur’anic passages:

تَظَاهَرُونَ عَلَيْهِمْ بِالْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ

Taẓāharūna ʿalayhim bi-l-ithmi wa-l-ʿudwān.

You cooperate against them in sin and aggression.

Al-Baqarah 2:85

قَالُوا سِحْرَانِ تَظَاهَرَا

Qālū siḥrāni taẓāharā.

They said: two works of sorcery supporting one another.

Al-Qasas 28:48

وَإِنْ تَظَاهَرَا عَلَيْهِ

Wa-in taẓāharā ʿalayh.

And if you two cooperate against him.

At-Tahrim 66:4

In Al-Qasas 28:48, early sources explain taẓāharā through taʿāwanā, “the two cooperated”: in the speakers’ allegation, the two reinforce and support each other. The variant readings siḥrān / sāḥirān, “two works of sorcery / two sorcerers,” change the identity of the two, but the meaning of taẓāharā remains in this direction.

In Al-Baqarah 2:85, too, a group cooperates against others, and in At-Tahrim 66:4 the two addressees engage in joint action against the Prophet. Together, these passages show that Form VI in this root’s Qur’anic usage highlights the parties’ participation and cooperation.

The Form VI pattern alone, however, cannot establish that the two parties’ roles, intentions, intensity, or contributions are exactly equal. Taẓāharā shows cooperation; “complete equality” is an additional conclusion that the morphological pattern itself does not establish.

6. يُظَاهِرُونَ مِنْ نِسَائِهِمْ (yuẓāhirūna min nisāʾihim): the particular use of ẓihār

In three verses, Form III enters a different usage:

وَمَا جَعَلَ أَزْوَاجَكُمُ اللَّائِي تُظَاهِرُونَ مِنْهُنَّ أُمَّهَاتِكُمْ

Wa-mā jaʿala azwājakumu llāʾī tuẓāhirūna minhunna ummahātikum.

He has not made your spouses, against whom you pronounce ẓihār, your mothers.

Al-Ahzab 33:4

And:

الَّذِينَ يُظَاهِرُونَ مِنْكُمْ مِنْ نِسَائِهِمْ مَا هُنَّ أُمَّهَاتِهِمْ

Alladhīna yuẓāhirūna minkum min nisāʾihim mā hunna ummahātihim.

Those among you who pronounce ẓihār against their wives: they are not their mothers.

Al-Mujadilah 58:2

And:

وَالَّذِينَ يُظَاهِرُونَ مِنْ نِسَائِهِمْ ثُمَّ يَعُودُونَ لِمَا قَالُوا

Wa-lladhīna yuẓāhirūna min nisāʾihim thumma yaʿūdūna li-mā qālū.

Those who pronounce ẓihār against their wives, then return to what they said.

Al-Mujadilah 58:3

Here yuẓāhirūna does not mean supporting. We encounter a recognized social and marital expression that subsequently became known by the name ẓihār.

Early sources connect this usage with a statement of the kind:

أَنْتَ عَلَيَّ كَظَهْرِ أُمِّي

Anti ʿalayya ka-ẓahri ummī.

You are to me like my mother’s back.

A man compared his wife, in the marital relationship, to his mother’s back. Early reports also describe this act as a recognized pre-Islamic practice.

The Qur’an itself does not quote the complete expression ka-ẓahri ummī, “like my mother’s back,” but rejects the claimed consequence of such speech:

مَا هُنَّ أُمَّهَاتِهِمْ
إِنْ أُمَّهَاتُهُمْ إِلَّا اللَّائِي وَلَدْنَهُمْ

Mā hunna ummahātihim / In ummahātuhum illā llāʾī waladnahum.

“They are not their mothers; their mothers are only the women who gave birth to them.”

It then calls the utterance itself:

مُنْكَرًا مِنَ الْقَوْلِ وَزُورًا

Munkaran mina l-qawli wa-zūrā.

A reprehensible utterance and a falsehood.

This is its characterization of the speech.

The reliable linguistic evidence is therefore that ẓahr was used in a conventional expression equating a wife with a mother, and that the verb ẓāhara min imraʾatihi was formed from it.

Why precisely the mother’s “back” was chosen in that expression is a separate question. Later explanations involving riding, sexual relations, or particular symbolism of the mother’s body should not be presented as the certain origin of the term without independent evidence.

The extensive legal rulings later developed under the heading of ẓihār are also important for the term’s legal history, but do not define the root’s meaning. A lexical study should first clarify the word’s recognized usage in the period of revelation and how the Qur’an itself addresses it.

7. الظَّاهِر (al-Ẓāhir) as a description of The God

Al-Hadid 57:3 states:

هُوَ الْأَوَّلُ وَالْآخِرُ وَالظَّاهِرُ وَالْبَاطِنُ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ

Huwa l-awwalu wa-l-ākhiru wa-ẓ-ẓāhiru wa-l-bāṭinu wa-huwa bi-kulli shayʾin ʿalīm.

He is the First and the Last, al-Ẓāhir and al-Bāṭin, and He knows all things.

Al-Ẓāhir in this verse describes The God and stands directly beside al-Bāṭin.

The Ẓ H R family itself offers two related branches: being manifest and outward, in contrast to concealment, and ascendancy and prevailing. Both appear in the root’s Qur’anic usage independently of this verse.

Early commentaries repeatedly explain al-Ẓāhir through height and prevailing; al-Ṭabarī understands it in the direction of ascendancy over all things. In other analyses, the contrast between ẓāhir and bāṭin has led to connecting ẓāhir with the manifest character of signs and effects. Ibn ʿĀshūr examines both directions and regards manifestation as more consistent with the contrast with bāṭin.

Root study alone should not turn either dimension into a complete theological system. More importantly, none of the bodily uses of ẓahr for humans, walls, or the earth permits us to construct a bodily quality for the Divine description.

For Forqan, retaining al-Ẓāhir with its lexical explanation, until the verse’s final translation is examined separately, is more reliable than restricting the word to one dimension.

8. Differences from nearby concepts and guidance for translation

This family cannot be translated with one equivalent in every verse.

ظَهْر (ẓahr) means “back” for humans and animals. For land, sea, and similar things, it can mean “face” or “surface.”

وَرَاءَ ظُهُورِهِمْ (warāʾa ẓuhūrihim) preserves the image “behind their backs”; disregard is understood from the full construction.

ظِهْرِيًّا (ẓihriyyan) in Hud 11:92 refers to something put behind one’s back and treated with disregard.

ظَهَرَ (ẓahara) in a simple construction can mean “became manifest” or “appeared.”

Depending on context, ظَهَرَ عَلَى (ẓahara ʿalā) can mean “climbed upon something,” “gained access to someone,” or “prevailed over them.”

ظَاهِر (ẓāhir) means “manifest” or “outward” in some verses, and “ascendant” or “prevailing” in others.

أَظْهَرَ (aẓhara) can mean “made manifest,” “made aware,” or, in aẓharahu ʿalā, “gave ascendancy and caused to prevail.”

ظَهِير (ẓahīr) means “supporter” or “helper.”

ظَاهَرَ (ẓāhara) in its general branch concerns supporting one side, while تَظَاهَرَ (taẓāhara) in Qur’anic usage highlights cooperation and joint support.

But يظاهرون من نسائهم (yuẓāhirūna min nisāʾihim) is a conventional marital usage and must not be translated as “they support their wives.”

الظَّهِيرَة (al-ẓahīrah) means midday, and حين تظهرون (ḥīna tuẓhirūn) refers to reaching the time of noon.

This variety shows that the root’s meaning is essential to recognizing relationships among the branches, but does not replace examining the morphological form, preposition, and context of each verse.

Conclusion

In its clearest material image, the root ظ ه ر (Ẓ H R) concerns the back and the outer or upper side of something. Early Arabic used ẓahr both for the back of the body and for the surface or face of the earth, and the Qur’an preserves this field.

The contrast between ẓahr and baṭn makes the important ẓāhir–bāṭin branch intelligible: what is outward, visible, or manifest versus what is inward or hidden. The Qur’an uses this contrast for conduct, sin, blessings, material structure, and in describing The God.

Another branch concerns being above and gaining access to something. Ẓahara can express climbing a wall or stairway, while ẓahara ʿalā in human contexts extends to gaining access and prevailing. Ẓāhirīn likewise means possessing ascendancy and power in some verses.

The back also extends into the image of backing and support. Ẓahīr is a supporter; ẓāhara can mean helping someone against another; and taẓāhara in Qur’anic usage conveys cooperation and joint reinforcement. This participation does not establish exact equality of the parties’ roles.

Yuẓāhirūna min nisāʾihim is a conventional branch within this family that arose from the recognized expression comparing a wife with the “mother’s back.” The Qur’an rejects the claim that such speech creates actual motherhood and calls the speech reprehensible and false. Later legal rulings in this area must not replace its linguistic meaning.

Ẓahīrah and ḥīna tuẓhirūn also show that the family had become established in the language for midday, even though the precise historical reason for the name cannot be established from a single lexical explanation alone.

A cautious synthesis of this root is:

Ẓ H R: a family centered on the back and the outer or upper side, extended in the language into the branches of surface and back, becoming manifest and being outward, rising and prevailing, and support. Established derivatives such as ẓahīrah and the marital usage ẓihār also belong to this family, but each meaning must be determined from its own construction and context. Neither “back,” “manifestation,” “prevailing,” nor “support” alone defines the entire root.