Home Quran Quran roots ح ي ي
189 times in the Quran · 13 word forms · rank 52
The Quran root ح ي ي ḥ-y-y
Words built from the root ح ي ي ([ḥ-y-y]) appear 189 times in the Quran. The most common is حَياة, “life”, which comes 76 times. Learn the root once and you can recognise every word made from it.
Words from this root
| Word | Say it | Meaning | Times | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| حَياة | ḥayaa | life | 76 | |
| أَحْيا | aḥyaa | gives life · He gives life | 51 | |
| حَيّ | ḥayy | living · alive | 24 | |
| يَسْتَحْىِۦ | yastaḥaۦ | letting live · ashamed | 9 | |
| حَىَّ | ḥaa | live · we live | 7 | |
| تَحِيَّة | taḥiyya | greeting · greetings | 6 | |
| يَحْيَى | yaḥyaa | Yahya · O Yahya | 5 | |
| حَيَّ | ḥayya | you are greeted · greet | 4 | |
| مَحْيا | maḥyaa | living · life | 2 | |
| مُحْى | muḥa | He give life · Giver of life | 2 | |
| حَيَّة | ḥayya | snake | 1 | |
| اسْتِحْياء | astiḥyaa’ | shyness | 1 | |
| حَيَوان | ḥayawaan | life | 1 |
Examples from the Quran
ثُمَّ أَنتُمْ هَٰؤُلَاءِ تَقْتُلُونَ أَنفُسَكُمْ وَتُخْرِجُونَ فَرِيقًا مِّنكُم مِّن دِيَارِهِمْ تَظَاهَرُونَ عَلَيْهِم بِالْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ وَإِن يَأْتُوكُمْ أُسَارَىٰ تُفَادُوهُمْ وَهُوَ مُحَرَّمٌ عَلَيْكُمْ إِخْرَاجُهُمْ أَفَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِبَعْضِ الْكِتَابِ وَتَكْفُرُونَ بِبَعْضٍ فَمَا جَزَاءُ مَن يَفْعَلُ ذَٰلِكَ مِنكُمْ إِلَّا خِزْيٌ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يُرَدُّونَ إِلَىٰ أَشَدِّ الْعَذَابِ وَمَا اللَّهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ ٨٥
الْحَيَاةِ l-ḥayati · the life
Then, you are those [same ones who are] killing one another and evicting a party of your people from their homes, cooperating against them in sin and aggression. And if they come to you as captives, you ransom them, although their eviction was forbidden to you. So do you believe in part of the Scripture and disbelieve in part? Then what is the recompense for those who do that among you except disgrace in worldly life; and on the Day of Resurrection they will be sent back to the severest of punishment. And Allāh is not unaware of what you do. (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:85)
أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ اشْتَرَوُا الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا بِالْآخِرَةِ فَلَا يُخَفَّفُ عَنْهُمُ الْعَذَابُ وَلَا هُمْ يُنصَرُونَ ٨٦
الْحَيَاةَ l-ḥayata · the life
Those are the ones who have bought the life of this world [in exchange] for the Hereafter, so the punishment will not be lightened for them, nor will they be aided. (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:86)
كَيْفَ تَكْفُرُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَكُنتُمْ أَمْوَاتًا فَأَحْيَاكُمْ ثُمَّ يُمِيتُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُحْيِيكُمْ ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ ٢٨
فَأَحْيَاكُمْ fa-aḥyākum · then He gave you life
How can you disbelieve in Allāh when you were lifeless and He brought you to life; then He will cause you to die, then He will bring you [back] to life, and then to Him you will be returned. (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:28)
وَلَا تَقُولُوا لِمَن يُقْتَلُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَمْوَاتٌ بَلْ أَحْيَاءٌ وَلَٰكِن لَّا تَشْعُرُونَ ١٥٤
أَحْيَاءٌ aḥyāon · (they are) alive
And do not say about those who are killed in the way of Allāh, "They are dead." Rather, they are alive, but you perceive [it] not. (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:154)
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَسْتَحْيِي أَن يَضْرِبَ مَثَلًا مَّا بَعُوضَةً فَمَا فَوْقَهَا فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا فَيَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّهِمْ وَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فَيَقُولُونَ مَاذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِهَٰذَا مَثَلًا يُضِلُّ بِهِ كَثِيرًا وَيَهْدِي بِهِ كَثِيرًا وَمَا يُضِلُّ بِهِ إِلَّا الْفَاسِقِينَ ٢٦
يَسْتَحْيِي yastaḥyī · ashamed
Indeed, Allāh is not timid to present an example - that of a mosquito or what is smaller than it. And those who have believed know that it is the truth from their Lord. But as for those who disbelieve, they say, "What did Allāh intend by this as an example?" He misleads many thereby and guides many thereby. And He misleads not except the defiantly disobedient, (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:26)
قَالَ فِيهَا تَحْيَوْنَ وَفِيهَا تَمُوتُونَ وَمِنْهَا تُخْرَجُونَ ٢٥
تَحْيَوْنَ taḥyawna · you will live
He said, "Therein you will live, and therein you will die, and from it you will be brought forth." (Surah Al-A'raf, 7:25)
Surahs where it comes most
- Surah Al-Baqarah · 19×
- Surah Ali 'Imran · 10×
- Surah Yunus · 10×
- Surah Al-An'am · 9×
- Surah Ar-Rum · 8×
- Surah Al-A'raf · 7×
Each meaning is taken from the word-by-word translation of the verses, so a word can show two meanings from different contexts. Root and base-word data come from the Quranic Arabic Corpus.