Home Quran Quran roots س ع ي
30 times in the Quran · 2 word forms · rank 300
The Quran root س ع ي s-ʿ-y
Words built from the root س ع ي ([s-ʿ-y]) appear 30 times in the Quran. The most common is سَعَى, “strive”, which comes 20 times. Learn the root once and you can recognise every word made from it.
Words from this root
| Word | Say it | Meaning | Times | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| سَعَى | saʿaa | strive · running | 20 | |
| سَعْي | saʿy | effort · haste | 10 |
Examples from the Quran
وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّن مَّنَعَ مَسَاجِدَ اللَّهِ أَن يُذْكَرَ فِيهَا اسْمُهُ وَسَعَىٰ فِي خَرَابِهَا أُولَٰئِكَ مَا كَانَ لَهُمْ أَن يَدْخُلُوهَا إِلَّا خَائِفِينَ لَهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا خِزْيٌ وَلَهُمْ فِي الْآخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ ١١٤
وَسَعَىٰ wasaʿā · and strives
And who are more unjust than those who prevent the name of Allāh from being mentioned [i.e., praised] in His mosques and strive toward their destruction. It is not for them to enter them except in fear. For them in this world is disgrace, and they will have in the Hereafter a great punishment. (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:114)
وَإِذَا تَوَلَّىٰ سَعَىٰ فِي الْأَرْضِ لِيُفْسِدَ فِيهَا وَيُهْلِكَ الْحَرْثَ وَالنَّسْلَ وَاللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْفَسَادَ ٢٠٥
سَعَىٰ saʿā · he strives
And when he goes away, he strives throughout the land to cause corruption therein and destroy crops and animals. And Allāh does not like corruption. (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:205)
وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّ أَرِنِي كَيْفَ تُحْيِي الْمَوْتَىٰ قَالَ أَوَلَمْ تُؤْمِن قَالَ بَلَىٰ وَلَٰكِن لِّيَطْمَئِنَّ قَلْبِي قَالَ فَخُذْ أَرْبَعَةً مِّنَ الطَّيْرِ فَصُرْهُنَّ إِلَيْكَ ثُمَّ اجْعَلْ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ جَبَلٍ مِّنْهُنَّ جُزْءًا ثُمَّ ادْعُهُنَّ يَأْتِينَكَ سَعْيًا وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ ٢٦٠
سَعْيًا saʿyan · (in) haste
And [mention] when Abraham said, "My Lord, show me how You give life to the dead." [Allāh] said, "Have you not believed?" He said, "Yes, but [I ask] only that my heart may be satisfied." [Allāh] said, "Take four birds and commit them to yourself. Then [after slaughtering them] put on each hill a portion of them; then call them - they will come [flying] to you in haste. And know that Allāh is Exalted in Might and Wise." (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:260)
Surahs where it comes most
- Surah Al-Baqarah · 3×
- Surah Al-Isra · 3×
- Surah Taha · 3×
- Surah Al-Ma'idah · 2×
- Surah Saba · 2×
- Surah An-Najm · 2×
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.