Home Quran Quran roots س و أ
167 times in the Quran · 10 word forms · rank 64
The Quran root س و أ s-w-’
Words built from the root س و أ ([s-w-’]) appear 167 times in the Quran. The most common is سَيِّئَة, “evil”, which comes 58 times. Learn the root once and you can recognise every word made from it.
Words from this root
| Word | Say it | Meaning | Times | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| سَيِّئَة | sayyi’a | evil · evil deeds | 58 | |
| سُوء | suu’ | evil · harm | 50 | |
| ساءَ | saa’a | evil · Evil is | 30 | |
| سَوْء | saw’ | evil · evil man | 9 | |
| سَوْءَة | saw’a | shame · dead body | 7 | |
| أَساءَ | asaa’a | does evil · you do evil | 5 | |
| سَيِّئ | sayyi’ | evil | 4 | |
| أَسْوَأ | aswa’ | worst | 2 | |
| سُوٓأَى | suu’aa | evil | 1 | |
| مُسِيء | musii’ | evildoer | 1 |
Examples from the Quran
بَلَىٰ مَن كَسَبَ سَيِّئَةً وَأَحَاطَتْ بِهِ خَطِيئَتُهُ فَأُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ ٨١
سَيِّئَةً sayyi-atan · evil
Yes, [on the contrary], whoever earns evil and his sin has encompassed him - those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide therein eternally. (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:81)
إِن تُبْدُوا الصَّدَقَاتِ فَنِعِمَّا هِيَ وَإِن تُخْفُوهَا وَتُؤْتُوهَا الْفُقَرَاءَ فَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ وَيُكَفِّرُ عَنكُم مِّن سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ ٢٧١
سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ sayyiātikum · your evil deeds
If you disclose your charitable expenditures, they are good; but if you conceal them and give them to the poor, it is better for you, and He will remove from you some of your misdeeds [thereby]. And Allāh, of what you do, is [fully] Aware. (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:271)
وَإِذْ نَجَّيْنَاكُم مِّنْ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ يَسُومُونَكُمْ سُوءَ الْعَذَابِ يُذَبِّحُونَ أَبْنَاءَكُمْ وَيَسْتَحْيُونَ نِسَاءَكُمْ وَفِي ذَٰلِكُم بَلَاءٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ عَظِيمٌ ٤٩
سُوءَ sūa · horrible
And [recall] when We saved you [i.e., your forefathers] from the people of Pharaoh, who afflicted you with the worst torment, slaughtering your [newborn] sons and keeping your females alive. And in that was a great trial from your Lord. (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:49)
إِن تَمْسَسْكُمْ حَسَنَةٌ تَسُؤْهُمْ وَإِن تُصِبْكُمْ سَيِّئَةٌ يَفْرَحُوا بِهَا وَإِن تَصْبِرُوا وَتَتَّقُوا لَا يَضُرُّكُمْ كَيْدُهُمْ شَيْئًا إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ مُحِيطٌ ١٢٠
تَسُؤْهُمْ tasu'hum · it grieves them
If good touches you, it distresses them; but if harm strikes you, they rejoice at it. And if you are patient and fear Allāh, their plot will not harm you at all. Indeed, Allāh is encompassing of what they do. (Surah Ali 'Imran, 3:120)
وَمِنَ الْأَعْرَابِ مَن يَتَّخِذُ مَا يُنفِقُ مَغْرَمًا وَيَتَرَبَّصُ بِكُمُ الدَّوَائِرَ عَلَيْهِمْ دَائِرَةُ السَّوْءِ وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ ٩٨
السَّوْءِ l-sawi · (of) the evil
And among the bedouins are some who consider what they spend as a loss and await for you turns of misfortune. Upon them will be a misfortune of evil. And Allāh is Hearing and Knowing. (Surah At-Tawbah, 9:98)
فَبَعَثَ اللَّهُ غُرَابًا يَبْحَثُ فِي الْأَرْضِ لِيُرِيَهُ كَيْفَ يُوَارِي سَوْءَةَ أَخِيهِ قَالَ يَا وَيْلَتَا أَعَجَزْتُ أَنْ أَكُونَ مِثْلَ هَٰذَا الْغُرَابِ فَأُوَارِيَ سَوْءَةَ أَخِي فَأَصْبَحَ مِنَ النَّادِمِينَ ٣١
سَوْءَةَ sawata · (the) dead body
Then Allāh sent a crow searching [i.e., scratching] in the ground to show him how to hide the disgrace of his brother. He said, "O woe to me! Have I failed to be like this crow and hide the disgrace [i.e., body] of my brother?" And he became of the regretful. (Surah Al-Ma'idah, 5:31)
Surahs where it comes most
- Surah An-Nisa · 14×
- Surah Al-A'raf · 14×
- Surah An-Nahl · 10×
- Surah Ghafir · 8×
- Surah An-Naml · 7×
- Surah Az-Zumar · 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.