Home Quran Quran roots ص ف و
17 times in the Quran · 5 word forms · rank 439
The Quran root ص ف و ṣ-f-w
Words built from the root ص ف و ([ṣ-f-w]) appear 17 times in the Quran. The most common is اصْطَفَى, “chosen you”, which comes 12 times. Learn the root once and you can recognise every word made from it.
Words from this root
| Word | Say it | Meaning | Times | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| اصْطَفَى | aṣṭafaa | chosen you · We chose him | 12 | |
| أَصْفَى | aṣfaa | has your Lord chosen you · He has chosen you | 2 | |
| صَفْوان | ṣafwaan | smooth rock | 1 | |
| مُصْطَفَيْن | muṣṭafayn | chosen ones | 1 | |
| مُصَفًّى | muṣaffana | purified | 1 |
Examples from the Quran
وَمَن يَرْغَبُ عَن مِّلَّةِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ إِلَّا مَن سَفِهَ نَفْسَهُ وَلَقَدِ اصْطَفَيْنَاهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَإِنَّهُ فِي الْآخِرَةِ لَمِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ ١٣٠
اصْطَفَيْنَاهُ iṣ'ṭafaynāhu · We chose him
And who would be averse to the religion of Abraham except one who makes a fool of himself. And We had chosen him in this world, and indeed he, in the Hereafter, will be among the righteous. (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:130)
وَوَصَّىٰ بِهَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بَنِيهِ وَيَعْقُوبُ يَا بَنِيَّ إِنَّ اللَّهَ اصْطَفَىٰ لَكُمُ الدِّينَ فَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ ١٣٢
اصْطَفَىٰ iṣ'ṭafā · has chosen
And Abraham instructed his sons [to do the same] and [so did] Jacob, [saying], "O my sons, indeed Allāh has chosen for you this religion, so do not die except while you are Muslims." (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:132)
أَفَأَصْفَاكُمْ رَبُّكُم بِالْبَنِينَ وَاتَّخَذَ مِنَ الْمَلَائِكَةِ إِنَاثًا إِنَّكُمْ لَتَقُولُونَ قَوْلًا عَظِيمًا ٤٠
أَفَأَصْفَاكُمْ afa-aṣfākum · Then has your Lord chosen (for) you
Then, has your Lord chosen you for [having] sons and taken [i.e., adopted] from among the angels daughters? Indeed, you say a grave saying. (Surah Al-Isra, 17:40)
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُبْطِلُوا صَدَقَاتِكُم بِالْمَنِّ وَالْأَذَىٰ كَالَّذِي يُنفِقُ مَالَهُ رِئَاءَ النَّاسِ وَلَا يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ فَمَثَلُهُ كَمَثَلِ صَفْوَانٍ عَلَيْهِ تُرَابٌ فَأَصَابَهُ وَابِلٌ فَتَرَكَهُ صَلْدًا لَّا يَقْدِرُونَ عَلَىٰ شَيْءٍ مِّمَّا كَسَبُوا وَاللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْكَافِرِينَ ٢٦٤
صَفْوَانٍ ṣafwānin · (that of a) smooth rock
O you who have believed, do not invalidate your charities with reminders [of it] or injury as does one who spends his wealth [only] to be seen by the people and does not believe in Allāh and the Last Day. His example is like that of a [large] smooth stone upon which is dust and is hit by a downpour that leaves it bare. They are unable [to keep] anything of what they have earned. And Allāh does not guide the disbelieving people. (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:264)
وَإِنَّهُمْ عِندَنَا لَمِنَ الْمُصْطَفَيْنَ الْأَخْيَارِ ٤٧
الْمُصْطَفَيْنَ l-muṣ'ṭafayna · the chosen ones
And indeed they are, to Us, among the chosen and outstanding. (Surah Sad, 38:47)
مَّثَلُ الْجَنَّةِ الَّتِي وُعِدَ الْمُتَّقُونَ فِيهَا أَنْهَارٌ مِّن مَّاءٍ غَيْرِ آسِنٍ وَأَنْهَارٌ مِّن لَّبَنٍ لَّمْ يَتَغَيَّرْ طَعْمُهُ وَأَنْهَارٌ مِّنْ خَمْرٍ لَّذَّةٍ لِّلشَّارِبِينَ وَأَنْهَارٌ مِّنْ عَسَلٍ مُّصَفًّى وَلَهُمْ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ الثَّمَرَاتِ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ كَمَنْ هُوَ خَالِدٌ فِي النَّارِ وَسُقُوا مَاءً حَمِيمًا فَقَطَّعَ أَمْعَاءَهُمْ ١٥
مُّصَفًّى muṣaffan · purified
Is the description of Paradise, which the righteous are promised, wherein are rivers of water unaltered, rivers of milk the taste of which never changes, rivers of wine delicious to those who drink, and rivers of purified honey, in which they will have from all [kinds of] fruits and forgiveness from their Lord... [Are its inhabitants] like those who abide eternally in the Fire and are given to drink scalding water that will sever their intestines? (Surah Muhammad, 47:15)
Surahs where it comes most
- Surah Al-Baqarah · 4×
- Surah Ali 'Imran · 3×
- Surah Al-A'raf · 1×
- Surah Al-Hajj · 1×
- Surah An-Naml · 1×
- Surah Fatir · 1×
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.