جبه

Core meaning

The forehead: the upper, visible part of the face.

Uses

1. جِبَاه → "foreheads" : named with the sides and the backs, as the surface of the body where the punishment is imprinted.

   • «جِبَاهُهُمْ وَجُنُوبُهُمْ وَظُهُورُهُمْ» — "their foreheads, their sides, and their backs" (9:35)

Evidence from the text

The word appears only once, in an enumeration that fixes it: the forehead, the sides and the backs are the three surfaces to which the hoarded gold and silver, heated in the fire, are applied (9:34-35). The forehead opens the list: the penalty strikes first the most visible part of the one who withheld his goods instead of spending them in the way of God.

See also

جنب (the side) · ظهر (the back) · كوى (to sear)