شجر
Attested forms : ٱلشَّجَرَةَ 4 · ٱلشَّجَرَةِ 4 · ٱلشَّجَرِ 2 · ٱلشَّجَرُ 2 · شَجَرَةًۭ 2 · شَجَرَ 1 · كَشَجَرَةٍۢ 1 · كَشَجَرَةٍ 1
Core meaning
The tree, the plant that rises in branches from a root. Once only, the verb names what has grown up between people and become entangled there: the controversy.
Uses
شَجَرَة, شَجَر → "tree" : the real tree or the tree as image, from the Garden to the Blaze.
ٱلشَّجَر (collective) → "the trees" : trees taken together: they feed the herds and prostrate.
شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ → "their controversies" : what has arisen between people and must be decided.
- «حَتَّىٰ يُحَكِّمُوكَ فِيمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ» — "until they have taken you as judge of their controversies" (4:65)
Evidence from the text
The noun everywhere names a real tree or a tree given as an image: the forbidden tree of the Garden (2:35, 7:19-22), the blessed tree whose oil gives light (24:35), the tree of Zaqqoum that comes out at the root of the Blaze (37:62-64, 44:43), the green tree from which fire is drawn (36:80, 56:72), the tree of allegiance (48:18). The good word and the vile word are two trees (14:24-26): one has a firm root, the other is "uprooted from the surface of the earth" (14:26).
The verb appears only once (4:65): what has grown up between them, and what the messenger must judge. The text itself does not link the two uses; the translation renders each with its own word.
Distinctions
- خلف — to diverge: to part ways on a question, whereas شَجَرَ names the controversy that has arisen between people and is brought before a judge
- نبت — vegetation: 16:10 names the trees where herds graze, 16:11 what God causes to grow; "vegetation" stays with نَبَات
- خرج — to come out: the tree "that comes out of Mount Sinai" (23:20), the one "that comes out at the root of the Blaze" (37:64)
See also
نبت (to make grow)