طهر

Core meaning

To remove a defilement: to purify a person, a place or a thing, or to keep oneself clean.

Uses

1. طَهَّرَ, يُطَهِّرُ, طَهِّرْ → "to purify" : to take away what defiles: from a house, clothes, cores, people.

   • «وَطَهِّرْ بَيْتِىَ لِلطَّآئِفِينَ» — "and purify My House for those who frequent it" (22:26)
   • «لَمْ يُرِدِ ٱللَّهُ أَن يُطَهِّرَ قُلُوبَهُمْ» — "whose cores God has not wanted to purify" (5:41)

2. مُطَهَّرَة, ٱلْمُطَهَّرُونَ → "purified" : what has been made clean: the spouses of the Garden, the chronicles, those who touch the scripture.

   • «وَلَهُمْ فِيهَآ أَزْوَٰجٌۭ مُّطَهَّرَةٌۭ» — "They will have therein purified spouses" (2:25)
   • «لَّا يَمَسُّهُۥٓ إِلَّا ٱلْمُطَهَّرُونَ» — "which none touch except the purified" (56:79)

3. تَطَهَّرَ, ٱطَّهَّرَ, ٱلْمُتَطَهِّرِين → "to purify oneself", "to wash oneself", "to keep oneself clean" : to remove defilement from oneself; the soiled body is washed.

   • «فِيهِ رِجَالٌۭ يُحِبُّونَ أَن يَتَطَهَّرُوا۟» — "In it are men who love to purify themselves" (9:108)
   • «إِنَّهُمْ أُنَاسٌۭ يَتَطَهَّرُونَ» — "they are men who want to purify themselves" (27:56)
   • «وَإِن كُنتُمْ جُنُبًۭا فَٱطَّهَّرُوا۟» — "And if you have soiled yourselves, wash yourselves" (5:6)

4. طَهُور → "purifying" : what purifies: the water from the sky, the drink of the Garden.

   • «وَأَنزَلْنَا مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مَآءًۭ طَهُورًۭا» — "and We sent down from the sky a purifying water" (25:48)

5. أَطْهَرُ → "cleaner" : the comparative: what leaves less defilement.

   • «ذَٰلِكُمْ أَزْكَىٰ لَكُمْ وَأَطْهَرُ» — "That is purer for you, and cleaner" (2:232)
   • Written exception: "to purify" shared with زكو: no other noble, exact verb.

Evidence from the text

The gesture is always active: a defilement is taken away. God sends down water "to purify you with it, to remove from you the defilement of the Diverter" (8:11); He intends to remove "filth" and "to purify you completely" (33:33). The object varies, the gesture remains: the House (2:125, 22:26), clothes (74:4), cores (5:41), people through charity (9:103).

The reflexive form names care for oneself. The soiled body is washed (5:6); God loves "those who purify themselves" (9:108); and the people of Lut mock those who keep themselves clean: they are "men who want to purify themselves" (7:82, 27:56); the verb is that of 9:108, and the irony lies in the mouth that speaks it. In 2:222, for women who are inconvenienced, the translation does not speak of purity: it only says that they are no longer so, and keeps "keep themselves clean" for those God loves.

The comparative أَطْهَرُ is rendered "cleaner" (2:232, 11:78, 33:53, 58:12), which sets it apart from أَزْكَىٰ, "purer", which precedes it in 2:232.

Distinctions

• زكو — the growth of what is pure; "to purify" is shared by both, but أَزْكَىٰ is rendered "purer" and أَطْهَرُ "cleaner"
• رجس — filth: the defilement itself, which طهر removes