غور

Core meaning

To sink into the depth and vanish there: water lost underground, the hollow one enters, the assault that plunges.

Uses

1. غَوْرًا → "to sink" : water that goes down underground and is found no more.

   • «أَوْ يُصْبِحَ مَآؤُهَا غَوْرًۭا فَلَن تَسْتَطِيعَ لَهُۥ طَلَبًۭا» — "or its water sinks away, so that you will never be able to seek it out" (18:41)
   • «إِنْ أَصْبَحَ مَآؤُكُمْ غَوْرًۭا» — "if your water were to sink into the ground" (67:30)

2. ٱلْغَار, مَغَٰرَٰت → "the cave", "caves" : the hollow of the mountain one enters to escape sight.

   • «إِذْ هُمَا فِى ٱلْغَارِ» — "when they were both in the cave" (9:40)
   • «لَوْ يَجِدُونَ مَلْجَـًٔا أَوْ مَغَٰرَٰتٍ أَوْ مُدَّخَلًۭا» — "If they found a sanctuary, caves, or a hiding place" (9:57)

3. ٱلْمُغِيرَٰت → "those that launch the assault" : the causative form: to plunge into the enemy camp.

   • «فَٱلْمُغِيرَٰتِ صُبْحًۭا» — "that launch the assault at dawn" (100:3)

Evidence from the text

Water that sinks does not come back. In 18:41, the companion warns the owner of the garden that his water may sink away "so that you will never be able to seek it out"; in 67:30, the same image becomes a question: "who then would bring you spring water?". The word names a withdrawal without recourse.

The cave is the hollow where one vanishes: the messenger stays there with his companion when he has been expelled (9:40), and those who hesitate to fight would flee into caves if they found them (9:57). In 100:3, the charge plunges at dawn into the heart of the enemy: the same movement inward.

Distinctions

• كهف — the cave as a shelter opened in the mountain; غار names the hollow one sinks into