فرش

Core meaning

To spread out flat: what is laid out to bear or to rest on, and what spreads over an expanse.

Uses

1. فِرَٰش, فَرَشَ → "a bed", "to spread out" : the earth laid out beneath people.

   • «جَعَلَ لَكُمُ ٱلْأَرْضَ فِرَٰشًۭا» — "made for you the earth a bed" (2:22)
   • «وَٱلْأَرْضَ فَرَشْنَٰهَا» — "And the earth, We spread it out" (51:48)

2. فُرُش → "couches" : the beds of the Garden, spread out and lined with brocade.

   • «مُتَّكِـِٔينَ عَلَىٰ فُرُشٍۭ بَطَآئِنُهَا مِنْ إِسْتَبْرَقٍۢ» — "Reclining upon couches lined with thick brocade" (55:54)
   • «وَفُرُشٍۢ مَّرْفُوعَةٍ» — "and elevated couches" (56:34)

3. فَرْش → "those of the fleece" : among the cattle, the low beasts, facing the beasts of burden.

   • «وَمِنَ ٱلْأَنْعَٰمِ حَمُولَةًۭ وَفَرْشًۭا» — "And among the cattle, there are the beasts of burden and those of the fleece" (6:142)

4. ٱلْفَرَاش → "moths" : the insects that spread over an expanse; on the Day, people resemble them.

   • «يَوْمَ يَكُونُ ٱلنَّاسُ كَٱلْفَرَاشِ ٱلْمَبْثُوثِ» — "The Day when men will be like scattered moths" (101:4)
   • Written exception: "bed" shared with مهد: "carpet" and "to spread" are taken.

Evidence from the text

The earth is made a bed (2:22, 51:48): laid out flat to bear what settles on it, facing the sky that 2:22 makes "a structure". The couches of the Garden are beds spread out, lined with brocade (55:54) or elevated (56:34). Among the cattle, فَرْش is said of the beasts that carry no loads, facing the beasts of burden (6:142).

On the Day, the same gesture comes undone: people will be "like scattered moths" (101:4), a swarm spread without order over the expanse, while the mountains become "like carded wool".

Distinctions

• مهد — to prepare a place of rest, the cradle: the earth made fit to live on, whereas فرش lays it out flat
• بسط — to extend, to open out in surface what was drawn together

See also

بثث (to scatter)