هوى

Core meaning

To lean and be drawn downward: in the body, the fall; in judgment, the emotion that carries one away from knowledge.

Uses

1. ٱلْهَوَىٰ, أَهْوَآء → "emotion" : what one leans toward and what carries one away, set against received knowledge.

   • «لَّآ أَتَّبِعُ أَهْوَآءَكُمْ» — "I do not follow your emotions" (6:56)
   • «مَنِ ٱتَّخَذَ إِلَٰهَهُۥ هَوَىٰهُ» — "the one who has taken his emotion as his deity" (45:23)

2. تَهْوَىٰ → "to lean toward" : the leaning of the Selves, subject of the verb.

   • «بِمَا لَا تَهْوَىٰٓ أَنفُسُكُمُ» — "with what your own Selves did not lean toward" (2:87)
   • «وَمَا تَهْوَى ٱلْأَنفُسُ» — "and what the Selves lean toward" (53:23)

3. هَوَىٰ, أَهْوَىٰ, تَهْوِى بِ → "to sink", "to cast down", "to sweep down" : the fall that carries to the bottom.

   • «وَمَن يَحْلِلْ عَلَيْهِ غَضَبِى فَقَدْ هَوَىٰ» — "and whoever is struck by My anger has indeed sunk" (20:81)
   • «وَٱلْمُؤْتَفِكَةَ أَهْوَىٰ» — "And the overturned one, He cast it down" (53:53)
   • «أَوْ تَهْوِى بِهِ ٱلرِّيحُ فِى مَكَانٍۢ سَحِيقٍۢ» — "or the wind sweeps him down into a far-off place" (22:31)

4. هَوَىٰ (the star) → "to set" : the heavenly body going down to the horizon.

   • «وَٱلنَّجْمِ إِذَا هَوَىٰ» — "By the star when it sets" (53:1)

5. تَهْوِىٓ إِلَىٰ → "to incline toward" : the leaning that carries Consciences toward someone.

   • «تَهْوِىٓ إِلَيْهِمْ» — "incline toward them" (14:37)

6. هَوَآء → "gaping" : Consciences open onto the void, with nothing to hold them.

   • «وَأَفْـِٔدَتُهُمْ هَوَآءٌۭ» — "and their Consciences will be gaping" (14:43)

7. هَاوِيَة → "the Abyss" : the place into which one falls, given as an abode.

   • «فَأُمُّهُۥ هَاوِيَةٌۭ» — "the Abyss will be his abode" (101:9)

Evidence from the text

Emotion is always set against knowledge already received: "were you to follow their emotions, after what has come to you of knowledge" (2:120; 2:145, 13:37); many lead astray "by their emotions, without knowledge" (6:119); they follow "presumption, and what the Selves lean toward" (53:23). Followed to the end, it takes the place of God: "the one who has taken his emotion as his deity" (45:23, as in 25:43).

The physical branch names the same movement in the body: what gives way and goes down. The one upon whom divine anger descends sinks (20:81); the overturned city, God cast it down (53:53); the wind sweeps the associator far away (22:31); the star sets (53:1). The place of the fall is the Abyss, هَاوِيَة (101:9). On the day when sights are fixed, Consciences are هَوَآء, gaping, with nothing to hold them (14:43).

The leaning is not always blamed: Ibrahim asks that Consciences "incline toward" his own (14:37). What unites the root is the inclination that draws; it is the direction that judges it.

Distinctions

• شهو — the desire for enjoyment; هوى names the leaning that draws judgment away.
• خرر — to fall: the fall, the prostration; هوى names the fall that carries to the bottom.
• خوى — the emptiness of a deserted place; هَوَآء names gaping Consciences.

See also

علم (knowledge, to which emotion is opposed) · تبع (to follow)