وبق
Attested forms : مَّوْبِقًۭا 1 · يُوبِقْهُنَّ 1
Core meaning
The disaster that strikes in return for a deed: the place where it is consummated, or the act that inflicts it.
Uses
مَوْبِق → "a place of disaster" : the place set, on the Day, between the associators and those they associated.
- «وَجَعَلْنَا بَيْنَهُم مَّوْبِقًۭا» — "and We shall place between them a place of disaster" (18:52)
يُوبِقْهُنَّ → "deliver to disaster" : the causative verb: God inflicts it on the ships for what those aboard have earned.
- «أَوْ يُوبِقْهُنَّ بِمَا كَسَبُوا۟» — "or He delivers them to disaster because of what they have earned" (42:34)
Evidence from the text
Both occurrences tie the disaster to a deed. In 18:52, the associators call on those they claimed as associates, who do not answer; a مَوْبِق is set between them: what bound them is now only a place of disaster.
In 42:34, the stilled wind and the ships delivered to disaster depend on God alone, and the cause is named: "because of what they have earned", at once tempered by pardon: "while pardoning much".
Distinctions
- هلك — to perish: the end itself, where وبق says the disaster inflicted in return for a deed
- تبب — perdition: the loss that grows, where وبق says the disaster that strikes