خطف

Core meaning

To seize with a sudden movement and carry off before one can hold on: to snatch.

Uses

1. خَطِفَ, يَخْطَفُ → "to snatch" : the gesture of an instant: the lightning, the bird, the one who steals a scrap.

   • «يَكَادُ ٱلْبَرْقُ يَخْطَفُ أَبْصَٰرَهُمْ» — "The lightning is about to snatch away their sight." (2:20)
   • «إِلَّا مَنْ خَطِفَ ٱلْخَطْفَةَ» — "except him who snatches a scrap in flight" (37:10)

2. يَتَخَطَّفُ, يُتَخَطَّفُ → "to snatch", "to be snatched" : people snatched from their land by those stronger than they.

   • «تَخَافُونَ أَن يَتَخَطَّفَكُمُ ٱلنَّاسُ» — "fearing that men would snatch you away" (8:26)
   • «وَيُتَخَطَّفُ ٱلنَّاسُ مِنْ حَوْلِهِمْ» — "while all around them men are being snatched away" (29:67)

Evidence from the text

The word always says a seizure of an instant, which cannot be held back. The lightning is about to snatch away the sight (2:20); the birds snatch the one who falls from the sky (22:31); the one who steals a scrap of the hearing is at once pursued by a blazing projectile (37:10).

The form تَخَطَّفَ applies the gesture to people. The believers, few and reduced to weakness, feared being snatched, and God granted them refuge (8:26). Others refuse the guidance for fear of being snatched from their land; the answer reminds them of the inviolable and secure precinct where they live, while all around them people are snatched away (28:57, 29:67).

Distinctions

• سلب — to rob: to take from someone what he holds (22:73), whereas خطف is the sudden gesture that carries off
• نزع — to pull out: to remove by force what held in place

See also

حرم (the inviolable precinct (28:57, 29:67))