روح

Core meaning

The breath that goes and moves without letting itself be seen: the Influx God sends down, the wind, the scent it carries, the momentum of a group, the rest it brings at the evening return.

Uses

1. ٱلرُّوح → "the Influx" : the breath that comes down with God's command and that gives life.

   • «يُنَزِّلُ ٱلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةَ بِٱلرُّوحِ مِنْ أَمْرِهِۦ» — "He sends down the Agents with the Influx, by His command" (16:2)
   • «وَنَفَخْتُ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِى» — "and breathed into him of My Influx" (15:29)

2. رِيح, رِيَاح → "the wind", "the winds" : air in motion, which drives clouds and vessels.

   • «إِن يَشَأْ يُسْكِنِ ٱلرِّيحَ» — "If He wills, He stills the wind" (42:33)
   • «رِيحٌۭ فِيهَا عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌۭ» — "a wind carrying a painful punishment" (46:24)

3. رِيح (of a person, of a group) → "the scent", "the momentum" : what the breath carries without showing itself: a presence sensed, a force that drives.

   • «إِنِّى لَأَجِدُ رِيحَ يُوسُفَ» — "I surely sense the scent of Youssof" (12:94)
   • «وَتَذْهَبَ رِيحُكُمْ» — "and your momentum depart" (8:46)

4. رَوْح, رَيْحَان → "rest", "fragrance", "the fragrant plant" : the breath that relieves, and what spreads it.

   • «وَلَا تَا۟يْـَٔسُوا۟ مِن رَّوْحِ ٱللَّهِ» — "and do not lose hope of God's rest" (12:87)
   • «فَرَوْحٌۭ وَرَيْحَانٌۭ» — "rest, and fragrance" (56:89)

5. تُرِيحُونَ, رَوَاح → "to bring back in the evening", "the homeward course" : the movement that reverses at evening, when one goes home.

   • «حِينَ تُرِيحُونَ وَحِينَ تَسْرَحُونَ» — "when you bring them back in the evening and when you lead them out to pasture" (16:6)
   • «غُدُوُّهَا شَهْرٌۭ وَرَوَاحُهَا شَهْرٌۭ» — "its outward course was a month's journey" (34:12)

Evidence from the text

One gesture links these uses: a breath that is not seen and is known by what it does. The Influx gives life to the human shaped from clay (15:29, 38:72) and comes down "by His command" (16:2, 40:15, 42:52); the wind drives the clouds (30:48) and the vessels, which stop when it is stilled (42:33). In 12:94 the word no longer names the air but what it carries: the scent of Youssof, sensed before any visible sign. In 8:46 it is the momentum of a troop, which departs with discord.

رَوْح is the breath that relieves: Youssof's father forbids despairing of God's rest (12:87), and the one brought near receives "rest, and fragrance" (56:89), رَيْحَان being also the fragrant plant the earth bears beside the grain (55:12). Evening is the moment when this breath turns: the herd is brought back (16:6), Sulayman's wind makes its homeward course (34:12).

The text does not say what the Influx is: "The Influx is of my Guardian's command; and you have been given of knowledge only a little" (17:85).

Distinctions

• نفخ — to breathe into: the gesture by which the Influx is given
• نفس — the Self: the person itself, whereas the Influx is what comes to it from God

See also

ركد (the becalmed vessels)